Conflict, Coexistence, and Cooperation in Venetian Zadar (16th Century)/Sukob, suživot i suradnja u mletačkom Zadru (16. stoljeće)

This study investigates encounters in the early modern Adriatic, in particular focusing on the Venetian possessions. The predominantly Catholic Dalmatian cities were incorporated into the Venetian maritime state around the turn of the fifteenth century and were home to small but bustling communities of merchants, companies of sailors, and soldiers. During the sixteenth century, Dalmatia was both the frontline of Catholicism and a valuable turnover hub for goods, ideas, and people. As the Ottomans continued their advance, life within the crammed fortications, threatened by bandits, disease, and pirates was tenuous at times. Despite these conditions, cooperation across the many fault lines dividing early modern Europe never ceased. The study uses a microhistorical approach to source material from the rich Croatian State Archive in Zadar and presents selected examples of cooperation, the bending of norms, and everyday life.