Studies

Welcome to the Studies section of !

Here you will find articles, book chapters and even entire monographs available for direct download. These publications, arranged according to the respective eras of FIM's database, serve as introductory studies to the seminal phenomena of Istrian history during the centuries in question. New material will continually be uploaded to this section as new studies are published and the consents of the authors' are procured.

Note that only studies published with critical apparatus (footnotes) are taken into consideration here. Overviews, chapters and encyclopedia entries published without referencing primary sources are utterly ignored in the following lists.

General overviews of Istrian Middle Ages

These publications should be consulted first as they still offer the best introduction to the medieval history of Istria. The readers should be mindful that older studies, such as those by Benussi, are nowadays surpassed in some aspects, but their overall usefulness still outweighs their outdatedness.

Bernardo Benussi, Nel Medio Evo: Pagine di storia istriana, 2nd ed., Collana degli Atti 23 (Rovinj – Trieste 2004) [1st ed. Poreč – Parenzo 1897].

Camillo De Franceschi, “Il comune polese e la signoria di Castropola,” Atti e memorie della Società istriana di archeologia e storia patria 18/1–2 (1902): pp. 168–212 [part 1 of 5]; 18/3–4 (1902): pp. 281–361 [part 2 of 5]; 19 (1903): pp. 147–227 [part 3 of 5]; 20/1–2 (1905): pp. 95–130 [part 4 of 5]; 20/3–4 (1905): pp. 1–39 [part 5 of 5].

Giovanni De Vergottini, Lineamenti storici della costituzione politica dell'Istria durante il Medio Evo, 2nd ed. (Trieste 1974) [1st ed. Rome 1924–1925]. Absolutely invaluable to this day!

Giovanni De Vergottini, “La costituzione provinciale dell'Istria nel tardo Medio Evo,” Atti e memorie della Società istriana di archeologia e storia patria 38/2 (1926): pp. 81–127 [part 1 of 2]; 39/1 (1927): pp. 9–60 [part 2 of 2].

Peter Štih, I conti di Gorizia e l’Istria nel Medioevo, Collana degli Atti 36 (Rovinj – Rovigno 2013). The most up-to-date account on the County of Pazin and the jurisdictions of the counts of Gorizia in Istria.

Vol. 1: A seculo VI usque ad 803 (Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages)

Istria as mirrored in the letters of Cassiodorus:

Robert Matijačić, “Kasiodorova pisma kao izvor za poznavanje kasnoantičke povjesti Istre: (cass.Var. XII, 22, 23, 24),” Zgodovinski časopis 42/3 (1988): pp. 363–371.

Hrvoje Gračanin, “Nova kontekstualizacija starog vrela – Kasiodorove Variae o kasnoantičkoj Istri / A New Contextualization of an Old Source: Cassiodorus’ Variae on Late Antique Istria,” Miscellanea Hadriatica et Mediterranea 6/1 (2019): pp. 9–34 [bilingual Croatian / English edition].

The Three Chapters Controversy:

Celia Chazelle and Catherine Cubitt (eds.), The Crisis of the Oikoumene: The Three Chapters and the Failed Quest for Unity in the Sixth-Century Mediterranean, Studies in the Early Middle Ages 14 (Turnhout 2007), esp. pp. 121–160 (Carole Straw, “Much Ado About Nothing: Gregory the Great’s Apology to the Istrians”.

Rajko Bratož, Med Italijo in Ilirikom: Slovenski prostor in njegovo sosedstvo v pozni antiki [Between Italy and Illyric: Slovenian area and its neighborhood in Late Antiquity] (Ljubljana 2014), pp. 505–567 (chapter: “Razvoj cerkvene organizacije od srede 5. do konca 6. st.” [The development of ecclesiastical organization from mid-5th to the end of the 6th century]).

Istria in Justinian's Eastern Roman Empire:

Marina Vicelja-Matijašić, “Byzantium and Istria: Some Aspects of Byzantine Presence in Istria,” Acta Histriae 13/1 (2005): pp. 185–204.

Andrej Novak, L’Istria nella prima età bizantina (Rovinj – Rovigno 2007).

Vedran Bileta, On the Fringes of the Shrinking Empire: The Militarization of Administration and Society in Byzantine Istria, MA thesis (Budapest, Central European University, 2010).

