Geoadria (Dec 2010)
Lorenzo Licini (1725-1802) surveyor of Dalmatia and Count of Poljica as Rubcich
Abstract
Very little is known about the Great County of Poljica, the autonomous Croatian community in twelve counties on the Adriatic Sea situated mostly in modern Southern Croatia in eastern Dalmatia which had been long and voluntarily under the rule of the Republic of Venice at the border with Ottoman Bosnia. Now Venetian years could be reconstructed in the light of original documents in the State Archives of Zadar and Venice. The author inquires into the proper manner of signing one's name to documents and maps as a pathway into higher research degrees. Focusing on representations of maritime Dalmatia by the hand of one of the twelve Poljica's counts – Lorenzo as 'Licini' of Venetian nationality in the State of Dalmatia and as 'Licini Rubcich' by Croatian affiliation to Rupčići village for the Poljicans living in Poljica, Kotor and Zadar – the analysis demonstrates that maps made for the Grimani Cadastre collection in Zadar can be virtually investigated to reveal the broader organizational devices and patterns through which Venice actually structured and controlled this pivotal land in such a way as to support the economy of a rapidly modernizing State.
