The Statute of Korcula 1214

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The Statute of Korcula Town from 1214 is an important legal document from 13th century that covers laws of Korcula city and island of Korcula. It belong to group of oldest Slav legal documents too.

The Statute, as a book (compilation) of laws, was passed in 1214, but the only preserved version that is available is from 1265. Various amendments and annexes are added to the statute continuously until 16th century. The oldest part of the Statute was written in Latin which was later translated in Italian Language.

There are two old manuscripts of this Statute that are preserved until nowadays – 14th century one that is kept in Venice, Italy, and 15th century one that is kept in Kapor family collection in Korcula. Both preserved manuscripts are written on parchment and are publications of older version of the Statute. The Statute covers has a series of rules and recommendations initially derived from Slav common law.

It contains other laws too that are taken from some other Central-European statutes. The Statute covers various interesting aspects of Island’s and City life: various relationships among citizens, their rights and obligations, provisions on agriculture, trade, shipbuilding and seafaring. Due to the way it is described and presented, Statute depicts the way of life on the Island in that historical context. There are a lot of details about Korcula architecture, Korcula City’s building rules, health and safety in the City (that was a time of plaque) as well as other conditions in the City: about wine, olive oil, food, clothing ….

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The statute was first printed in Venice in 1643. In the mid 19th century Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb published it in Latin and Italian Language. The Statute was first time published in Croatian Language in 1987.