Vol. 2: A 804 usque ad 1077 (Early Middle Ages)

General survey:

Maurizio Levak, “Istra i Kvarner u ranome srednjem vijeku” [Istria and Kvarner in the Early Middle Ages], in Nova zraka u europskom svjetlu: Hrvatske zemlje u ranome srednjem vijeku (oko 550 – oko 1150) [New ray in European light: Croatian lands in the Early Middle Ages], ed. Zrinka Nikolić Jakus (Zagreb 2015), pp. 385–414.

The advent of the Franks and Istria under the Frankish kingdom:

Lujo Margetić, “Neka pitanja prijelaza vlasti nad Istrom od Bizanta na Franke” [Some questions regarding the transition of power over Istria from Byzantium to the Franks], Acta Histriae 2/2 (1994): pp. 5–14.

Peter Štih, “Istria at the Onset of the Frankish Rule, or the Impact of Global Politics on Regional and Local Conditions,” The Middle Ages between the Eastern Alps and the  Northern Adriatic: Select Papers on Slovene Historiography and Medieval History, East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450–1450 11 (Leiden – Boston 2010), pp. 212–229.

Miljenko Jurković, “Istria under the Carolingian Rule,” in Migration, Integration and Connectivity on the Southeastern Frontier of the Carolingian Empire, eds. Danijel Dzino, Ante Milošević, and Trpimir Vedriš (Leiden – Boston 2018), pp. 123–152.

The immigration and colonization of the Slavs in Istria:

Maurizio Levak, Slaveni vojvode Ivana: Kolonizacija Slavena u Istri u početnom razdoblju franačke uprave [Duke John’s Slavs: The colonization of the Slavs in Istria in the first period of Frankish government] (Zagreb – Pula 2007).

Maurizio Levak, “Cause e fini della colonizzazione Slava dell’Istria in epoca franca alla fine dell’VIII secolo,” Atti del Centro di ricerche storiche Rovigno 41 (2011): pp. 103–152.

The placitum by the river Rižana of 804:

Acta Histriae 13/1: Istria between the East and the West: For The 1200th Anniversary of the Placitum of Risano (2005),the entire volume is dedicated to the Placitum of Rižana.

Francesco Borri, “Neighbors and Relatives: The Plea of Rižana as a Source for Northern Adriatic Elites,” Mediterranean Studies 17 (2008): pp. 1–26.

First treaties with Venice:

Giovanni De Vergottini, “Venezia e l'Istria nell'Alto Medioevo,” in Atti e memorie della Società istriana di archeologia e storia patria 65 (1965): pp. 97–119.

The Counts and Margraves of Istria (9th – 11th centuries):

Heinz Dopsch and Therese Meyer, “Von Bayern nach Friaul: Zur Herkunft der Grafen von Görz und ihren Anfäugen in Tirol, Kärnten und Friaul,” Zeitschrift für Bayerische Landesgeschichte 65/2 (2002): pp. 337–347.

Ingrid Würth, ”Die Grafen von Weimar-Orlamünde als Markgrafen von Krain und Istrien,” Zeitschrift des Vereins für Thüringische Geschichte 56 (2002): pp. 91–132.

Josip Banić, “Anatomy of a Forgery: New Insights into the Donation Charters of Istrian Countesses Williburga and Azica,” IN PREPARATION.

Vol. 3: A 1077 usque ad 1209

The Margraves of Istria (11th – 12th centuries):

Alois Schütz, “Henrik Istrski in njegova povezava s kraljevim umorom v Bambergu / Heinrich von Istrien und der Königsmord von Bamberg,” in: Grofje Andeško-Meranski: Prispevki k zgodovini Evrope v visokem srednjem veku: Zbornik razprav s mednarodnega znanstvenega simpozija Kamnik, 22. - 23. september 2000 / Die Andechs-Meranier: Beiträge zur Geschichte Europas im Hochmittelalter: Ergebnisse des internationalen Symposiums, Kamnik, 22. - 23. September 2000, ed. Andreja Eržen and Toni Aigner (Kamnik 2001), pp. 123–132 (bilingual Slovenian / German edition).

Peter Štih, “Rodbina koroških Spanheimov, prvih gospodov Kostanjevice” [The Family of Carinthian Spanheims, the First Lords of Kostanjevica], in Kostanjevica na Krki 1252–2002: Vekov tek: Zbornik ob 750. obletnici prve listinske omembe mesta [Kostanjevica na Krki 1252–2002: The flow of centuries: Miscellanea accompanying the 750th anniversary of the first mention of the place in charters], ed. Andrej Smrekar (Kostanjevica na Krki 2003), pp. 55–75.

