Vlachs of Croatia

The term Vlachs (Croatian: Vlasi) was initially used in medieval Croatian and Venetian history for a Romance-speaking pastoralist community, called Vlachs and Morlachs, inhabiting the mountains and lands of the Croatian Kingdom and the Republic of Venice (Venetian Dalmatia) from the early 14th century. By the end of the 15th century they were highly assimilated with the Slavs and Croats and lost their language or were at least bilingual, while some communities managed to preserve and continue to speak their language (Istro-Romanians).

Later in the 16th and 17th century with Ottoman conquest and mass migrations, term was primarily used for a socio-cultural and professional segment of population rather than to an ethnicity, and referred to the mostly Slavic speaking emigrants and refugees from Ottoman-held territories to the Habsburg Empire (Croatian Kingdom) and Republic of Venice (Dalmatia), mostly of Eastern Orthodox, and Catholic faith (Bunjevci). With the nation-building in the 19th century this Vlachian population according the religious confession espoused either a mostly Serb, or Croat ethnicity.

Today, Vlachs are a national minority recognized as one of the 22 autochthonous ethnic groups of Croatia. The total population of Vlachs as recorded in the 2011 Croatian census was only 29, making them the smallest minority group living in Croatia.

Appelation

The meaning of the term "Vlach" within the territory of present-day Croatia differed over time and had multiple meanings. In the Middle Ages, initially it was an exonym that referred to distinctive Vlachian pastoralist communities in the mountains, or rarely other Romance-speaking people like Italians. The term secondarily developed the social-professional and religious connotation. It meant shepherds and transporters in the hinterland regardless of the ethnicity and religion (but often of Romance language), strangers and newcomers as opposed to natives (in Istria with Shtokavian features in language), landsman for the inhabitants of island (in Dalmatia), rugged villager from hinterland for the citizen, and later an Orthodox Christian (respectively, most often for the Serbs). From the 16th century, with Ottoman conquest and mass migrations of Slavic-speaking people, to primarily a socio-cultural and professional segment of population, rather than to an ethnicity.[1]

The Vlachs were distinguished by their nomadic and semi-nomadic pastoral way of life as shepherds involving transhumance.[2] They lived in more extended families organised into local communities, and were bearers of a strongly patriarchal culture associated with the Dinaric Alps.[2] Their ethnographic traits were traditional clothings, use of the gusle musical instrument accompanied with epic singing,[2] Ojkanje singing,[3] and some other specific traits like religious confession or language.[2]

While the Slavic communities managed to make a national identity founding regional provinces and kingdoms, Romance-speaking Vlachs didn't manage to make a national identity and were prone to assimilation.[4] However, even if they were prone to national, linguistical and cultural assimilation with Slavs, they did contribute to their respective communities. The problems Vlachs faced with the creation of the national identity didn't differed very much from the other rural communities faced. Rural people compromised the majority of population in the Middle Ages, and the centuries of war, conquest, regional boundaries, migrations, religious conversions, cultural blending and socio-economic problems affected the belonging of a population to a specific South Slavic national group.[5] The regions of Lika (which mostly involved the Croatian Military Frontier) and Dalmatia were the border area between Habsburg, Ottoman and Venetian Empires, a place of mass migrations and mixing of communities.[6]

In the area, the confessional, socio-cultural and regional characteristics had a crucial impact on the creation of an ethnic identity.[7] The equalization between religious confession and ethnicity began in the middle of the 16th century when the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Patriarchate of Peć, which had a significant religious and political influence on Serbs, started since 1557 to identify Orthodoxy with Serbdom.[8] Gradually in the 17th century, as Croatian culture was preserved by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Senj-Modruš in Croatia, and Franciscan Province of Bosna Srebrena in Ottoman Bosnia, Croatian name was identified with Catholicism.[8] The socio-cultural difference was a life-style distinction between the natives (Catholic, peasant, smaller families) and the new migrants (Orthodox, pastoralist, larger families), who referred to themselves as Vlachs in the context of claiming the traditional legal rights and privileges of their class.[1]

Vlach groups

Romance Vlachs

The Vlachs mentioned in the documents from the Middle Age until the 16th century, before the Ottoman invasion and migrations, were the progeny of Romanized Illyrians and Thraco-Romans, other pre-Slavic Romance-speaking people, and after assimilation also of Slavic people.[9][10] Some Romance-speaking groups were autochthonous in Croatia and assimilated with Slavs, some were assimilated but preserved their identity and name, while some other groups migrated from Herzegovina to Dalmatia in very late 14th century.[11] Those groups from Herzegovina are believed to have migrated from Thessaly, Epirus and Macedonia before the Ottoman invasion into Southern Europe.[11]

With the arrival of Slavs, Vlachs began to assimilate with them, and being exposed to the Slavic language they gradually began to adopt it as their own.[9] In documents from Lika (1433), Cetina (1436), and Zrmanja (1486–87), a century after their first mention in those lands, the Vlachs had mostly unchristian, traditional South Slavic names and surnames.[12] They, as other Vlachs in Croatia, were called "good Vlachs" (dobri Vlasi), "good men from katuns" (dobri muži katunari), or "royal Vlachs" (Olahi domini nostri regis, Wolachi banatus regni Croatie).[13] However, despite this cross-pollination of language, some Vlachs remained distinct from the Slavs. In the 1436 document from Cetina, Catholic Vlachs of the county of Cetina (around the town of Sinj) were represented as distinct from both the Serbs and the Croats inhabiting the county.[13] In a book by Ragusan historian Ludovik Crijević (1459-1527), Writings on the Present Age, Vlachs were distinguished from other people, and were mentioned as "nomadic Illyrians who in the common language are called Vlachs" and "at the same time Cossuli (Kožul/lj, nowadays a surname), originated from the Illyrians who considered themselves Romans".[14] During the Orthodox migration to Žumberak in 1538, general commander Nikola Jurišić mentioned the Vlachs who "in our parts are called as Old Romans" separate from the Serbs and Rascians.[15]

During the 14th century, Vlach settlements existed throughout much of today's Croatia,[16] but centres of population were focused around the Velebit and Dinara mountains and along the Krka and Cetina rivers. The Vlachs represented a significant part of the population of Lika and Šibenik-Knin County,[17] a significant Vlach population lived on the territory of the Nelipić family in Dalmatian Zagora,[18] and between 1400 and 1600 many Vlach families had settled Istria and island of Krk.[19] The Venetian colonization of Istria occurred not later than the early 1520s,[19] and there were several cases when they returned to Dalmatia.[20]

Drawing of a Ćić, an Istrian Vlach from 1891. They and other Vlachs in northern Istria were called Ćići. The mountain Ćićarija consequently got named after its inhabitants.

