Privately Owned Towers in Dalmatian Towns during the High and Central Middle Ages
Privately Owned Towers in Dalmatian Towns during the High and Central Middle Ages

Author(s): Zrinka Nikolić Jakus
Subject(s): Regional Geography, Local History / Microhistory, 13th to 14th Centuries, 15th Century
Published by: Hrvatski institut za povijest
Keywords: Dalmatian Towns; private towers;
Summary/Abstract: During the high and central Middle Ages, in most although not all Mediterranean towns one of the most prominent expressions of power for urban nobility was to own a fortified residence or refuge where their families could find shelter in times of danger. Mighty private towers, which dominated the townscapes of northern and central Italy and, as it seems, also of southern France and central/southern Germany, were the visual means of self-assertion for the prominent families within their urban societies and spaces, while in historical studies their role has been particularly popularized by the work of Jacques Heers on urban noble family kindreds. These private towers often protected large building complexes that belonged to individual noble kindreds, which also gave them their names (e.g. the still extant Torri dei Salvucci in San Gimignano, a small Tuscan town particularly famous for its tall private towers).

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