Early Ottoman Expansion to Poljica: Some Considerations on the Social Structure and Political Diversification of the Elite
Early Ottoman Expansion to Poljica: Some Considerations on the Social Structure and Political Diversification of the Elite

Summary/Abstract: The late medieval Croatian community of lesser nobility in Poljica found itself in the middle of a struggle between Mediterranean empires and powers. Changing sides and the recognition of Venetian, Hungarian (latter Hasburg), or Ottoman suzerainty was used to affirm the power and position of the ruling elite within the community and to gain an advantage in disputes with neighbouring urban communes of Split and Omiš. The early composition of the ruling elite within Poljica and the relation between the two complementing legitimization platforms of didići and vlasteličići nobility is not fully deductible from the existing sources. When Venice became the suzerain of Poljica in 1444 the customary law was recorded in a written statute (Poljički statut) but it does not inform us about the legal procedures and hierarchical relations that were undisputed. This debate strives to deduct some of those relations from the specific situation that emerged at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries when the community of Poljica balanced between Venetian and Ottoman rule. When compared with sources of Venetian origin the data about the nahiye of Poljica from the defter of vlachs in Hercegovina from 1497/8 (TD 987) show many unexpected discrepancies. It is possible to conclude that this defter encompassed only a part of the population within Poljica and that there were two parallel hierarchies within the commune, one loyal to the Ottomans (with Radoš Kostanjić as veliki knez) and another loyal to Venice (with Marijan Gregolić as veliki knez). Venetian sources confirm this on many occasions in the following two decades. One part of the nobility had maintained good relations with the Ottoman frontier elite within the Sanjak of Hercegovina. They were relatives of many high-ranking officials including some sanjak-beys and certain nobles from Poljica that converted to Islam and reached the ranks of vojvodas. On the other hand, Poljica were essential for the defense and security of the area between Split and Omiš so the Venetians sent repeated gifts and salaries to the elite in Poljica in order to control them. Such attempts had only a temporary effect because the territory of Poljica was very exposed to the Ottoman attacks and harassment. The littoral part of the community of Poljica seems to have been more inclined toward Venice while the hinterland was more inclined towards making arrangements with the Ottomans. Around 1514, Poljica fully accepted Ottoman suzerainty. Subsequently, attempts to change allegiance were repeatedly made but after the Ottoman conquest of Klis in 1537 and the end of hostilities between Venice and the Ottomans in 1540, Poljica remained under the Ottoman rule for a longer period of time. The Ottomans had no (political or religious) interest to interfere in social relations within Poljica and tax exemptions were applied to those members of the elite that performed duties within the hierarchy of the nahiye of Poljica. The population, in general, was obliged to pay resm-i filori, and in that way, vlach status was applied to Poljica in accordance with the Ottoman practice of istimalet that allowed flexibility between expansion, defense, and control for the expanding Ottoman Empire.

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