The Vlach people distinctively lived a nomadic life as shepherds and as traveling merchants on trading routes.[21] They lived in villages, and hamlets called katun (ro. cătun), smaller village-like places in the mountains and lower areas where they dwelled during the transhumant period.

By the end of the 14th and 15th century, they lost their Romance language, or were at least bilingual.[22] The so-called Istro-Romanians, called by themselves Rumeri or Vlachs,[23][24] continued to speak their language on the island of Krk and villages around the Čepić lake in Istria,[22] while other communities in the mountains (Ćićarija) above the lake preserved the Shtokavian-Chakavian dialect with Ikavian accent from the southern Velebit and area of Zadar.[25][26] The evidence of their Romance language are toponyms throughout the Dinaric Alps, and many anthroponyms (surnames) with specific Romance or Slavic word roots, and Romanian ending suffixes found among South Slavic people.[27][28][29] The "Vlach" or "Romanian" traditional system of counting sheep in pairs do (two), pato (four), šasto (six), šopći (eight), zeći (ten) has been preserved in southern Velebit until today.[30][31]

Slavic Vlachs

The people referred to as Vlachs from the middle of the 16th century were the emigrants from Ottoman-held territories (former Croatian Kingdom territory), to the Habsburg Empire (Croatian Kingdom) and Republic of Venice (Dalmatia). They descended from mostly Orthodox and Catholic refugees from the Ottoman Empire. They were characterised by mobility and dispersion. They spoke the Neo-Shtokavian dialect of Serbo-Croatian, with Ijekavian and Ikavian accent.[32] They were also called on some occasions as Rasciani sive Serviani, which was an exonym for the Serbs or Orthodox Christians.[1][33] They spoke the Eastern Herzegovinian subdialect of Neo-Shtokavian.[34] A prominent Catholic Vlach group were the Bunjevci,[35] who spoke the Western Herzegovinian subdialect of Neo-Shtokavian.[36]

Although in some documents from the 16th and 17th centuries the Habsburg Imperial Court used the terms Vlachs, Rascians and Serbs as synonyms (indicating their Orthodox confession), the socio-cultural and ethnological evidence on the ground doesn't support such a simplified interpretation of the ethnic identity of Orthodox Vlachs.[37] There are evidence of existence and participation of Serbian nobles and Serbs in migration, mostly in Slavonia, Srijem and eastern Bosnia from northern Serbia, the hesitant use of the terms in western Croatia, and the fact that the most of those Vlachs came from the same territory previously belonging to Croatian Kingdom or border with Bosnian Kingdom guided by financial status, and that they rarely called themselves as Serbs, the exact ethnogenesis of those Vlach immigrants remains unknown and disputable.[38][39]

At the time of Morean War (1684–89), in Dalmatia from the regions of Lika and Krbava were temporarily settled the biggest number of Vlachs.[40] They migrated from Ottoman-held territories, and comprised at least 1,700 families in Dalmatia, and 530 families in Karlovac Generalate. Since 1690, they, and some Vlach families from Dalmatia and Bosnia, began to return to their original provinces in Lika and Krbava. With them in 1694 came Orthodox metropolitan Atanasije Ljubojević who established Serbian Orthodox Ličko-Krbavska and Zrinopoljska Eparchy.[40]

Anthroponymy

According to the 1712/14 census done in Lika and Krbava,[41] the majority of nobility in Lika consisted of Catholic Croats, while the vast majority of population were Orthodox Vlachs.[42] The Orthodox formed the 71%, while Catholics 29% of population.[43] The statistical categories were minimal to socio-religious and military and economic aspects of the population,[44] but including a list of 713 surnames it is an important source for onomastics, and to comprehend the ethnic identity of the population.[45] The future studies have found that at the beginning of the 20th century only 60-64% of the surnames were preserved, and mostly vanished surnames of the Carniolian origin.[46]

By origin, the surnames can be divided into Turkish, Carniolian, Croatian, and Vlachian.[47] The Turkish surnames indicate an Islamic-oriental influence, and mostly are Muslim-patronymic.[48] The Carniolian surnames indicate a Kajkavian cultural and regional sphere. This surnames characteristically are mostly professional by origin, many linguistically Germanic, some permeate with other dialects, and have the smallest share of the ending suffix "-ić".[49] The Croatian show an arhaic age, many are mentioned in the Middle Age and the 15th and 16th centuries, before the Council of Trent, while some are from the second-half of 16th and 17th centuries of Dinaric origin.[50]

The Vlachian surnames show almost the same share of surnames between Orthodox Vlachs and Catholic Bunjevci. The religious confession wasn't a crucial influence of the identity of this groups as the patronymic surnames of Catholic or Othodox origin were also found in the opposite confessional group.[50] That there was a significant Ottoman cultural influence.[51] That many were derived from word roots "-vuk", "-rad", "-mil", and unusually many matronymic and from nickname origin.[3] Remarkably, a significant number of surnames (20%) are of Old-Balkan origin. By word roots, and suffixes like "-ul", "-as", "-an", "-ar", "-at", "-ta", "-er", "-et", "-man" and "-ina", they mostly indicate a Romance language heritage and cultural life of original Vlach shepherds, then Thraco-Illyrian language heritage, and some with "-aj" and "-eza" suffixes the Arbanasi heritage.[51]

History

Middle Ages

Reference to the existence of Vlachs or Romance-speaking people in Medieval Croatia dates from the early Middle Age; One of the first mention of Vlachs is the 1071 charter by the Croatian King Krešimir IV about the Rab diocese, when on the island of Pag was mentioned the village Wlasici (today village Vlašići),[27][52] but is considered a forgery from the late 12th and early 13th century.[53] In the Libellus Policorion, church cartular dated in the mid 14th century that includes transcriptions of older collected documents about estates of now extinct Benedictine Abbey of St John the Evangelist in Biograd and Saints Cosmas and Damian on the island of Pašman, is mentioned one Kutun (Katun) district.[54] Vlachs can be traced by personal names and peculiarly by ending suffix "-ul" in Dalmatian cities documents.[27][55]

Morlach region in the 17th century.

