This book examines the economic, geographical and social mobility, as well as everyday life – including crime history and material culture – of the inhabitants of the city of Zadar between the battles of Preveza (1538) and Lepanto (1571). The city, then known as Zara, was the capital of Venice’s dual province of Dalmatia and Albania, a major hub for commerce, communication and exchange and a vibrant port city connected to the wider Mediterranean world. Considered a period “not marked by any events worthy of the attention of posterity” by the French historian Pierre Daru two centuries ago, a view mirrored by most scholars since, this book offers the first in-depth foray into everyday life, widely understood, along the frontiers of Latin Christendom during the apogee of Ottoman dominance in the 16th century. In a first step, quantitative and qualitative analysis of the humble procura contract details the quintessential qualities for the functioning of Renaissance communication and its foundational role in the economic, legal and social affairs in and across the Adriatic. In a second step, the book examines Zadar’s property markets, with particular attention to price changes in the city and its jurisdiction, including real estate transactions on the islands off the coast. The third and fourth parts focus on life in the bustling streets of Zadar, as well as the diverse interaction of its inhabitants – nobles, citizens, residents and foreigners alike. Relaying information about extrajudicial settlements, and drawing on testaments and codicils, a more vivid and socially inclusive reconstruction of urban life in the Renaissance Adriatic emerges.

This book is included in DOAB.