Republic of Poljica

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The Poljica (Poglizza) Republic or duchy (Croatian: Poljička republika, in older form
"Poljička k nežija") was an autonomous community which existed in the late Middle Ages
and the early modern period in central Dalmatia, near modern-day Omiš, Croatia.

The name poljica stems from the word polje for "field", karst field in particular, a common
geographic feature in the area. The Poljica region was first titled "Republic" by an Italian
writer Alberto Fortis in 1774. It was also known as Poglizza (Italian).

It was organized as a "peasants' republic".

The most important reason why Poljica is remembered is a statute from the 15th century. It
was first written in 1440, revised in 1485, 1515, 1665, and on several later occasions up to
the 19th century, growing to 116 articles. It is today kept in the town museum in Omiš. This
document contains a description of the Poljica common law and its system of government,
and is the most important Croatian historical legal statute (together with the Vinodo l code x of
1288) written in the Chakavian dialect and arvatica (the na me appe ars in the annex of Statute
of Poljica from 1655) (poljičica and poljička azbukvica). A number of other documents dated
from the 12t h to 17t h century regarding the Republic have been preserved, such as Poljički
molitvenik (1614), Statut poljičke bratovštine Sv.Kuzme i Damjana (1619).

The territories of the Poljica republic laid chiefly within the south-easterly curve made by the
river Cetina before it enters the Adriatic at Omiš. They also comprised the fastnesses of the
Mosor mountain (1,370 m or 4,500 feet)) and the fertile strip of coast from Omiš to Stobrec,
16 km (10 miles) W.N.W.

Poljica is divided into three areas or zones: Upper Poljica (Zagorska) which lies behind
Mosor, is farthest from the Adriatic Sea and is in the hinterland of Mosor; Middle Poljica
(Zavrska), the largest part of Poljica (50%) extends from the Žrnovnica River to the Cetina
River at Zadvarje; Lower Poljica (Primorska), built on the remnants of the ancient Greek
colony Eqetium, which extends along the sea from Omiš to the village of Stobreč.

The people of Poljica organized and founded the "parish commune" where they could live
according to their own laws. The parish commune was divided into twelve villages (katuni),
which they named after twelve larger villages of Poljica:

• (Upper) Gornja Poljica: Dolac Donji and Gornje Polje

• (Middle) Sridnja Poljica: Kostanje, Zvečanje, Čišla, Gata, Dubrava, Sitno and Srinjine
• (Lower) Donja Poljica: Duće, Jesenice and Podstrana

Five of the twelve villages were greatly pop ulated by free peasants from Split origin, a nd are
therefore called free peasant composite villages. The other composite villages were populated
by descenda nts of the three brot hers (noted to be founders of Poljica). Each of the twelve
villages elected an elder, or little duke (knez), to serve as leader. The little dukes of free
peasant compos ite villages did not share the same rights as little dukes of the other villages-
the y could vote, but not be elected to the government of Poljica due to their ties with Split.

Documents dating back to the 15th century mention three brothers as founders of the parish
commune of Poljica. According to tradition, Tišimir, Krešimir and Elem, sons of Croatian
king Miroslav, escaped from Bosnia to Poljica. Each brother is credited to having occupied
Upper, Middle and Lower Poljica during the mid 15th century.

The inhabitants lived in scattered villages, twelve of them, each ruled by its count, and all
together ruled by the supreme count. These officers, with the three judges, were always of
nob le birth, though elected b y the whole bod y of citizens. There were two orders of nob les:
"vlastela" were the nobles that came from other parts of Kingdom of Croatia-Hungary.
Because both noble groups were Croats, and to distinguish them from "didići", at first they
got nickname "ugričići", after the fact that they came from the areas under control of
Hungary. "Didići" were the original nobles, and according to legends, the descendants of
Croatian king Miroslav. Didići were "koljenovići", a nd they ha ve rights on lands
("didovina"). Vlastela could became the part of "poljički stol", but they needed the
confirmation of the assembly of Poljica nobles. The descendants of the office holders were
allowed to use titles of duke and count. Below these ranked the commoners and the serfs. At
a very early date the warlike highlanders of Poljica became the friends and allies of the Omiš
corsairs, who were thus enabled to harass the seaborne trade of their neighbors without fear
of a sudden attack by land.
Omiš received a charter from Andrew II of Hungary in 1207, and remained under the
nominal protection of Hungary until 1444, when both Omiš and Poljica accepted the
suzerainty of Venice, while retaining their internal freedom.

The occupa tion of Bosnia as well as Herzegovina by the Ottoman Empire gravely impacted
the Poljica Republic. Notable battles were fought by the local forces against the Turks in
1530 and 1686, and in both occasions the Ottoman army was repelled. A local young woman
by the name of Mila Gojsalić became a heroine after sacrificing herself for the good of the
Poljica community in one of the conflicts with the Turks — she inflitrated the Turkish camp
and blew up the munitions stockpile. A statue of Mila Gojsalić by Ivan Mestrovic stands in
Poljica overlooking the mouth of Cetina, and the story was also made into a theatre play.

After the fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797, Poljica was taken over by Austria. The
population of Poljica numbered 6,566 in 1806. In the following year, however, the republic
inc urred the enmity of Napoleon by rende ring aid to the Russians and Montenegrins in
Dalmatia; and it was invaded by French troops, who plundered its villages, massacred its
inhabitants, and finally deprived it of independence.

After the Napoleonic era, Poljica was absorbed by Austria.

Poljica area were also important to Croatian national renaissance on Croatian South, because
the votes from Poljica contributed a lot to the victory of [[Narodna stranka]] (Croatian
unionist party) in 1882 on the elections in Split county, bringing the pro-Croat forces on
ruling level.

It since passed to Yugoslavia, and in 1912, the Poljica region was reconstituted as a single
municipality. In 1945, it was split again between several municipalities, and remained that
way until the present day, when the villages are part of Croatian municipalities of Podbablje
and O miš. [1] Today this area of around 250 km² (97.6 square miles) is inhabited by around
20,000 people.

Recently the Republic was "re-established" as a cultural organization. The actual prince
(veliki knez) is His Highness Petar Rodić.

[edit] Notes
1. ^ Omis Info

[edit] References
• Domljan, Žarko (ed); Omiš i Poljica, Naklada Ljevak, Zagreb, 2006., ISBN 953-178-
733-6
• Mimica, Bože ; Omiška krajina Poljica makarsko primorje. Od antike do 1918.
godine, Rijeka, 2003. ISBN 953-6059-62-2
• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a
publication now in the public domain.
The 1911 Britannica, in turn, gives the following references:
o Annuario Dalmatico for 1885 (published at Zara)
o Fortis, A; Travels into Dalmatia, London, 1778
[edit] External links
• History of the Poljica Republic
• Map of the Poljica Republic

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