The first collective reference of Vlachs, or Morlachs in some Latin and mostly Venetian and Italian documents, dates from the early 1320s; in 1321, a local priest from Dobrinj on the island of Krk granted land to the church ("to the lands of Kneže, which are called Vlachian"),[56] while in 1322 they and people of Poljica were allied to Ban of Croatia, Mladen Šubić, who fought against Croatian pretenders at the Battle of Bliska in the hinterland of Trogir.[56] In 1344 are mentioned Morolacorum in lands around Knin and Krbava, within the conflict of counts from Kurjaković and Nelipić families, and that they can shelter their livestock on islands of Rab, Hvar, and Brač.[57] In 1352, in the agreement in which Zadar sold salt to the Republic of Venice, in which Zadar retained part of the salt that Morlachi and others exported by land.[58][59] In the 1357 charter of Šibenik was imposed a provision that Vlachs mustn't use without authority the city lands for pasture.[59] In 1362, the Morlachorum, unauthorized, settled on lands of Trogir but were allowed to use it for pasture for a few months.[60]

In 1383, Vlachs around Šibenik, which partially belonged to the Queen Elizabeth and noble Ivan III Nelipić, were causing problems, and citizens wrote to the Queen asking for help. The Queen warned the Ban of Croatia, Emerik, and ordered him to send Vlachs away from the city lands and take fines from them, from which a part to be given to the citizens.[61] In 1387, when nobles from the family Budislavić from Krbava confirmed with a charter the privileges of the citizens of city Pag, was determined that Vlachs musn't use the city lands for pasture.[61] In the Statute of Senj dating to 1388, the Frankopans mentioned Morowlachi and defined the amount of time they had for pasture when they descended from the mountains.[62]

In the 1376 and 1454 documents by Republic of Dubrovnik about trade with Bosnian lands are distinguished Vlachi et Bosgnani.[63] In Bosnian documents are first mentioned in the 13th century, and from 1361 to 1417 were mentioned Royal Vlachs.[64]

On 13 April 1411, Bosnian Duke Sandalj Hranić sold the Croatian town Ostrovica, which was a gift from King Ladislaus of Naples to the Republic of Venice. A year later on 10 April 1412, the Murlachos (probably in service of King Sigismund) captured the Ostrovica Fortress from Venice.[61] In August 1417, Venetian authorities were concerned with the "Morlachs and other Slavs" from the hinterland, that were a threat to security in Šibenik.[65]

During the 15th century, the Vlach population in Croatia expanded so significantly they were sometimes mentioned as a distinct entity along the Croatians. In 1412, when the King Sigismund bestowed the municipality of Sinj and its and Travnik fortress to the Ivan III Nelipić, mentioned he may dispose with cum universis Croatis et Vlahis.[16] On 6 August 1432, the Ragusians reported to King Sigismund that the Turks had invaded into the Croatian lands, and captured many Croats and Vlachs.[16] In 1432, by the order of King Sigismund, Morlachs had to do military service and gather at Ban's camp where were joined "whole Croatian Kingdoms and coexisting Vlachs forces".[13]

The sale of Dalmatia on 7 April 1433 by King Sigismund to the Republic of Venice earned him the enmity of Ivan Frankopan. Frankopan convinced the Vlachs to side with him by promising them the resurrection of old "Vlach Laws" on 18 March 1436. These laws dated from the middle of the 14th century and included many personal rights for the Vlachs.[66] According to the "Vlach Laws", Vlachs that chose to follow Frankopan received various privileges, such as serving under Vlach instead of Croatian commanders, crimes committed in the town of Sinj would be judged by a Vlach magistrate rather than a Croatian one,[67] the Croatian prince of Cetina would not be permitted to appoint a voivode (prince) over them [67] and Croats were restricted to having only one Vlach as their shepherd. Encouraged by these promises, the Vlachs attacked nearby littoral towns under Venetian control, but on 2 July 1436 the Ban of Croatia, Matko Talovac, informed the Vlachs of a peace treaty that had been signed that forbade further attacks on Venetian towns. This brought the Talovac and Frankopan families into conflict.[66]

The Vlachs of Lika, who were predominantly Catholic,[68] were ruled by Croatian princes and bishops, while Vlachs who lived along the Cetina river were more autonomous and were governed by Vlach princes, dukes and judges. They also paid more favorable taxes and were free from paying for pasture for their cattle. However, they were not completely free citizens and faced restrictions such as prohibitions on becoming court witnesses, jurors and officers. Their rights were contained in the "Vlach Paper" from 1476, which itself is an extension of the "Vlach Laws" from 1436. Both of these were written in Cyrillic and kept in the Franciscan monastery in Trsat.[69] Also, during this period, large numbers of Vlachs were traded or used as gifts between Croatian nobles, and local churches.[70]

In 1463, in the župa of Vrlika were mentioned Vlachs from the de genere Thwlich (Tulić), gifted by the King Matthias Corvinus to the local Croatian nobel Ivan Čubretić.[71] In 1481, by the king some Vlachs were settled in Lika.[72] In 1486-87 were mentioned at the Zrmanja river region, around the Kegalj-grad, because of land disputes with nobles Keglević.[73] In the 1504 document about war tributes, besides from Vrlika, were also mentioned Vlachs from Knin (Tinninienses), Obrovac (Obrowacz) and Nutjak.[74]

