ARCHIVALIA OF THE MONTH (MAY 2013)

The Great Tolmin Peasant Revolt A Letter by the Inner Austrian Government and Court Chamber (Hofkammer) to the Carniolan Provincial Governor Prince Johann Anton Joseph von Eggenberg Graz, May 23, 1713 Original, 31.5 x 21 cm, 8 pages, conservation treatment in 2013 Reference code: SI AS 2, Deelni stanovi za Kranjsko, sub-fonds I, box 799 (fascicle 536),bundle 1. This year marks the 300th anniversary of the last large-scale peasant revolt in the Slovenian territory which later came to be known as the Great Tolmin Peasant Revolt. A number of minor rioting had been taking place already since the start of the 16th century when the region of Tolmin fell under the Habsburg rule. Breaking out in March 1713, the revolt spread across most of the territory of todays Western Slovenia in May 1713. The position of peasants in Tolmin deteriorated at the start of the 18th century mostly due to bad harvests, livestock diseases and continuing quarrels with Count Jakob Anton Coronini, the governor of Tolmin. Their social position was also indirectly affected by the long War of the Spanish Succession in which the Habsburg Monarchy was involved under the rule of Karl VI. The new state taxes on meat and wine were the last straw and the uncompromising actions of the pledge tax collector, a citizen of Gorizia Jakob Bandel who ordered a couple of peasant debtors to be imprisoned, finally led to the founding of the rebellious peasants association (Bauernbund). Initially, the revolt was not directed against the nobility of the Gorizia county but primarily against members of a smaller circle of Gorizias upper class who put into practice a new and more centralized method of filing the court chambers treasury. It therefore comes as no surprise that several thousand

people of the Tolmin region, when coming to Gorizia, first demanded the release of their imprisoned colleagues and then headed towards their first destination, Bandels residence (prior to their arrival Bandel fled to Graz through Ljubljana). In Gorizia, the peasants directed their wrath mostly towards the mansion of Count Hieronymus von Thurn (della Torre) at Travnik. He was the one who suggested introducing the tax on wine and also collected it for some time. In teverjan (San Floriano del Collio) the rebels attacked the mansion of Baron Karl Tacc, a member of the noble family supporting the Bandels. Peasants attacked the hated tollhouses and the homes of tax collectors on the outskirts of Gorizia, in (Gorika) Brda and the Soa Valley. Rural livestock trade, transport of goods and probably also smuggling obviously represented important source of income to the people of Tolmin. In Gorizia rebellious peasants were met by Count Leopold Adam Strassoldo, the deputy provincial governor, and by the town judge Jakob Brunetti who both tried to pacify them. Once the imprisoned rebels had been released the peasants left Gorizia. Still, the expectations of the authorities in Gorizia that the peasants could be persuaded into ending their revolt turned out to be false. The revolt spread to other parts of the Gorizia region, the Vipava Valley and to the Kras; it also spread to certain areas in Carniola (Devin/Duino, Novi grad, Socerb) and became increasingly anti-feudal in character (attacking castles, taking possession of urbaria). Gorizia and Trieste called for military intervention but were not happy with the decision taken in Graz that, in addition to German troops, soldier from the Military Frontier would also be sent to Gorizia.

The document that we are presenting this month gives a short description of the course of events of the revolt, emphasising the fact that its core was the seigniory of Tolmin. The letter expresses concerns of the government and the chamber in Graz about the recent violence, increasingly bold demands of the rebels and the danger of the revolt becoming even more intense and spreading over even larger territory, endangering not only Carniola but potentially also Carinthia. The letter also warns about potential threat that the revolt might present to Trieste and the Idrija mine, both of which were of considerable significance for the court chamber. In danger were seigniories of Counts Rabatta in Kanal (ob Soi), Lantieri in Rihemberk (todays Branik), Kobenzl in tanjel, Thurn in Devin/Duino, Petazzi in varcenek (near Vreme) and Socerb, as well as that of Marquis Pri in Novi grad (Podgrad along the road Trieste Rijeka). 750 mayors or richters with their communities participated in the revolt. Provincial governor was instructed by the authorities in Graz to offer military assistance and the needed support to suppress the rebellion to the arriving regular German army. Also, a special commission was to be set up to investigate what provoked the revolt and its course. Carniolan provincial governor at the time was Prince Johann Anton Joseph von Eggenberg who might have been informed about the irritation of the cernide (armed peasants militias) in the county of Gradisca who were called by the authorities in Gorizia to come and help suppress the revolt. Had the tax on meat and wine also been introduced in the county of Gradisca, the local peasants would have been prepared to join forces with the peasantry in Tolmin, and by doing so rebel against the Eggenbergs who were Prince-Counts of the county of Gradisca which was temporarily separated from the Gorizia county. The Archives of the Republic of Slovenia keeps only a few records relating to the peasant revolt of Tolmin. Many of related records can be found at the Landesarchiv in Graz and at the Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv in Vienna. A number of them refer to the work of the aforementioned imperial investigation commission which managed to thoroughly complete its task within a year after the revolt had been suppressed and most of the peasant leaders had been captured by the soldiers from the Military Frontier. Though not many people died during the revolt a few of the peasants were killed at Thurns castles in Devin/Duino and in Vipole in (Gorika) Brda, and also when fighting among each other eleven rebels were sentenced to death in Gorizia in April 1714, among them also two of the revolts most active participants: Ivan Miklavi (Gradnik) from Roinj and Jakob Velikonja from iginj. Many of the rebels were imprisoned (most of them till 1716) and some of their property was confiscated. Individual rebellious areas had to pay a fine and the peasants of the Tolmin seigniory lost their right to elect their mayors. Literature: - Dolenc, Janez: Obseg arhivskega gradiva o velikem tolminskem puntu v dunajskem dravnem in v grakem deelnem arhivu. Kronika. asopis za slovensko krajevno zgodovino. Prispevki za zgodovino Tolminskega, 42 (1994), no. 1, pp. 99-100. - Kmeki punti na Slovenskem. Razprave in katalog dokumentov. Situla. Razprave Narodnega muzeja v Ljubljani, 13 (ed. Bogo Grafenauer and Branko Reisp). Ljubljana: Narodni muzej, 1973 (document published on pp. 183184). - Marui, Branko: Veliki tolminski punt leta 1713. Trst: Zalonitvo trakega tiska, 1973. - Panjek, Aleksander: Kmetijstvo in trgovina na Gorikem v novem veku: kmeki upor leta 1713 iz gospodarskozgodovinske perspektive. Annales. Anali za istrske in mediteranske tudije, 10 (1997), pp. 153-162. - Verbi, Marija: Puntarsko gibanje na Tolminskem 1513-1515. Tolminski zbornik 1975, 2. knj. (ed. Janez Dolenc). Tolmin: Kulturna skupnost Tolmin, 1975, pp. 133-137. Vojko Pavlin