The presentation of the “Catastico de scritture de’ San Nicolò d’Ultra” (Handwritten land registry or the Catastico of the Benedictine Monastery of St. Nicholas in Oltra-Ankaran, Ms. 1569-70)
The “Catastico”of the Benedictine monastery of S. Nicolò in Oltra (Ankaran), called Primo Catastico, dated 1569-70, contains land registry documents transcribed by Father Nicolò from Florence OSB, in the Vicedom palace of Koper, and is the only preserved document that gives us, in the absence of the monastery chronicle or other sources, the insight into the economic activities of the monastery.
Catastico is therefore a collection of transcripts of land registry documents, which the monastery has acquired over time through donations, vows, purchases and appropriations. All the material includes 206 documents, divided into 6 categories: 1. Donations and wills (cc. 1-23), 2. General decisions (cc. 8-23), 3. Sales contracts (cc. 51-71), 4 Exchange contracts (cc.72-77), 5. Rental contracts (cc. 78-118) and 6. Special decisions (cc. 119-206).
The titles that the author writes in the Index replace the missing titles in the documents. The land registry is a precious and invaluable source that provides us with different aspects of the local history, prior to the formation of the local historiography at the beginning of the 17th century: 1. typology and location of agricultural activity, 2. regulation of land law (principles and terms), 3. land registry entities (individuals and entities or corporate entities), 4. decrees of the ecclesiastical magisterium and imperial privileges, 5. documented toponymy (toponyms and micro-toponyms).
The presentation will be joined by Mr Boštjan Zidar, Chief Oenologist of Vinakoper d.o.o., as a guest of the evening.
The Codex will be presented by Peter Štoka, Koper Library.
You are cordially invited