Another group or Vlachian term besides Morlachs was Ćići (ger. Tschitsche). In the early 15th century was mentioned as a surname in Istria, while in 1463 by priest Fraščić as a group who under Ivan Frankopan plunder Istrian territory beneath mountain Učka.[75] In 1499, the Carinthian parish priest Jakob Urnest mentioned a territory Czyschnlandt between Croatian and Bosnian kingdoms, which some consider to be the Cetina river region in southern Croatia.[76] In penal records of Trieste from the year 1500 contain an inscription of an accused who, when asked of his home country, replied Ciccio da Segna (Senj), while another man declared himself as Ciccio da S. Michele di Leme (Lim valley in Istria).[77][78] In 1523 and 1527, in the estate of Lupoglav were settled Tschizen aus Krabatten.[79] In 1528, Tschitschen were mentioned in regard of possible settling in Modruš and other lands as a resistance against Martolosi.[80] In 1530, they were prohibited to purchase grain in Novo Mesto and Metlika in Lower Carniola.[80] In 1539, royal commissioner Erasmo von Thurn submitted a request by Ćići to King Ferdinand if they could be given some deserted land on karst and Istria.[80] Also, previously in 1530 general commander Nikola Jurišić mentioned Vlachs who are commonly called Ćići (Valachi, quos vulgo Zytschn vocant),[75] while Slovenian diplomat Benedikt Kuripešič in his travel through Bosnia mentioned his use of Zitzen and Zigen as exonym, along Vlach and Martolosi, for the Serbs and Orthodox immigrants in Bosnia.[75][81][82]

Ottoman conquest and Austrian Empire

Vlach migrations to the Austrian Empire from the Ottoman Empire, and vice versa, were generally caused by the loss of financial status or privileges of Vlach Laws,[15] rather than from any form of ethnic or religious persecution.[83] Usually the migrations are caused or are performed in periods after turbulent events, like Battle of Mohács (1526), conquest of Dalmatia (1522), Lika and Krbava (1527-1528), and subsequent battles.[84] Many Vlachs served in Ottoman armies during their conquests.[83] As part of the military, they often served either as light cavalry or infantrymen, or irregular soldiers Martolosi.[85] However, since the movements of large Ottoman armies towards Inner Austria were rarely routed through the Croatia-Slavonia, and military actions were focused on the vicinity of Jajce and Bihać, the role of the Uskok-Vlachs spying on the Ottomans was particularly important.[86]

The Vlach colonization of Žumberak started between 1530 and 1538,[15] when at the same time in Ottoman-conquered lands were canceled Vlachs laws until 1550, partially or altogether causing migration because of social and financial status.[87] In June 1531, around 1000 Vlachs, advised by Ivan Katzianer, settled in Kostel and Polajna, along the Kupa River near Žumberak, of which 700 were fit for military service.[88] The King Ferdinand I in September of 1538 responded to general commander Nikola Jurišić, who informed him about some Servian or Rascian captains and dukes who are willing to come with their people to serve in military service, that they were given privileges.[15] In October of the same year Jurišić informed the King that the Ban Petar Keglević and other nobles came from Ottoman-conquered territory with many Sirfen (Serbs). In the same letter, Jurišić informed the king about the Vlachs who "in our (Croatian) parts are called as Old Romans" (alt Römer genennt),[15] and that came with others from Turkish parts, to be given the same promises and privileges which were given to the Serbs.[15] In November, Ferdinand wrote to Keglević about "captains and dukes of the Rasians, or the Serbs, or the Vlachs, who are commonly called the Serbs" (capitanei et wayuode Rasciani sive Serviani atque Valachi, quos vulgo zrbschy vocant).[15]

Croatian Military Frontier in 1868.

In 1530, Vlachs from Lika and Srb, Unac and Glamoč came under Turks rule.[89] Vlachs in Prilišće and Rosopajnik settled in 1538, while in 1544 came under the protection of Nikola Šubić Zrinski. They were Catholic.[90] Around 1530, in lands of Stjepan Frankopan from Ozalj, in Otok and Hreljin, were settled some Vlachs who in 1540 were mentioned for rewarding by King Ferdinand because of successful spying on Turks.[90] With the growing number of the Ottoman Vlachs passing over the Christian side, the Vlach leader from Glamoč, Ladislav Stipković, traveled to Ljubljana to offer his service, and those of his forces, to the Austrians. In a later battle, the combined forces of the army from Bihać and the Vlachs defeated an Ottoman army at Bihać.[91]

In 1551, general Ivan Lenković reported to Ferdinand how Turks settled thousands of Morlachs and Vlachs around Srb, and Kosovo field near the town of Knin.[92] In 1560, the towns of Lišnica and Novigrad along with large parts of the Una valley, Bušević and the Krupa river, were captuered, and settled with newcomers from Bosnia.[92] In 1560, some Vlachs were settled around Ivanić-Grad, Križevci and Koprivnica.[93]

Orthodox Vlachs were also directed to settle in Lika when Arnaud Memi-Bey became commander of Lika Sanjak.[94] The Beylerbey of Bosnia, Hasan-Pasha Predojević, himself an Islamized Orthodox "Vlach" from Herzegovina,[95] received the support of these Orthodox Vlachs and many served in his armies. At Predojević's order, Vlachs, as well as some Turkish nobility, settled near the towns Brekovica, Ripča, Ostrvice and Vrla Draga near Sokolac in such numbers that they formed a significant population of this region.[94] In 1579, Vlachs in Turkish service wanted to transfer the towns of Cazin and Ostrožac to Christian, that is Croatian, ownership.[94] In 1599, many Vlachs emigrated from Korenica and Bihać area to Gomirje.[94]

In 1585, the general from Karlovac, Josip Turn, proposed Vlach settlement in Moravice, and later in 1597 general Lenković led Vlachs from Lika to Gorski Kotar and lands owned by Frankopan family.[96] In Frankopan estate arrived yet again in 1609, and 1632.[96] In 1605, General Vid Kisel brought Vlachs from Ostrožac to Ogulin and Bosiljevac, and some time later, Vlachs from Uzorac and Turje settled in Karlovac.[94] In 1609, two burgs, Brlog and Gusić-Grad, were given by Senj captain and Croatian nobleman Sigismund Gusić to accommodate newly arrived Vlachs in exchange for their military service.[97] In 1639, Nikola Frankopan of Tržac accused Senj captain Albrecht Herberstein of settling Catholic Vlachs (Bunjevci) at his deserted estates in Jablanac, Starigrad, and Orthodox Vlachs in Brinje and Brlog, without his permission.[97] The same happened with Zrinski in Ledenice.[97]

Morlachian man and woman from Spalato, Théodore Valerio, 1864.

