Korcula History No 2.

One of Kocula's towers built during the rule of the Republic of Venice. Photo by Peter Zuvela

Dalmatia (the dark purple) within todays modern Croatia The island of Korcula is marked red.

A Korcula postcard from 1902 in Italian. The last Italian language government school was abolished in Korcula on the 13th of September 1876.

If we put aside political correctness, concerning Korcula's history

If we put aside political correctness, one could ask the question what happened to the Roman families when the Slavs invaded the island of Korčula? The Slavic tribes invaded the Dalmatian province of the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire).

Events

Events could have unfolded (Editor's theory) which led to the Roman families of Korčula (Corcyra Nigra) being attacked and killed. The survivors could have fled from Korčula to Ragusa (Dubrovnik), then a place of refuge. Maybe some survived and remained on the island. Nikola Ostojic a 19th century Historian from Korčula describes the actual invasion of the Neretljani Slavs in his book "Historical Compendium of the Island of Korcula" which was written in 1858. The old Roman cities of Dalmatia; Epidaurum, Narona and Salona which were then part of the Byzantine-Eastern Roman Empire, were destroyed or just abandoned. This was due to the fact that the cities were not strategically set up for defence from constant invasions. According to various sources the Avars participated in these events too. The Avars were a nomadic people from Eurasian who invaded the Balkans at the same time as the Slavs. In this historic period it is recorded that many of the churches on the island of Korčula were abandoned (or destroyed) and then rebuilt at a later stage. The Ostrogoths (a Germanic tribe related to the Goths) also invaded Dalmatia in the 6th century. According to Nikola Ostojic, the Roman families survived. They spoke the Latin Romance language - Dalmatian.

The new population of Slavs probably settled in the centre of the island and they spoke old Chakavian-Croatian. The centre of the island had its strategic qualities which allowed protection on all sides from attack by sea. It also had fertile land which allowed cultivation. After the invasion of Slavic tribes, the region stabilised to a certain extent. The Byzantines and the Republic of Venice and others, started to exert a political influence over the region. These events have been recorded historically by both Empires in chronicles of the time.

The Roman province of Dalmatia (pink color) in the Western Roman Empire. 476 AD

Romanized Slavs

Dalmatians of Roman ancestry and the Republic of Venice brought Mediterranean cultural to the Slavs. Christianity was one aspect of this. In essence Slavs on the island were Romanized (adopted Latin culture). The 19th century theories concerning the identity of these early Slavs is flawed. The latest scholarly and archaeological research states that the Slavs of Southern Dalmatian were identified as neither Croatians or Serbs. They were called Slavs. This term was first used by the Byzantines and was written in the 6th century in Byzantine Greek.

Later the Slavic peoples started to identify themselves and separated (or were separated by others) into different groups. It seems that in Southern Dalmatia the Slavic identity lasted much longer. As centuries went by Dalmatian Slavs started to identify themselves as just Dalmatians.

---

Historic quote taken from Researches on the Danube and the Adriatic written by Andrew Archibald Paton in 1861. Chapter 4 - The Dalmatian Archipelago on page 164.

• Signor Arneri from the town of Korčula stated:

“

These three pears you see on the wall," said he, "are the arms of my family. Perussich was the name, when, in the earlier part of the fifteenth century, my ancestors built this palace; so that, you see, I am Dalmatian. All the family, fathers, sons, and brothers, used to serve in the fleets of the Republic (Editors note: Republic of Venice); but the hero of our race was Arneri Perussich, whose statue you see there, who fought, bled, and died at the Siege of Candia, whose memory was honoured by the Republic, and whose surviving family was liberally pensioned; so his name of our race. We became Arneri, and ceased to be Perussich (Here is a perfect example of a Slavic family surname becoming later Venetian in character. According to Marinko Gjivoje, Perussich in modern Croatian is Piruzović.)

”

There is archaeological evidence from 16th century where the Croatian identity was used. 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 use: Hrvat Dalmatinac in its writings. Hrvat means Croat in Croatian.

