Arheološki Vestnik (Jan 2004)
Papal possessions in the eastern Adriatic
Abstract
In the correspondence of two Roman bishops, Vigilius (537-555) and Gregory the Great (590-604), one can find informa-tion about the Patrimony of St. Peter in Praevalitana (patrimo-nium Praevalitanum), in Dalmatia (Dalmatiarum patrimonium,patrimonium in Dalmatia) and in Istria together with Ravenna(patrimonium Ravennate et Histrianum). Administrators of thePatrimony of St. Peter in Dalmatia (rectores) were also papallegates in the diocese of Salona (i.e. Dalmatia). As papal rep-resentatives, although they ranked among the minor Church orders,they had extraordinary authority over the Dalmatian clerics. Fromthe end of the 6th century there is no more trace in the sourcesof the papal Patrimonies on the eastern Adriatic coast. Howev-er, it is not quite clear whether these estates existed also in thefollowing centuries. The question about whether or not the in-come from these estates served also for buying back captivesand slaves throughout Dalmatia and Istria in the reign of PopeJohn IV (640-642), still remains open. By the same token, thereis no clear picture about when and how the Roman Popes losttheir estates on the eastern Adriatic coast.