After the Ottomans were defeated in Vienna in 1683, the Vlachs scattered throughout the Croatian Military Frontier. Concerned about this, Turks decided to settle them on the south side of the Una river, but were unable to execute this plan.[94] During this period, Ottomans were vulnerable to Vlach raids from Banija and Karlovac. Vlachs, under the protection of the Ban of Croatia Miklós Erdődy and General Ivan Josip Herberstein, were also settled around Petrinja, Glina, Skradin, Vojnić, Krstinje and Budačko.[98] After the magnate conspiracy (1670), executions and confiscation of Frankopan and Zrinski families estate, Vlachs were settled under permission of Frontier generals.[99] The abandoned village of Plaški was settled in 1666, while 120 families settled below the Budački fortress, in c. 200 houses between Skrad, Slunj, Veljun, and Blagaj in 1686.[100] With the liberation of Lika and Krbava in 1689, Vlachs from Kupres, Grahovo and Plavno near Knin returned to the region.[101] Thirty individuals from Plaški were transferred to Jasenice in 1705, and 158 families were settled in the vicinity of Budački in 1711.[100] In 1791, after the Treaty of Sistova, Orthodox Vlachs settled in new territory from Maljevac to Srb and the triangle border of Lika regiment, noted as the last of such migrations.[101]

In the Ban's Croatia Vlachs mostly settled in the 17th century.[102] In 1680 around 120 families were settled. In 1688 Vlachs settled in Bović, Kirin, and Gradišće.[103] In 1718, noblewoman Marija Magdalena Drašković settled some Vlachs on her estate between the Tršca stream and village of Utinja.[104] In 1750, an Orthodox priest and witnesses confirmed Vlachs didn't exist before around Kupa, Steničnjak, Petrova Gora and Slavsko Polje, but only around Hrvatska Kostajnica.[105] They numbered around 4000 people.[106]

In Dalmatia the Morlachs were immigrants who settled in the Venetian-Ottoman border, in the hinterlands of coastal cities, and entered Venetian military service, in the late 16th and early 17th century. In 1593, provveditore generale Cristoforo Valier mentioned three nations constituting the Uskoks, the "natives of Senj, Croatians, and Morlachs from the Turkish parts".[107] At the time of the Cretan War (1645–69) and Morean War (1684-99), a large number of Morlachs settled inland of the Dalmatian towns, and Ravni Kotari of Zadar. According to Venetian censuses, in 1761, Orthodox Christians were 31,211 of the total population numbering 220,287; in 1771, 38,652 out of 223,765; in 1781, 51,996 out of 236,997.[108]

The settlement of the Vlachs in Croatia was beneficial to the Austrian Empire as the Emperor was reluctant to return the Military Frontier to Croatia.[109] Further settlement of Vlachs was encouraged by the Austrian Government,[110] but this antagonised the Sabor (the Croatian Parliament) and resulted in the passing of various laws, on 21 February 1629, guaranteeing certain privileges to the Vlachs. For example, any Vlach willingly becoming a subject of the Kingdom of Croatia was exempt from becoming a serf, rendering Vlachs almost equal with native Croatians. The laws enacted by the Emperor of the Austrian Empire and Sabor are collectively known as Statuta Valachorum. The exemption of the Vlachs from serfdom can be compared to the same exemption for native Croats, which was not applied until 1848 during the rule of Josip Jelačić.[111] To ensure cooperation from the Vlachs, Austrian generals conducted a propaganda campaign focusing on Vlach serfdom under Croatian rule. This activity prevented the Croatian envoy to the Austrian court, Benedikt Vinković, who was there to consult on the "Vlach question", from pursuing a union of the Vlach-settled Military Frontier with Croatia.[109]

Legacy

"Vlachs", referring to pastoralists, since the 16th century was a common name for Serbs in the Ottoman Empire and later.[112] Tihomir Đorđević points to the already known fact that the name Vlach didn't only refer to genuine Vlachs or Serbs but also to cattle breeders in general.[112] Bogumil Hrabak emphasized that not all cattle breeders and shepherds in the Balkans were called Vlachs, an example being the Arbanasi.[113] The medieval Serbs made a clear distinction between their own ethnic community and the Vlachs, seen in documents from the 12th to 14th century which mention Vlachs separately from Serbs,[114] and for example the prohibition of intermarriage between Serbs and Vlachs by Emperor Stefan Dušan.[114][115][116] In the work About the Vlachs from 1806, Metropolitan Stevan Stratimirović stated that Roman Catholics from Croatia and Slavonia scornfully used the name Vlach for "the Slovenians (Slavs) and Serbs, who are of our, Eastern confession (Orthodoxy)", and that "the Turks in Bosnia and Serbia also call every Bosnian or Serbian Christian a Vlach" (Đorđević, 1984). The immigrants, irrelevant of religion and modern South Slavic nationality which didn't exist until the 19th century, who took refuge in the Military Frontier and inland of coastal cities, were called "Vlachs" or "Morlachs".[112]

The Catholic Vlachs were integrated into the Croatian nationality.[4] Orthodox Vlach groups whose migrations were not accompanied by an ecclesiastical infrastructure were Catholicised and assimilated. The Serbian ethnic identity was consolidated among the Orthodox Vlachs after the establishment of the Serbian Orthodox eparchies of Zrinopolje and Lika-Krbava in 1695, which would be later unified into the Eparchy of upper Karlovac.[117]

The dispersion of Orthodox Slavs (Vlachs and Serbs) in present-day territory of Croatia, who mostly inhabited the historical borderland Military Frontier (Krajina) and eastern Syrmia and Baranja, were a cultural, linguistical, and political factor used by extreme ideologies from both Serbia and Croatia.[4] The modern South Slavic national revival and historiography since 19th century tried to see and interpret its own national history through present day situation, like an "ethnocentric mirror that shows the present" (Šarić, 2009).[118] Extreme Croatian historiography tried to neglect Serb component, contribution or origin of Vlachs.[4] The extreme Serbian historiography proclaimed all typical Vlach elements of Dinaric/Shtokavian culture as being Serb, proved that the Croatian Frontier lost its own Croatian population and got an ethnically new and prevalent Serb population, and exaggerated the importance of Serbs in the history of the Military Frontier.[4]

