Statuta Valachorum

Statuta Valachorum (English: Vlach Statutes, Croatian: Vlaški statuti) was a decree issued by Emperor Ferdinand II of the Habsburg Monarchy on 5 October 1630 that defined tenancy rights of mostly Orthodox refugees, called Vlachs, in the Military Frontier in a way that it placed them under direct rule by Vienna, removing the jurisdiction of the Croatian Parliament. This was one of three major laws enacted in the early 17th century on the taxation and tenancy rights of the Vlachs, together with the earlier 1608 decree by Emperor Rudolf II and a 1627 decree by Ferdinand.

Background

Decrees

In 1608, Austrian emperor Rudolf II instituted such a law, under which "Vlachs" of the Military Frontier, regardless of their faith, owed one tenth of their income to the Bishop of Zagreb, and 1/9th to the feudal lords whose land they occupied. This law had little practical effect, but it appeased the Croatian nobility at the time.[1] In the 1610s and 1620s, there were conflicts between the Vlachs (refugees and Frontiersmen) and the Croatian nobility.[2] In 1627, emperor Ferdinand II passed a decree allowing the Frontier Vlachs land use regardless of the land's ownership, in an effort to make the Grenzer (Frontiersmen) independent of the Croatian nobility, and more willing to wage wars for him.[1] This decision has been interpreted as a feudalization attempt, and in 1628, it was feared that if the Vlachs left the Frontier for Ottoman Slavonia, the military and economical strength of the Habsburg Monarchy would be notably weakened and threatened; at an assembly of ca. 3,400 war-equipped Vlachs, it was promised that the Vlachs stay under military organization and be given regulations in form of a statute, thereby regulating their legal status.[3] The next year, the Croatian parliament tried once again to pass a law in which the refugee community be included into the jurisdiction of the Habsburg Kingdom of Croatia, however, without results.[3] By persuasion of the military command of the Croatian Military Frontier and the Eastern Orthodox Church, Vlachs refused that law and they demanded confirmation of royal benefits from 1627. The Frontiersmens' petitions led to the 1630 statute.[4]

Statutes

On October 5, 1630, despite of decision made by Sabor, Ferdinand II had enacted Statuta Valachorum according to which "Vlachs" (Orthodox refugees, mainly Serbs)[a] would freely settle in the military captaincies of Križevci, Koprivnica and Ivanec and keep privileges they had in the Ottoman Empire.

Territorialization of area which was under Varaždin Generalat, respectively Slavonian Military Frontier i.e. formation of delineation was also included in Statuta Valachorum. Until then, Varaždin Generalat had not been delimited.

The decree laid out the rights and obligations of the settlers that stabilized their status for years after.[5] These rights assumed free land given to the settlers, their civil administration based on the settlers' traditional law. All the rights were given in return for the settlers' military service to the Austrian Emperor.[6]

The goal of Statuta Valachorum was to bring the Vlachs under supervision of the imperial court, giving them an appearance of autonomy, despite the fact that the level of self-government they had before them was actually decreased.[1]

Aftermath

The 1630 Statuta Valachorum applied only to Vlachs in the area of Varaždin Generalat, located between Drava and Sava, but later, all Vlachs used that statute.[1]

The Statute created a separate region at the expense of the Croatia-Slavonia province.[7] Ferdinand II did not include matters of land ownership in the statute, so that he wouldn't upset Croatian nobility.[1]

When Ferdinand III came to power, the ownership of Croatian Military Frontier land was transferred to the imperial court.[1] In the 18th century, the nobility was finally formally deprived of all Frontier land when it was declared an imperial fief.[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Budak 2002
  2. ↑ Kršev 2011, p. 135.
  3. 1 2 Kršev 2011, p. 136.
  4. ↑ Sabrina P. Ramet (1997). Whose Democracy?: Nationalism, Religion, and the Doctrine of Collective Rights in Post-1989 Eastern Europe. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 83. ISBN 978-0-8476-8324-6. In response to this and other petitions from the (Serb) Grenzer, the Kaiser issued a statute on 5 October 1630 defining the rights and obligations of the frontiersmen and setting up the first formal administrative organization for the Military Frontier,
  5. ↑ Robert Bireley (2014). Ferdinand II, Counter-Reformation Emperor, 1578-1637. Cambridge University Press. p. 163. ISBN 978-1-107-06715-8.
  6. ↑ Karl Kaser (1995). Familie und Verwandtschaft auf dem Balkan: Analyse einer untergehenden Kultur. Böhlau Verlag Wien. p. 111. ISBN 978-3-205-98345-3.
  7. ↑ A Legal Geography of Yugoslavia's Disintegration by Ana S. Trbovich, Oxford University Press, USA, 2008 page 85

Sources

External links

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