Directory talk:Korcula History 2

Directory talk is my work page

• Nikola Ostojic - 1858 : "Because of the islands dark appearance of its woods it was called Corcira Melaena" referring to the Greeks.
• Romans-Latin: Corcyra Nigra

Some of the latest research studies

• Becoming Slav, Becoming Croat: Identity Transformations in Post-Roman and and Early Medieval Dalmatia by Danijel Dzino
• When Ethnicity did not Matter in the Balkans by John Van Antwerp Fine.
• Venice and the Slavs: The Discovery of Dalmatia in the Age of Enlightenment by Larry Wolff.
• The Italians of Dalmatia: From Italian Unification to World War I by Luciano Monzali
• University of Zadar - Sociogeographic Transformation of the Western Part of Korcula Island by Lena Mirosevic
• Identity “ConflIct” of Dalmatian Italians by Mirko Dindic (hrcak.srce.hr)
• The Making of the Slavs: History and Archaeology of the Lower Danube Region by Florin Curta

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A Bit of Dalmatian History

• The National Party (Narodnjaci) from the Kingdom of Dalmatia (Austro-Hungarian Empire). The second half of the 19th century and early 20th century.

“

According to Costant (Kosta) Vojnovic, one of the principal Dalmatian Slavophile intellectuals, Dalmatia was part of the 'Slav-Hellenic' peninsula and was populated exclusively by the ' Slav race'; there were no Italians in Dalmatia, and so it was necessary to 'nationalize' the schools, the administration, and the courts in order to erase the traces left by Venetian rule and damage it caused. The Italian culture could survive only within the limits of Slav national character of the country and, in any case, without any recognition as a autochthonus element of Dalmatian society.

”

Note: The National Party (Narodnjaci) had very interesting policies. They seem to be German Nazism, Fascism and Communism all in one. One could say Kosta Vojnović predicted future events.

• Lena Mirosevic; Department of Geography, University of Zadar on Old Croatian cemeteries & churches:

“

It appears that the 7th and the 8th century marked the ending of many cult locations in an area short of reliable archaeological traces of that time. Sacral buildings were mostly abandoned before the arrival of the Slavs i.e. Croats on the Adriatic coast. Apparently, it wasn’t until the 14th and the 15th century that the worship of the old protectors was restored, but in new churches and chapels at safer locations in the interior of the island. There are no traces of any old Croatian cemeteries, and this fact itself providesan insight into the processes of settling Korcula Island in the early Middle Ages.

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Wikipedia and Korcula

• Wikipedia and Korcula-Town:

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Korčula, like other islands and many coastal cities in Dalmatia, also displays a dual Latin-Slav culture which developed from the late Roman era to the emergence of the modern Croatian state. Until the late 19th century, Italians made up the vast majority of the population of Korčula town while the rest of the island was almost completely inhabited by Croatians. The island therefore possesses a distinct Adriatic or Mediterranean cultural personality which sets it apart from the mountainous Dalmatian hinterland and continental Croatia further north. (dated 9/4/2011)

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Surnames on the west end of the island around Around 1600s

• de Ismael (Croatisation: Izmaeli)
• de Gabriel (Croatisation:Gabrijeliċ)
• de Giunio (Croatisation:Đunio)
• de Canavel (Croatisation:Kanavelić). He signed himself as Pietro Canaveli or De Canavellis.
• de Arneri
• Nikonitia or Nikoničić (according to Zvonko Maričić this is a Croatian family)
• Kolović
• Draginić (Drahinei)
• Tulić
• Nalošić
• Kostričić
• Cettineo (Croatisation:Cetinić)
• Mirošević
• Xuvella (Croatisation:Žuvela)
• Prižmić
• Marinović
• Dragojevič
• Barčot
• Surjan (Surian)
• Jacobus Bannissius (Croatisation:Jakov Baničević)

A Dalmatian, who was born on Korcula in 1466. He identified with Illyria, mentioning “my Illyria” in his corespondents, not Croatia.

Croatian Slavic Identity

The first primary source to mention the Croatian-Hrvat identity in the Balkans was Dux Cruatorum Branimero or Prince Branimir (Latin: dux Croatorum). It appeared on a stone inscription, c. 880 AD. Prince Branimir was a Slav from the town of Nin (Dalmatia). Hrvat or Horoúathos are names of Sarmatian orgins. In 1853 a Russian archaeologist Pavel Mikhailovich Leontjev discovered the Tanais Tablets. The Tanais Tablets mention three men: Horoúathos, Horoáthos, and Horóathos (Χορούαθ[ος], Χοροάθος, Χορόαθος). They are written in Greek and are from the 3rd century AD from the city of Tanais, today's Azov, Russia. At that time the region had a mixed Greek - Sarmatian (Iranian) population.