Korcula Dialect

Korčula Dialect is a Croatian dialect from the island of Korčula in Croatia. The language base of the Korčula dialect is Chakavian Croatian (it is also intermixed with Shokavian). The Dalmatian remnants within the dialect have been referred to as Corzulot. Additionally it has influences of Venetian:

• Defora in old Venetian means "from the outside".

Regarding the Shokavian dialect below taken from-Land of 1000 Islands by Igor Rudan:

“

However, the clashes between the Ottoman Empire and Venetian Republic produced extensive migrations from the mainland areas, especially from today's Bosnia and Herzegovina, to the eastern parts of the islands of Brač, Hvar, Korčula, and Pag. The newcomers brought their gene pool and a variety of cultural specificities, including the “Shokavian” dialect of the Croatian language to the predominantly “Chakavian” area. The most extensive migrations to these islands occurred during the Cypriote (1571-1573), Candian (1645-1669), and Morean wars (1684-1699). The newcomers were given land and awarded special privileges “The Paštrović Privileges”.

”

The new arrivals to the island were predominately Slavic Shokavian speakers. This must have put the Slavic speaks (Old Croatian Slavic - Chakavian + Slavic - Shokavian) on the island in a majority. Interesting today some Croatians and Serbs share this dialect. Venetian was still Lingua franca on the island and must have replaced Latin as the official written language.

A wooden model of a Venetian Galley with rowers in Museo Storico Navale (navy museum). Photo by Myriam Thyes

Korcula dialect and Romance Dalmatian

• botilja/ bottle - Dalmatian: botaila
• botun/ button - Dalmatian: botaun
• dreto/ straight - Dalmatian: drat
• frigati/ to fry - Dalmatian: fregur
• kadena/ chain - Dalmatian: kataina
• kapula/ onion - Dalmatian: kapula
• katrida/ chair - Dalmatian: katraida

Historic classifies of Korcula

• The indigenous population of Korčula were Mesolithic and Neolithic peoples. Archaeological evidence has been found at Jakas Cave near the village of Zrnovo and on the west end of the island in a cave called Vela Spila.
• The island was then settled by Illyrians.
• A Greek colony was founded on Korčula. Greek colonists from Issa (Vis) formed a small colony on the island in the 4th or 3rd century B.C.

Republic of Venice-1796 (Created by MapMaster)

Note: Lumbarda Psephisma is a stone inscription which documented the event and was found on the island of Korčula. The Greeks (from Issa-Vis) established a settlement on the basis of a prior agreement with the representatives of the local Illyrians who were Pil and his son Daz. A literary work from the 1st century AD "Periegesis Hellados" mentions a second Greek Cnidian colony on the island of Nigra Kerkyra (Korčula). According to Nikola Ostojic the Greeks named it Corcira Melaena meaning Black Corfu after their homeland and the dense woods on the island. It is not known what the Illyrians called the island.

• The island became part of the Roman province of Illyricum. The Romans called the island Corcyra Nigra. After the Illyrian Wars, Roman migration followed and Roman citizens arrived on the island. The Illyrian population immediately after the Illyrian Wars suffered greatly under the Romans. A large portion of the Illyrians were executed and sold off to slavery. In 10 AD Illyricum was split into two provinces, Pannonia and Dalmatia. Korčula became part of the ancient Roman province of Dalmatia.
• In the 6th century it came under the Eastern Roman Empire-Byzantine (by then the Greek families would have been Romanized).
• Migrations of the early middle ages, brought the Slavic peoples into the Dalmatian region. 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). The Neretljani Slavs invaded the island and occupied it. The Old-Slavic term for Korčula was Krkar.

Note: The Narantani, who are referred to today mainly as Neretljani, were a nation of pirates. Firstly known as Arentanoi. Modern scholarly research now puts the time of the invasion of the Slavic tribes in the region to be much later. Archaeological evidence found in the old Roman city of Salon and in particularly the artefacts found at the Old Croatian grave sites in Dalmatia (during recent excavations) seems to confirm this. Some historians have placed the arrival of Slavs (in larger groups) now to be more in the region of the late 8th century or even early 9th century. In Korčula's case a small group of Slavs (Chakavian speakers) settled on the island in 9th century.