In recent decades, the extent in which Orthodox Slavs (Vlachs and Serbs) lived in previous centuries (Military Frontier, Srijem, Baranja etc.) by Serb separatists was seen as a borderline between Croatia and self-proclaimed autonomous regions within Croatian territory, the SAO Krajina, SAO Western Slavonia and SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia, and eventual Republic of Serbian Krajina (1991-1995), during the Croatian international recognition and War in Croatia which lasted from 1991 until 1995.[119][120]

Croatian historian Drago Roksandić claimed in 1991, before the war escalated, that until today, the "Vlach question" (Vlaško pitanje) had caused and still caused many disagreements between experts and non-experts in ex-Yugoslavian countries, as well as in the other Balkan countries with Vlach communities.[121]

In 1948, 1 person registered as "Vlach"; 1953 - 2, 1961 - 34, 1971 - 13, 1981 - 16, 1991 - 22, 2001 - 12, 2011 - 29.[122][123]

See also

References

Notes
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Šarić 2009, p. 343-345.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Šarić 2009, p. 344.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Šarić 2009, p. 371.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Šarić 2009, p. 333.
  5. ↑ Šarić 2009, p. 338: Borderline culture is transitory and dinamic, creating complex environment and intercultural community.
  6. ↑ Šarić 2009, p. 332: The historical term "Triplex Confinium" was conceived by historian Drago Roksandić, and in 1997 was founded as a research project. It was founded because of lack of studies, and Croatian and Serbian historiographies had nationalistic connotations, albeit the fact this area was a borderline of communities and cultures, religious conffesion and civilizations which together intermixed and created a specific ethno-cultural community.
  7. ↑ Šarić 2009, p. 340.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Šarić 2009, p. 340-343.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Mužić (Radoslav Lopašić) 2010, p. 19.
  10. ↑ Van Antwerp Fine 2006, p. 129.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Mužić (Bogumil Hrabak) 2010, p. 199-202.
  12. ↑ Mužić (Bogumil Hrabak) 2010, p. 198, 203.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Klaić 1973, p. 16-18: I da ne drže Hrvati Vlahov mimo jednoga bravara (pastira); I Srblin da nemore otdati (tužiti) na Vlaha, niti Vlah na Srblina
  14. ↑ Ivan Ostojić (1999). The Terms Croats Have Used for Their Language (PDF) II. Ontario: Folia Croatica-Canadiana. p. 33. Nomades Illyricis quos Valachos vulgo dicunt, simulque Cossuli, ex eo genere Illyrici hominis qui es Romanos putant.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 Roksandić 1991, p. 20.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Mužić (Vjekoslav Klaić) 2010, p. 14.
  17. ↑ Mužić (Radoslav Lopašić 2010, p. 20.
  18. ↑ Mužić (Radoslav Lopašić) 2010, p. 22.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Carlo de Franceschi (1879). L'Istria: note storiche (in Italian). G. Coana (Harvard University). pp. 355–371.
  20. ↑ Mužić (Stjepan Pavičić) 2010, p. 76-79, 87-88.
  21. ↑ Mužić (Vjekoslav Klaić) 2010, p. 11-15.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Mužić (Stjepan Pavičić) 2010, p. 73: "As evidence Vlachs spoke a variation of Romanian language, Pavičić later in the paragraph referred to the Istro-Romanians, and Dalmatian language on island Krk."
  23. ↑ Ionel Cǎlin Micle (2013). Istro-Romanians: A Fading Flame (PDF). Year XV, No. 1 May. Oradea: Revista Română de Geografie Politică; University of Oradea. pp. 27–34.
  24. ↑ Georgeta Marghescu (2009). Istro-Romanians: a Study of Culture Identity and Environmental Dynamic (PDF). Bucharest: Department of Social-Human Sciences University "Politehnica" of Bucharest. pp. 35–38.
  25. ↑ Mužić (Stjepan Pavičić) 2010, p. 89.
  26. ↑ Ribarić 2002, p. 48-70.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 P. Šimunović, F. Maletić (2008). Hrvatski prezimenik (in Croatian) 1. Zagreb: Golden marketing. pp. 41–42, 100–101.
  28. ↑ P. Šimunović (2009). Uvod U Hrvatsko Imenoslovlje (in Croatian). Zagreb: Golden marketing-Tehnička knjiga. pp. 53, 123, 147, 150, 170, 216, 217.
  29. ↑ Božidar Ručević (2011-02-27). "Vlasi u nama svima" (in Croatian). Rodoslovlje.
  30. ↑ Mirjana Trošelj (2011). Mitske predaje i legende južnovelebitskog Podgorja (Mythical Traditions and Legends from Podgorje in southern Velebit) (in Croatian). Studia Mythologica Slavica 14. Zagreb: Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ljubljana. p. 346.
  31. ↑ Tono Vinšćak (1989). Kuda idu "horvatski nomadi" (in Croatian). Volume 1, No. 1 June. Zagreb: Studia ethnologica Croatica: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Center for Ethnological and Cultural Anthropology, University of Zagreb. p. 9.
  32. ↑ Šarić 2009, p. 343–346.
  33. ↑ Šišić 1908, p. 162-164.
