Property and Ownership in Dubrovnik's Confraternity of St Anthony in the Late Medieval and Early Modern Ages
Property and Ownership in Dubrovnik's Confraternity of St Anthony in the Late Medieval and Early Modern Ages

Author(s): Zrinka Pešorda Vardić
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion, History of Church(es), Economic history, Local History / Microhistory, Government/Political systems, 13th to 14th Centuries
Published by: Hrvatski institut za povijest
Keywords: Confraternity of St Anthony; ownership; Dubrovnik; 14th century;
Summary/Abstract: Throughout the centuries of its history, Dubrovnik’s confraternity of St Anthony was one of its most important institutions besides the official authorities and the Church. Established in 1432 by merging two earlier confraternities, that of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Saviour (founded in 1348) and that of St Anthony the First Ab-bot and St Peter (founded probably in 1363), it soon became the most distinguished confraternity in the city. It showed some typical features of a confraternity – focus on the spiritual needs of the brethren, care for the needs of its sick and dying members, offering the feeling of belonging to a community, the possibility of engaging in lay spirituality, and hope in eternal salvation. In the spirit of Christ’s words “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me,” con-fraternities were known for their charity work, which was not limited exclusively to its members, but also included the broader community and all people in need, which distinguished them from the exclusively professional guilds, who cared mostly for their own.

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