• Conquered by the Republic of Venice under the management of the doge Pietro Orseolo from 999 to 1100. The Venetian called the island Curzola.
• Held by the Genoese from 1100 to 1129.
• Recaptured by Popone Zorzi, from the Republic of Venice and ruled from 1129 to 1180, from 1252 to 1254, and from 1258 until 1357.
• In 1184 Miroslav, Stefan Nemanja and Costantino, counts of Chelmo (Zahumlje), attempted to conquer Korčula.
• Statute of Korčula was drafted in 1214.

Note: The Statute itself was probably written by Latin-Roman Dalmatian & Slavic nobility. Here is an Historic quote taken from "When Ethnicity Did not Matter in the Balkans" by John Van Antwerp Fine:

“

In 1262 the Venetian praised the Slavs and Latins on the island of Korcula for submitting to the prince Venice had sent.

”

• Possessed on behalf of the king of Hungary from 1257 and with brief interruptions of the Genoese until 1418.
• Devoting itself of its own accord to the Republic of Venice in 1420.
• Korčula was devastated by the plague in 1529 and 1558.
• Surrendered with the Republic of Venice to France in 1797. (It was occupied by the Russians for a year in 1808.)

One of the old graves in Blato (Korcula) written in Italian. Photo by Peter Zuvela

• British rule from 1813 to 1815 under the command of Peter Lowen.
• Occupied by Austria, first by obligation from 1797 to 1806, later by the Vienna Treaty from 1815 to 1918.
• The last Italian government school was abolished in Korčula on the 13th of September 1876.
• Under the Treaty of Rapallo (Nov. 12, 1920 between Italy and Kingdom of Serbia, Croatia & Slovenia.), Korčula became part of the Kingdom of Serbia, Croatia & Slovenia which was renamed Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929. After World War II Dalmatia was divided between three republics of Communist Yugoslavia. Most of the territory went to Croatia.
• In 1991 Korčula became part of the independent Republic of Croatia.

Additional:

• Venetian citizens and Ragusan (today Dubrovnik region) families migrated to the island.
• Croatian (and other groups) migrations in 16th and 17th century caused by the Ottoman invasions.

In this editors opinion to-days Korčula was originally a Roman town. It became a dual Latin Roman-Slavic town in the middle ages. With the arrival of Venetians in the 15th century it continued to evolve as such until the end of the Republic itself in 1797. The town's old centre is of Venetian construction and many have pointed out its similarities to Venetian architecture. Today we have surnames on the island that are not of Slavic origin, for example:

• Izmaeli - originally de Ismael
• Gabrijeliċ - originally Gabriel
• Đunio - originally de Giunio
• Bonguardo
• Depolo
• Sambrailo
• Jakov Baničević - originally Jacobus Bannissius
• Don Marko Bono of Žrnovo
• D'Angelis
• Sessa
• Bernardi
• Fabris
• Vidali - surname of a noble family from the 16th century.
• Buskariol

Dalmatia's Coat of arms

Statement by Croatian Historian Sime Peričić:

“

It is true, then a small colony of Italians where in Sibenik, on the island of Korcula, Hvar and Vis, and other places of the province.

”

In the 19th century the island became heavily influenced by Pan-Slavism and the Croatian Nationalistic movements. Pan-Slavism was later in the 20th century reinforced by the Yugoslavian governments. The Communist Yugoslavian regime (1945-92) had a huge influence on the island of Korčula and the historic region of Dalmatia. The Yugoslav Communist party was the main driving force in all social matters within the former Yugoslavia. Its Stalinist policies from the 1940s to the 1960s and authoritarian rule have been mostly ignored in the Western media. From the late 19 century onwards the Dalmatian Italians culture has all but disappeared from the region.

There needs to be an historical reassessment.

