The people of Koper and Izola swear an oath of fealty to the doge and the Commune of Venice, promising to arm one galley whenever Venice would embark on a military campaign with fifteen or more galleys, military aid for any Venetian military endeavor in the Adriatic, in the zone between Dubrovnik, Venice, and Ancona, guaranteeing the safety of all the Venetians in their city, and promising to observe the same ducal laws on grain trade as Venetians.
Ina nomine domini nostri Iesu Christi.
Anno Domini MoCoXoLVob, mensis decembris, indictione nona, Rivoalto.
Hoc est capitulare et pactum quod pepigitc Almericus gastaldio et Adalperus notarius et Rantulfus iudex et populus Iustinopolis, id est Caput Ystrie, et cum Insula et cum domino nostro Petro Polano Dei gracia duce Veneciarum, Dalmatie atque Chroacied et cum suis successoribus perpetualiter.
[1] Primum itaque debet unusquisque concivis et habitator eiusdem Iustinopolis et prefate Insule facere fidelitatem sancto Marco et duci Veneciarum.
[2] Sane stabilitum est inter nos quod, quandocumque Venecia mandaverit quindecim galeas et nobis notificatum fuerit a duce Veneciarum, quod nos debemus venire in Venecias et recipere unam galeam sarcinatam, si illam nobis dederit, et armare illam debemus cum nostro expendio et ire cum ceteris galeis in servitium Veneciarum ubicumque ipse iverint. Si vero Venecia amplius fecerit, nos tantum unam galeam armare debemus.
[3] Verum, si dux vel suus missus iverit per comune ad preliandum de Veneciis usquee ad Ragusium et de Veneciis usque ad Anconam et infra easdem partes, eodem modo nos homines suprascripte Iustinopolis et Insule secundum nostrum posse cum eis in servitium Veneciarum ire debemus.
[4] Homines quidem Veneciarum cum illorum habere et bonis salvi et securi debent esse in omnibus pertinentiis nostris. Si vero aliquis Veneticus passus fuerit aliquam incomoditatem a nostris concivibus, secundum morem nostre terre illis emendatum esse debet.
[5] Homines itaque suprascripte Iustinopolis et Insule fidelitatem ducibus, qui perpetualiter erunt in Veneciis, iurare debentf, ut suprascripta sunt.
[6] Bannum vero quod Venecia collocaverit de omni genere frumenti et leguminis, sicut Venetici constricti erunt per sacramentum, eodem modo per sacramentum debemus observare. Si quis igitur nostrorum de predicto frumento et leguminibus comparaverit infra suprascriptum bannum, iurare debet quod extraneis hominibus illud vendere non debeat, sed pro utilitate sua et suorum concivium, nisi forte permissum fuerit a duce Venetiarum vel suo misso.
Actum est in curia domini nostri Petri Polani ducis in presentia iudicum et sapientium eius.
a) spatium vacuum rel. pro capitali littera initiali P2. b) millesimo CoXoLVo L. c) pepepegit L. d) Croacie L. e) om. L. f) seq. u canc. L.
“Ducis igitur anno XVIo Iustinopolitanus populus cum lnsulano, qui antiquitus ducibus fuerant tributarii, nunc fideles effecti, duci cum stolum XV galearum a Ragusio supra miserit, unam galeam et a Ragusio infra pro rata hominum mictere, Venetosque ubilibet immunes perpetualiter promiserunt.” – Andrea Dandolo, Chronica per extensum descripta, ed. Ester Pastorello, RIS, ser. 2, 12/1 (Bologna 1958), p. 241 [the same text is reported in Codex Trevisaneus, fol. 206r].
The treaty that Doge Pietro Polani signed with Koper must be contextualized together with the treaties signed with King Roger II of Sicily in 1139 (Tafel–Thomas, cited above, doc. 45, p. 101), with Fano on the western coast of the Adriatic in 1141 (Il patto con Fano 1141, ed. Bartoli Langeli, Venezia 1993), and with Pula in the very December of 1145 (doc. 1145_PP). All of these treaties were aimed at consolidating the privileged Venetian position within the Adriatic area, especially in the triangle between Venice, Ancona, and Dubrovnik. Compared to Fano, Koper went a step further, not only promising military aid but also the respect of ducal regulations on grain trade. This was in effect the beginning of direct Venetian authority in an Istrian community, de iure subjected to the Empire. Still, this was not a proper subjection of Koper, as this would take place only in 1278. Venetian chroniclers, beginning with Andrea Dandolo, endeavored to depict the treaty as subjection, narrating how the Capodistrians went from tributarii to fideles with this very treaty. This, however, is not entirely correct if one interprets the word fideles as "subjects".
Traditional Istrian scholarship, from Benussi to De Vergottini (cited above), viewed this treaty as a result of Venetian retaliation against Istrian communities that dared to extend their mercantile endeavors beyond the control of Venice. This may be true, but there are no primary sources that would corroborate this bold thesis, at least not for the year 1145. One can also not speak of a “war” between Venice and Istrian communities as Benussi did, simply because there is no primary source that would corroborate this interpretation. Due to the massive influence of Benussi and De Vergottini, this thesis is taken over in contemporary scholarship (cf. Ivetic). It was only recently that Darovec (cited above) rebuked this old thesis, clearly demonstrating that the 1145 pacts with Koper-Izola and Pula were not motivated by previous enmities.
In any case, the period between 1145 and 1153 is indeed the age in which Venice tied the coastal communities of western Istria, from Koper to Pula, to a much shorter leash. It was the birth of a nucleus from which the proper subjecthood to Venice would spring in the second half of the thirteenth century, catalyzed by the destructive infighting between the Aquileian patriarchs and their advocates, the counts of Gorizia.
For the breakdown of the articles and the comparison between this treaty and the treaty between Venice and Pula, signed in the same December of 1145, see the "Editor's Comments" section in doc. 1145_PP.
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