The term Slav was first used by the Byzantines (i.e. Procopius-Byzantine scholar, Jordanes- 6th century Roman bureaucrat) and was recorded in the 6th century (cia. 550) in Greek (Σκλαβῖνοι-Sklabenoi). Later in Latin it was written Sclaveni.

Croatian Slavic tribes invaded the region of Roman Dalmatia in the early Middle Ages. Prior to the arrival of the Slavs, Roman Dalmatia was mainly inhabited by a Roman Latin-Illyrian population. Sections of the old Roman Dalmatian province became part of the Kingdom of Croatia (925–1102). Some historians have placed the arrival of Slavs (in larger groups) to be in the region of the 8th century or even the 9th century.

Contemporary historian Danijel Dzino states that the 19 century theories of mass movements of people into the old Roman Province of Dalmatia are questionable. Modern Archaeological and Scholarly research seems to be saying that we are looking at much smaller groups of Slavs and Avars invading the region. According to Danijel Dzino the term Slavs was first used by outside observers of the day to describe the newcomers. The Slavs used the term to describe themselves at a later stage. Thus began the construct identity of the new arrivals. Later the Slavic peoples started to identify themselves and separated (or were separated by others) into different groups.

The issue of dates is an interesting one. Historians from the 18th and 19th century place the arrival of the Slavs into the Western Balkans in the 7th century but the more modern research undertaken by scholars and archaeologists cannot confirm this. The arrival and settlement of the Slavs by some has now been thought to be more in the region of the 8th century or even early 9th century.

In my opinion they could be both correct. The first arrivals may have been with the Slavs and Avars (who were a nomadic people from Eurasian). This first wave of invasion would have been one of many in the region so the Romans would have abandoned their cities and towns (i.e. Epidaurum, Narona and Salona) and altogether their way of life. New cities were established with fortification. Cities such as Ragusa (today called Dubrovnik) and Spalatum later know as Spalato (today called Split). The cities that survived the invasions were fortified. The new arrivals would not have been significant enough to leave an historical footprint other than in the cities and towns of Roman Dalmatia where there remains physical evidence of attacks and raids.

The second wave appears to have been a intermix of Croatian Slavs who arrived later. This invasion was more gradual and slightly larger in numbers however nothing like the great wave of mass movement as describe by the 19th century Historians. By the time of the late 8th century and early 9th century their numbers were large enough to leave an historical footprint. This historical footprint would be the start of the written history as well as the recording of archaeological evidence. The historical footprint is one of settlement.

De Administrando Imperio & 0thers:

De Administrando Imperio (On the Governance of the Empire) by Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos is a book that was written between 948 and 952. It contains advice on running the empire as well as fighting foreign enemies. Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos was the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, sometimes known simply by its contemporaries as the Roman Empire. Today it is now know as The Byzantine Empire. Porphyrogennetos would have written in terms of political identity rather than ethnicity. It was the Greco-Roman way. For a reader from the 10 century the book would have a different meaning than read by scholars from the 18th and 19th century.

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Three men: Horoúathos, Horoáthos, and Horóathos (Χορούαθ[ος], Χοροάθος, Χορόαθος) are mentioned in the Tanais Tablets (primary source). They are written in Greek and are from the 3rd century AD from the city of Tanais, today's Azov, Russia. At that time it had mixed Greek - Sarmatian (Iranian) population. Discovered by a Russian archaeologist Pavel Mikhailovich Leontjev in 1853.

Dux Cruatorum Branimero or Prince Branimir inscription, c. 880 AD from town of Nin-Croatia (Old Dalmatia). This is the first primary source mention of the Croatian identity in the Balkans. (John the Deacon, who was chaplain to the doge of the Republic of Venice)

There is archaeological evidence from 16 century where the Croatian identity was used on Korcula. Stone writings in Zavalatica are dedicated to events from 889 AD. It describes a clash between the Slavic population and the Venetian army. Marinko Gjivoje wrote about the find in 1972. The stone writings uses Hrvat Dalmatinac in its writings. Hrvat means Croatian.

The term Slav was first used by the Byzantines (i.e. Procopius-Byzantine scholar, Jordanes- 6th century Roman bureaucrat) and was written in the 6th century (cia. 550) in Greek (Σκλαβῖνοι-Sklabenoi). Later in Latin it was written Sclaveni.

• The Making of the Slavs: History and Archaeology of the Lower Danube Region by Florin Curta

To my knowledge first primary source written about Slavs and Korcula is Doge Pietro II Orseolo's attack on the island in 998 - 1000. (Chronicon Venetum, Chronicle of Grado & John the Deacon, who was chaplain to the doge of the Republic of Venice)

Secondary source: "Historical Compendium of the Island of Korcula" by Nikola Ostojic and other secondary sources about the events from the year 1262:

• Smiciklas, CD V, (p237)
• N. Klaic, Povijest Hrvata u Razvijenom, (p130)