Paul Hollander:

“

Public attitudes in former communist countries have been conflicted because of the arguable complicity of many citizens in keeping the old system in power. A predominant attitude in Eastern Europe and Russia toward the former communist systems has been a mixture of oblivion, denial, and repression

”

Surname List from 1830's Korcula (Christening book)

Template:Col-break

• Anzulovic (Anzulovic, Anzulovich)
• Basic (Bashich, Basich, Bassich, Basic)
• Batistic (Batistic, Batistich, Battistich, Battisich)
• Bello (Belo)
• Bercic (Bercic, Bercich)
• Bernardi
• Bertoleto (Bertoletto)
• Bonvardo (Bonguardo, Bonuardo)
• Budol (Bodol, Budoll, Bodoll)
• Buja (Buya, Boya)
• Calugera (Kalogjera, Callogera, Callugera)
• Carlesi (Carlessi, Karlesi, Karlessi)
• Damjanovic (Damjanovic, Damjanovich, Damyanovich)
• Depolo (Depollo)
• Despotovic (Despotovic, Despotovich)
• Devecchi (Davechi, Devechi)
• Druskovic (Druskovic, Druskovich, Druscovich)
• Fabris (Fabriss)
• Filipi (Filippi, Fillipi, Fillippi)
• Foretic (Foretic, Foretich)
• Franasovic (Franasovic, Franasovich, Franassovich)
• Gericic (Gericic, Gericich, Gerichich, Jerisich)
• Giasic (Giasic, Giasich, Giassich)
• Giunio (Junio, Gunio, Junnio, Gunnio)
• Grasic (Grasic, Grasich, Grassich)
• Guljelmi (Gulermi)
• Ivancevic (Ivancevic, Ivancevich, Ivanchevich)
• Jericevic (Jericevic, Jericevich, Yericevich, Yerichevich)
• Jurjevic (Jurjevic, Jurjevich, Yuryevic, Yuryevich)

Template:Col-break

• Kapor (Capor, Kaper, Caper, Kappor, Cappor)
• Kastelan (Kastelan, Kastellan, Castelan, Castellan)
• Klesara (Klessara, Clesara, Clessara, Clesarra, Klesarra)
• Klisura (Klissura, Klesura, Klessura)
• Kondenal (Condenal, Condinnal)
• Kuspilic (Kuspilic, Kuspilich)
• Lovricevic (Lovricevic, Lovrecevich)
• Medin (Meddin)
• Medini (Meddini, Medinni)
• Okmasic (Okmasic, Okmasich)
• Paunovic (Paunovic, Paunovich, Panovich, Pannovich)
• Perucic (Perucic, Perucich, Perusich, Peruchich)
• Pesic (Pesic, Pessic, Pessich, Pesich, Peshich)
• Petrusic (Petrusic, Petrusich, Petrasich, Petrushich)
• Portolan (Portollan, Pertolan)
• Sardi
• Sesa (Sessa)
• Sladoevic (Sladoevic, Sladoevich, Sladovich)
• Smrkinic (Smrkinich, Smerkinich, Smerkenich)
• Sponseli (Sponselli)
• Tanisic (Stanisic, Stanisich, Stanissich, Stannisich)
• Tasovac (Tasovatz)
• Trojanis (Troyanis, Troyannis, Troyaniss)
• Vilovic (Vilovic, Vilovich, Villovich)
• Vitaic (Vitaich)
• Zafron (Safron)
• Zmaic (Zmaic, Zmaich, Smaich)

Template:Col-endAbove taken from www.croatia-in-english.com Korcula names-Tom Ninkovich.

