The Uskoks of Senj

by Bracewell, Catherine Wendy

• ISBN13: 9780801477096
• ISBN10: 0801477093
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-01-13
• Publisher: Cornell Univ Pr

Summary

"The Uskoks of Senj is a study of piracy, privateering, and banditry in an area stretching from the Adriatic Bay of Kotor to Istria, and along the military frontiers of three empires-Habsburg, Ottoman, and Venetian. Complemented by a splendid choice of published sources, the book is an exemplary contribution to the history of the sixteenth-century Adriatic and Balkans."-American Historical Review "Bracewell explains with care why the uskoks were able to provide a vehicle for the expression of a political and social identity for the people of the border. This book not only brings the uskoks into the light but also is a pathbreaking study of the nature of group identity and popular political consciousness in the sixteenth century."-Sixteenth Century Journal "Bracewell delves into the cultural and political attributes that transformed the coastal town of Senj into a crusading fortress. She also strives to ascertain exactly who undertook the hazardous and often ineffectual labor of combating the Ottoman 'Turk,' and why they did so. Bracewell argues that frontier culture shaped the Uskoks and their ethos. It forced them to be obstinate and shockingly pitiless."-Journal of Modern History In this highly original and influential book, Catherine Wendy Bracewell reconstructs and analyzes the tumultuous history of the uskoks of Senj, the martial bands nominally under the control of the Habsburg Military Frontier in Croatia, who between the 1530s and the 1620s developed a community based on raiding the Ottoman hinterland, Venetian possessions in Dalmatia, and shipping on the Adriatic.

Author Biography

Catherine Wendy Bracewell is a Reader in Southeast European History at UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies. She is coeditor most recently of Balkan Departures: Travel Writing from Southeastern Europe (as Wendy Bracewell).

Table of Contents

Illustrations and Maps	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xi
Conventions and Abbreviations	p. xiii
Introduction	p. 1
The Uskoks of Senj between Three Empires	p. 2
Approaches to the Uskoks	p. 6
Sources	p. 15
The Borders and Border Military Systems	p. 19
The Impact of Ottoman Invasion	p. 20
Conflict and Community on the Borders	p. 25
Border Military Systems	p. 36
Klis and Senj in the Military Frontier	p. 45
Origins and Motives of the Uskoks	p. 51
Origins and Numbers	p. 51
Why Become an Uskok?	p. 66
The Raiding Economy	p. 89
Military Frontier Subsidies	p. 89
The Economics of Raiding	p. 98
Trade as a Function of Plunder	p. 108
Military Authority and Raiding	p. 118
Senj Citizens and Uskoks	p. 119
Uskok Rank-and-File: Venturini and Stipendiati	p. 125
Uskok Commanders	p. 130
Captains of Senj	p. 139
The Habsburgs and the Military Frontier Administration	p. 150
Legitimating Raiding: The Uskok Code	p. 155
The Uskok antemurale Chirstianitatis	p. 155
Honor and Vengeance	p. 162
Solidarity and Conflict	p. 170
Allies and Victims	p. 175
Relations with the Infidel	p. 175
Uskoks and Ottoman Christians	p. 187
Christian Neighbors: Venice and Dubrovnik	p. 199
Merchants and Cities	p. 209
The Rural Population of Dalmatia	p. 218
The Final Decades	p. 237
Deteriorating Relations with Venice	p. 238
Rabatta's Commission in Senj	p. 244
Dissent over the Limits of Raids	p. 250
The Peace of Zsitvatorok and Conflict with the Hofkriegsrat	p. 262
Popular Support for the Uskoks	p. 273
Vlatkovic's Trial: The End of the Independent Vojvodas	p. 277
Toward War with Venice	p. 281
The Dispersal of the Uskoks	p. 289
Chronology	p. 305
Glossary	p. 307
Bibliography	p. 309
Index	p. 323
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