  34. ↑ Šarić 2009, p. 346.
  35. ↑ Šarić 2009, p. 347-350.
  36. ↑ Šarić 2009, p. 348, 346.
  37. ↑ Šarić 2009, p. 357.
  38. ↑ Roksandić 1991, p. 21.
  39. ↑ Fine 2006, p. 356.
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 Šarić 2009, p. 358.
  41. ↑ Šarić 2009, p. 359.
  42. ↑ Šarić 2009, p. 374, 377-378.
  43. ↑ Šarić 2009, p. 362.
  44. ↑ Šarić 2009, p. 359-361.
  45. ↑ Šarić 2009, p. 365-367.
  46. ↑ Šarić 2009, p. 367.
  47. ↑ Šarić 2009, p. 346-359: The studies found the correlation between the surnames and the interpreation of the population given by the bishop of Senj, Martin Brajković, in 1702. He conveyed the folk tradition of existence of five ethnic identities which constitute the population of Lika and Krbava. He didn't saw them as a ethnic conglomerate, but an heterogeneous unity. They were Croatians, Vlachian Bunjevci, Turks, Carniolians, and Vlachs. Croatians were partially autochthonous who spoke Chakavian dialect, and the assimilated Vlachian and Carniolian migrants. Vlachian Bunjevci were Catholic, but by tradition differed from other Catholics. Turks were the Muslim population who didn't retreat to Bosnia, and were converted to Catholicism. Carniolians were Kajkavian speaking people from the border between Croatia and Carniolia, considered themselves Croats, and were skillful in agroculture and crafts. The fifth, and most predominant, were the only Orthodox identity and groupation, the Vlachs.
  48. ↑ Šarić 2009, p. 367-368.
  49. ↑ Šarić 2009, p. 368-369, 354-356.
  50. ↑ 50.0 50.1 Šarić 2009, p. 369.
  51. ↑ 51.0 51.1 Šarić 2009, p. 370.
  52. ↑ "Odredba i potvrda kralja Petra Krešimira IV. o području Rapske biskupije" (in Latin and Croatian). ARHiNET. Retrieved September 13, 2014.
  53. ↑ Mužić 2010, p. 220.
  54. ↑ Bidermann, Ignaz Hermann (1889). Zur Ethnographie von Dalmatien (O etnografiji Dalmacije) (PDF) (in Serbo-Croatian). Österreichisch-ungarische Revue (translated Josip Vergil Perić). p. 23.
  55. ↑ Konstatin Jireček (1962). Romani u gradovima Dalmacije tokom srednjega veka (in Serbian) II. Beograd: SANU. pp. 45–48.
  56. ↑ 56.0 56.1 Mužić (Vjekoslav Klaić) 2010, p. 10: i pašišća… do zemlje Kneže, ke se zovu vlaške
  57. ↑ Mužić (Vjekoslav Klaić) 2010, p. 10, 11: Et insuper mittemus specialem nuntium…. Gregorio condam Curiaci Corbavie,…. pro bono et conservatione dicte domine (Vedislave) et comitis Johannis,….; nec non pro restitutione Morolacorum, qui sibi dicuntur detineri per comitem Gregorium…; Exponat quoque idem noster nuncius Gregorio comiti predicto quod intelleximus, quod contra voluntatem ipsius comitis Johannis nepotis sui detinet catunos duos Morolacorum…. Quare dilectionem suam… reget, quatenus si quos Morolacos ipsius habet, placeat illos sibi plenarie restitui facere...; Si opus fuerit, ordinabimus rectoribus nostris, ut homines et animalia dicti comitis (Johannis) recipiantur in insulis nostris Sclavonie, sicut sunt insule Arbi, Farre et Braze, in quibus quidem insulis ipsi homines et animalia comodius reduci poterunt et salvari...
  58. ↑ Listine o odnošajih Južnoga Slavenstva i Mletačke Republike III. Zagreb: JAZU. 1872. p. 237. Prvi se put spominje ime »Morlak« (Morlachi) 1352 godine, 24. lipnja, u pogodbi po kojoj zadarsko vijeće prodaje sol Veneciji, gdje Zadar zadržava dio soli koju Morlaci i drugi izvoze, kopnenim putem.
  59. ↑ 59.0 59.1 Mužić (Vjekoslav Klaić) 2010, p. 11: Detractis modiis XII. milie salis predicti quolibet anno que remaneant in Jadra pro usu Jadre et districtu, et pro exportatione solita fi eri per Morlachos et alios per terram tantum…
  60. ↑ Mužić (Vjekoslav Klaić) 2010, p. 12: quedam particula gentis Morlachorum ipsius domini nostri regis... tentoria (tents), animalia seu pecudes (sheep)... ut ipsam particulam gentis Morlachorum de ipsorum territorio repellere… dignaremur (to be repelled from city territory)... quamplures Morlachos... usque ad festum S. Georgii martiris (was allowed to stay until April 24, 1362).
  61. ↑ 61.0 61.1 61.2 Mužić (Vjekoslav Klaić) 2010, p. 13: noveritis nos percepisse, qualiter Olahi tam nostri, quam Joannis fi lii Ivan Nyelpecy de Zetina, multa dampna, nocumenta, homicidia ac spolia in districtu civitatis antedicte fecissent et continue facere non cessarent, in eo videlicet, quod dicti Olahi venientes ad territorium et districtum dicte nostre civitatis pascua ipsius civitatis occupando, offen siones, interemtiones, ac alia facta nephanda perpetrarent potentialiter.
  62. ↑ L. Margetić (2007). Statute of Senj from 1388 (in Latin and Croatian). Volume 34, No. 1, December. Senj: Senjski Zbornik. pp. 63, 77. § 161. Item, quod quando Morowlachi exeunt de monte et uadunt uersus gaccham, debent stare per dies duos et totidem noctes super pascuis Senie, et totidem tempore quando reuertuntur ad montem; et si plus stant, incidunt ad penam quingentarum librarum.
  63. ↑ Mužić 2010, p. 230.
  64. ↑ Mužić 2010, p. 230-231.
  65. ↑ Fine 2006, p. 115.