Korcula dialect and Venetian

Template:Col-break

• adio/ goodbye - Venetian: adio
• afitat/ rent - Venetian: afìt
• ala/ come on - Venetian: ala
• aria/ air - Venetian: aria
• arma/ armed - Venetian: arma
• baba/ grandmother - In Venetian it means nanny
• baleta/ bullet - Venetian: bal
• banda/ side - Venetian side & flank
• balun/football - Venetian: balón
• banak/ bench - Venetian: banca
• baraka/shed or shack - Venetian: baràca
• barba/ uncle - Venetian: barba
• barilo/ barrel - Venetian: barìla
• barka/ type of local boat - Venetian: bàrca
• bareta/ cap, hat - Venetian: bareta
• bat / a type of hammer - Venetian:batu, meaning to strike.
• bevanda/ wine with water- Venetian: bevànda "watery wine"
• beštimat/ swear - Venetian: bestiemàr
• bićerin/ small glass - Venetian: bicér "glass"
• bira/ beer-Venetian: bira
• biskot/ cookies - Venetian: biscot
• boca/ bottle - Venetian:boca
• bonaca/ the sea is dead calm - Venetian: bonàca
• bonbon/ sweet - Venetian: bonbon
• botun/ botton - Venetian: boton
• bova/ bouy - Venetian: bova
• Brigela/ local nickname - Venetian: brighela meaning joker
• britva/ knife- Venetian: britolada
• bura/ northern wind - Venetian: bora
• burin/ light northern wind - Venetian: borin
• buža/ hole - Venetian: bus or buxa
• čorav/ blind - Venetian: ciòro "blind person"
• Defora in old Venetian means "from the outside".
• faca/ face - Venetian: faca
• falso/ fake - Venetian: falso "liar"
• feral/ gas lamp - Venetian: feral "lamp"

Template:Col-break

• feta/ slice - Venetian: feta
• figura/ figure - Venetian: figura
• forma/ shape - Venetian: forma
• fabrika/ factory - Venetian: frabica "construction building"
• fumar/ chimney - Venetian: fuma "smoke"
• gusti/ enjoyment - Venetian: gusto "pleasurable"
• karoca/ small carriage - Venetian: carosa carriage
• kartun/ cardboard - Venetian: carton
• kasa/ case - Venetian: casa
• katrida/ chair - Venetian: carega
• klapa/an a cappella form of music - Venetian: clapa "singing crowd"
• kužin/ cousin - Venetian:cuxìn
• licenca/ licence - Venetian: icenca
• lapis/ pencil - Venetian: apis
• lavadin/ washbasin - Venetian: lavandin
• Levant/ strong easterly wind - Venetian: Levantera
• Malandrin/ Local nickname. In Venetian it means: dishonest & crook
• Maragun/ wood worker - Venetian: Marangòn
• mezo/ in between - Venetian: mèzo "half"
• mudante/underwear - Venetian: mudande
• pandur/ policemen - Venetian: panduro
• papit/ this word is used when feeding a child/ (Venetian: papa-means baby food)
• par/ pair - Venetian: par
• perun/ fork - Venetian: pirón from Greek: pirouni
• piat/ plate, dish - Venetian: piat
• pikolo/ small, little - Venetian: picolo
• pirula/ pill - Venetian: pirola
• pistun/ piston - Venetian: piston
• pištol/ pistol - Venetian: pistola
• pitar/ pot - Venetian: pitar (vas, jar)
• pitura/ paint - Venetian: pitura (painting)
• portela/ boat hatch - Venetian: portela (hatch, door)
• šiloko/ local wind - Venetian: siròco
• šporko/ dirty - Venetian: spórco
• šufit/ attic or loft - Venetian: sofìta

Template:Col-end Above referenced from: Venetian-English English-Venetian: When in Venice Do as the Venetians by Lodovico Pizzati

Chronology /Korcula Languages

• Illyrian (Delmatae) • Greek • Latin (Romans) • Romance Dalmatian (Latin) • Slavic (Old Croatian-Chakavian) • Venetian • Slavic - Shtokavian • Italian (standardise language arrived) • Serbo-Croatian (standardise language) Modern times: Croatian (standardise language)

Town of Korcula

See also

• Korcula History (Historical Compendium of the Island of Korcula)
• Korcula Dialect
• Croatian Slavic Identity
• Dalmatian Italians
• Korcula and Italian Wikipedia
• Yugoslavia and Communism

Notes and References

“

Italian language was not only the official language in all public Dalmatian establishments, but also was the spoken language in a significant number of white-collar, civil service and merchant families in the cities and major markets within towns The Early Beginnings of Formal Education - Vela Luka (beginnings of literacy and Lower Primary School 1857 – 1870) (p.8 written in Croatian)

”

^ Encyclopedia Britannica-Dalmatia:

• "Finally, the Treaty of Rapallo (Nov. 12, 1920) between Italy and Yugoslavia gave all Dalmatia to the Yugoslavs except the mainland Zadar (Zara) enclave and the coastal islands of Cres, Losinj (Lussino), and Lastovo.