Josip Banić, “Donationes pro remedio animae as Total Social Facts: A Case Study from the Twelfth Century Margraviate of Istria,” in 7. istarski povijesni biennale: Religio, fides, superstitiones...: O vjerovanju i pobožnosti na jadranskom prostoru [7th Istrian historical biennale: Religio fides, superstitiones...: Faith and piety in the Adriatic area] (Poreč – Parenzo 2017), pp. 45–67.

Josip Banić, “The Mystery of Merania: A New Solution to Old Problems (Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Croatia-Dalmatia during the Investiture Controversy),” Zgodovinski časopis 74/3–4 (2020): IN PRINT.

Treaties with Venice (12th century):

Darko Darovec, “I giuramenti di fidelitas delle città istriane nel XIIº secolo,” in Atti del convegno internazionale Venezia e il suo Stato da mar / Venice and its Stato da Mar, Venezia / Venice, 9-11 marzo / March 2017, Stato da Mar: Collana della Società Dalmata di Storia Patria 1 (Rome 2018), pp. 21–49.

The roots of Istrian communes:

Giovanni De Vergottini, “Momenti e figure della storia istriana nell'età comunale,” Atti e memorie della Società istriana di archeologia e storia patria 54 (1952): pp. 5–47, but only pp. 7–12 actually deal with the period up to 1209.

Vol. 4: A 1209 usque ad 1300

The first Venetian expansion over the Istrian peninsula:

Meinrad Pizzinini, “Die Grafen von Görz und die Terra-ferma-Politik der Republik. Venedig in Istrien in der 2. Hälfte des 13. Jahrhunderts,” Veröffentlichungen des Tiroler Landesmuseums Ferdinandeum 54 (1974): pp. 183–211.

Katja Puppe, Der lange Weg nach Istrien: Die venezianische Unterwerfung der Halbinsel, vornehmlich am Beispiel Kopers (1279-1349), PhD thesis (Leipzig, Fakultät für Geschichte, Kunst- und Orientwissenschaften der Universität Leipzig, 2017).

Vol. 5: A 1300 usque ad 1421

The Istrian triplex confinium:

Peter Štih, “Goriški grofje in geneza Pazinske grofije,” [The counts of Gorizia and the genesis of the County of Pazin], Acta Histriae 3 (1994): pp. 55–70.

Miha Kosi, Spopad na prehode proti Jadranu in nastanek “dežele Kras” [The clash for the passes towards the Adriatic and the formation of the “Territory of the Karst”], Thesaurus memoriae: Opuscula 6 (Ljubljana 2018), pp. 35–109.

Josip Banić, “Pro honore, utilitate et commodo: The Margraviate of Istria and the Market Privileges of the Aquileian Patriarch Bertrand de Saint-Geniès (1334-1350),” in 8th Istrian History Biennale: Artisani et mercatores...: Artisans and Merchants in the Adriatic Area: Collected Papers from the International Scientific Conference, eds. Elena Uljančić and Marija Mogorović Crljenko (Poreč – Parenzo 2019), pp. 81–99.

Vol. 6: A 1421 usque ad 1535

Overviews of Istrian Late Middle Ages:

Robert Kurelić, “Mletačka Republika i Habsburška Monarhija na prijelazu iz kasnog srednjovjekovlja u rani novi vijek (1400. – 1600.)” [The Republic of Venice and the Habsburg Monarchy at the Transition from the Late Middle Ages to the Early Modern Period (1400-1600)], in Istra u novom vijeku [Istria in the Early Modern period], ed. Tatjana Bradara, Monografije i katalozi 30 (Pula 2017), pp. 13–24.

Marija Mogorović Crljenko, “Istra i Kvarner” [Istria and Kvarner], in Vrijeme sazrijevanja, vrijeme razaranja: Hrvatske zemlje u kasnome srednjem vijeku [The time of maturation, the time of destruction: Croatian lands in the Late Middle Ages], ed. Marija Karbić (Zagreb 2019), pp. 305–326.

The Venetian takeover of the Margraviate of Istria:

Josip Banić, “The Venetian Takeover of the Margraviate of Istria (1411–1421): The Modality of a Passage (with Eight Previously Unedited Documents in the Appendix),” History in Flux 1 (2019): pp. 41–77.

The War of the League of Cambrai as reflected in Istria:

Miha Kosi, Spopad na prehode proti Jadranu in nastanek “dežele Kras” [The clash for the passes towards the Adriatic and the formation of the “Territory of the Karst”], Thesaurus memoriae: Opuscula 6 (Ljubljana 2018), pp. 139–170.