  66. ↑ 66.0 66.1 Mužić 2010, p. 24-26.
  67. ↑ 67.0 67.1 Van Antwerp Fine 2006, p. 130.
  68. ↑ Mužić 2010, p. 21.
  69. ↑ Mužić 2010, p. 26-27.
  70. ↑ Mužić 2010, p. 15-22.
  71. ↑ Klaić 1973, p. 17.
  72. ↑ Mužić (Radoslav Lopašić) 2010, p. 46.
  73. ↑ Klaić 1973, p. 17-18.
  74. ↑ Klaić 1973, p. 18.
  75. ↑ 75.0 75.1 75.2 "Ćićarija" (in Croatian). Istrapedia. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
  76. ↑ "Ćići (Čići)" (in Croatian). Croatian Encyclopaedia. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
  77. ↑ Ribarić 2002, p. 80.
  78. ↑ Filipi, Goran (2013), Istroromanian loanwords in the dictionary section of Ribarić's study on Istrian dialects, Annales, Series historia et sociologia, 23, p. 93
  79. ↑ Ribarić 2002, p. 82.
  80. ↑ 80.0 80.1 80.2 Ribarić 2002, p. 79: mit etlichen Tschitschen oder anderen, die nach Modrusch oder Bründl gelegt werden könnten, ein gegenwer wider die Martolosen aufzurichten
  81. ↑ Đorđe Pejanović (2001). Putopis kroz Bosnu, Srbiju, Bugarsku i Rumeliju 1530 (in Serbo-Croatian). Beograd: Čigoja štampa. pp. 26–27, 36. There were done two Serbo-Croatian translations, by Matković for JAZU in the 1950s, and Pejanović in 2001. Kuripešič in Upper Bosnia mentions two constitutive nations, Turggen und Surffen. In Lower Bosnia three nations, Roman Catholic Bosnians (Wossner), Turggen, and Surffen, who, in Pejanović translation by Turks are called Wallachen while by "us" Zigen or Marthalosen, and that they came from Smederevo (Smedraw) and Belgrade (griechisch Weussenburg). In the Matković redaction Zigen and Zitzen were translated as "Cigani" (gypsies). Pejanović translated those terms as Ćići/Čiči, and controversally claimed that the Serbs and Orthodox immigrants were called so because all inhabitants of mountain Ćićarija in Istria were Vlachs of Orthodox confession. Also, isn't known if Kuripešić when mentioned the migration of Surffen, Zitzen und Marthalosen, mentioned them as different groups, or terms which indicate the same thing - the Serbs.
  82. ↑ Bosnien und Serbien unter osmanischer Herrschaft - ein Reisebericht aus dem Jahr 1530 (in German). Klagenfurt. pp. 139–140. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  83. ↑ 83.0 83.1 Suppan & Graf 2010, p. 59.
  84. ↑ Roksandić 1991, p. 19.
  85. ↑ Roksandić 1991, p. 45.
  86. ↑ Suppan & Graf 2010, p. 61.
  87. ↑ Roksandić 1991, p. 20, 45.
  88. ↑ Suppan & Graf 2010, p. 60.
  89. ↑ Mužić (Radoslav Lopašić & 2010 ps: Walachi Turcorum, qui commoraverunt in Zerb et in Unatz et in Glamoch, p. 46.
  90. ↑ 90.0 90.1 Mužić (Radoslav Lopašić 2010, p. 46.
  91. ↑ Mužić 2010, p. 34-35.
  92. ↑ 92.0 92.1 Mužić (Radoslav Lopašić 2010, p. 33.
  93. ↑ Mužić (Radoslav Lopašić 2010, p. 47.
  94. ↑ 94.0 94.1 94.2 94.3 94.4 94.5 Mužić (Radoslav Lopašić 2010, p. 34.
  95. ↑ Dominik Mandić. Croats and Serbs: Two Old and Different Nations, p. 145:.
    After the fall of Bihać in 1592 the Bosnian Beylerbey Hasan Pasha Predojević settled Orthodox Vlachs from Eastern Herzegovina, especially those of his own Predojević clan, in the central part of Pounje around Brekovica, Ripač, Ostrovica and Vrla Draga up to Sokolovac.
  96. ↑ 96.0 96.1 Mužić (Radoslav Lopašić 2010, p. 48.
  97. ↑ 97.0 97.1 97.2 Mužić (Radoslav Lopašić 2010, p. 52.
  98. ↑ Mužić 2010, p. 34.
  99. ↑ Mužić 2010, p. 48-49.
  100. ↑ 100.0 100.1 Mužić 2010, p. 49.
  101. ↑ 101.0 101.1 Mužić 2010, p. 53.
  102. ↑ Mužić 2010, p. 50.
  103. ↑ Mužić 2010, p. 50-51.
  104. ↑ Mužić 2010, p. 51.
  105. ↑ Mužić 2010, p. 51-52.
  106. ↑ Mužić 2010, p. 52.
  107. ↑ Fine 2006, p. 218.
  108. ↑ Roksandić 1991, p. 52.
  109. ↑ 109.0 109.1 Mužić 2010, p. 150.
  110. ↑ Tomasevich 2001, p. 390.
  111. ↑ Mužić 2010, p. 150-151.
  112. ↑ 112.0 112.1 112.2 D. Gavrilović (2003). "Elements of ethnic identification of the Serbs" (PDF). Niš. p. 720.
  113. ↑ Mužić 2010, p. 219.
  114. ↑ 114.0 114.1 Zef Mirdita (1995). Balkanski Vlasi u svijetlu podataka Bizantskih autora (in Croatian). Zagreb: Croatian History Institute. pp. 65, 66, 27–30.
  115. ↑ Zef Mirdita (2004). Vlasi u historiografiji (in Croatian). Zagreb: Croatian History Institute. p. 159.
  116. ↑ Noel Malcolm (1999). Kosovo, A short History. New York: University Press.
  117. ↑ Šarić 2009, p. 340-341.
  118. ↑ Šarić 2009, p. 331.
  119. ↑ Drago Roksandić (2002). Srbi u hrvatskoj i srpskoj historiografiji: problemi usporedbe dvije interpretacijske tradicije (PDF) (in Croatian) 5. Zagreb: Dijalog povjesničara-istoričara. pp. 211–230.
  120. ↑ Drago Roksandić (2011). Srbi u Hrvatskoj (1989-1991): Između lojalnosti, neposlušnosti i pobune (PDF) (in Serbo-Croatian). Edition Rizom, book 6. Beograd: Neposlušnost (book); Narodna biblioteka Srbije (publisher). pp. 87–120.
  121. ↑ Roksandić 1991, p. 15.
  122. ↑ "Stanovništvo prema narodnosti, popisi 1971. - 2011." (in Croatian). Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  123. ↑ Stanovništvo Hrvatske od 1931.-2001.
Bibliography

External links