^ Encyclopaedia Britannica (publ. 1911)

^ The Building Technology by the Korčula Wooden Shipbuilding - School by Roko Markovina

^ Korčula City and Island by Alena Fazinić, Stanka Kraljević & Milan Babić

^ Concerning the Number of Italians/Pro-Italians in Dalmatia in the XIXth Century by Šime Peričić

^ The League of Communists of Yugoslavia

^ Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity, Volume 3 by Dinah Shelton Macmillan Reference, 2005 - Political Science (p.1170)

^ www.enotes.com "Yugoslavia." Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity. Ed. Dinah L. Shelton. Gale Cengage, 2005. eNotes.com. 2006. 26 Jun, 2010 Yugoslavia: Genocide & Crimes Against Humanity-Mark Thompson.

• "The killing continued after the war, as Tito's victorious forces took revenge on their real and perceived enemies. British forces in Austria turned back tens of thousands of fleeing Yugoslavs. Estimates range from 30,000 to 55,000 killed between spring and autumn 1945."

• "Native German and Hungarian communities, seen as complicit with wartime occupation, were brutally treated; tantamount in some cases to ethnic cleansing. The Volksdeutsch settlements of Vojvodina and Slavonia largely disappeared. Perhaps 100,000 people—half the ethnic German population in Yugoslavia—fled in 1945, and many who remained were compelled to do forced Labour, murdered, or later ransomed by West Germany. Some 20,000 Hungarians of Vojvodina were killed in reprisals. Albanian rebellions in Kosovo were suppressed, with prisoners sent on death marches towards the coast. An estimated 170,000 ethnic Italians fled to Italy in the late 1940s and 1950s. (All of these figures are highly approximate.)"

^ http://www.cato.org/publications/development-policy-analysis/reflections-communism-twenty-years-after-fall-berlin-wall

^ The traditional Klapa was composed of up to a dozen male singers (in recent times there are female Klape groups). Klapa singing dates back centuries. The arrival of the Slavic-Croatians to Dalmatia and their subsequent settlement in the area, began the process of the cultural mixing of Slavic culture with that of the traditions of the Roman-Latin population of Dalmatia. This process was most evident in the coastal and island regions of Dalmatia. In the 19th century a standard form of Klapa singing emerged. Church music heavily influences the arrangements of this music giving it the musical form that exists today.

^ Venetian-English English-Venetian: When in Venice Do as the Venetians by Lodovico Pizzati (p19)

Encyclopaedia Britannica's (publ. 1911)

Article on Korčula from 1911:

“

Curzola, the capital and principal port, is a fortified town on the east coast, and occupies a rocky foreland almost surrounded by the sea. Besides the interesting church (formerly a cathedral), dating from the 12th or 13th century, the loggia or council chambers, and the palace of its former Venetian governors, it possesses the noble mansion of the Arnieri, and other specimens of the domestic architecture of the 15th and 16th centuries, together with the massive walls and towers, erected in 1420, and the 15th-century Franciscan monastery, with its beautiful Venetian Gothic cloister. The main resources of the islanders are boat-building (for which they are celebrated throughout the Adriatic), fishing and seafaring, the cultivation of the vine, corn and olives, and breeding of mules. In 1571 it defended itself so gallantly against the Turks that it obtained the designation fidelissima. From 1776 to 1797 it succeeded Lesina as the main Venetian arsenal in this region. During the Napoleonic wars it was ruled successively by Russians, French and British, ultimately passing to Austria in 1815.

”

A 19th century engraving of a Venetian galley fighting a Genoese fleet at the battle of Curzola in 1298. The Granger Collection-England

External links

• Photo link for a aerial view of Korcula Town
• Korcula Info
• Vela Luka-Mediterano
• Wikipedia: Battle of Curzola
• University of Zadar (Sveučilište u Zadru-Universitas Studiorum Jadertina)
• University of Zagreb (Sveučilište u Zagrebu)

Defaced Photo by Peter Zuvela

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