SINJANI I CETINJANI – VOJNICI U MLETAČKIM PREKOMORSKIM KOPNENIM POSTROJBAMA (18. STOLJEĆE)* THE SINJ AND CETINA BORDER SOLDIERS IN THE VENETIAN OVERSEAS GROUND FORCES (THE 18TH CENTURY)*

Središnja tema rada usmjerena je na raščlambu udjela Sinjana i Cetinjana u mletačkim prekomorskim kopnenim postrojbama (pješaštvo i konjaništvo) u 18. stoljeću. Rad se zasniva na raščlambi izvornoga arhivskog gradiva pohranjenoga u Archivio di Stato di Venezia, a riječ je o popisima pripadnika pojedinih vojnih postrojbi koje je provodila nadležna državna magistratura Inquisitori sopra l’amministrazione dei pubblici ruoli. U uvodnome dijelu rada ukratko se iznose opći podatci o mletačkim prekojadranskim postrojbama, dočim je središnji dio teksta usmjeren na raščlambu konkretnih primjera prisutnosti Sinjana i Cetinjana u mletačkoj kopnenoj vojsci. Analizira se njihova ukupna brojnost tijekom 18. stoljeća, učestalost spominjanja u izvorima, iznose opći podatci o zapovjednicima postrojbi, mjesta djelovanja te se ukazuje na neka opća SINJANI I CETINJANI – VOJNICI U MLETAČKIM PREKOMORSKIM KOPNENIM POSTROJBAMA (18. STOLJEĆE)*


THE SINJ AND CETINA BORDER SOLDIERS IN THE VENETIAN OVERSEAS GROUND FORCES (THE 18 TH CENTURY)*
The central purpose of this paper is to analyze the participation of the people from Sinj and from Cetina Border in the Venetian overseas ground forces (infantry and cavalry units) in the 18 th century. It analyzes the original source material kept in Archivio di Stato di Venezia -the lists of members of particular military units made by the competent magistracy (Inquisitori sopra l'amministrazione dei pubblici ruoli). The introduction provides general information on the Venetian overseas troops in Eastern Adriatic, while the central part of the paper analyzes the specific examples of the Sinj and Cetina Border soldiers in the Venetian ground forces. The analysis is focused on their overall numbers in the 18 th century, the frequency of their mention in the sources, general information on their unit commanders, places of deployment, and some general characteristics of the soldiers of the period * Rad pod istovjetnim naslovom bio je prije više godina pripremljen za Zbornik radova s prvoga simpozija u prigodi 800. obljetnice prvoga spomena Trilja u pohrvaćenome obliku (1210. -2010.). Kako je izlazak zbornika odgođen na neodređeno vrijeme, dozvolom glavnoga urednika, prof. dr. sc. Josipa Dukića, ovaj je rad pripremljen, nadopunjen i ispravljen za časopis u kojemu se sada objavljuje. * A number of years ago, a paper of the same title was prepared for the symposium proceedings Zbornik radova s prvoga simpozija u prigodi 800. obljetnice prvoga spomena Trilja u pohrvaćenome obliku (1210 -2010). As the publishing of these proceedings was postponed indefinitely, this paper was prepared, amended and corrected for the journal in which it is being published now, courtesy of the proceedings' editor-inchief Professor Josip Dukić, PhD.

INTRODUCTION: GENERAL INFORMATION ON CROAT UNITS IN THE VENETIAN ARMY
The history of the Venetian army is inextricably connected with the history of Eastern Adriatic, primarily of the regions that, for many centuries, were part of the Serenissima. As a substantial portion of its power relied on a strong military, both on land and on sea, the country paid particular attention to its oversees troops, recruited from Istria to Venetian Albania to Greek islands. 1 The infantry units usually referred to in Venetian sources as Fanti oltramarini were among the most important Venetian army units. It is believed that the first members of the oltramarini were recruited back in the early 16 th century, first for the marine units and then, after the War of Candia (1645-1669), for infantry units, tax and intervention police units and garrisons. Being very mobile, they reached their highest numbers in the 17 th and 18 th centuries, when their regiments (reggimento) and companies (compagnia) were deployed all the way from the Venetian terraferma (the mainland domains) to the strongholds in Dalmatia and Bay of Kotor to the Greek islands and the Peloponnese. In the last phase of the Venetian Republic -in the 18 th century -these units accounted for between one third and one half of all the professional units of the Venetian army. 2 The Venetian administration used the term Croati a cavallo (Cavalleria Croati) for the cavalry units from Eastern Adriatic. After a while, they became the most numerous units of the Venetian army. The founding of the Croat cavalry units can be linked closely to the Ottoman raids in the 15 th century as well as with their conquest of the Zadar and Biograd hinterland in the 16 th century and the ensuing crossing of the local Croatian nobility to the Venetian territory. In the centuries prelaskom tamošnjih hrvatskih plemića na mletački teritorij. Zadar kao glavno mletačko vojno uporište u Dalmaciji, ali i grad za koji je vezano osnivanje tih postrojbi, bit će u svim stoljećima središte njihova djelovanja, novačenja i obuke. Hrvatsko konjaništvo posebno će biti djelatno tijekom 17. stoljeća, odnosno u doba Kandijskoga i Morejskoga rata (1684. -1699.) kada te postrojbe, predvođene domaćim zapovjednicima, ratuju na širem potezu dalmatinske bojišnice, a svojom vojnom učinkovitošću pridonose mletačkim osvajanjima i istiskivanju Osmanlija iz neposrednoga zaleđa dalmatinskih gradova. Kao elitne borbene jedinice, hrvatski konjanici neće ratovati samo na dalmatinskoj bojišnici već će djelovati i duž cijele mletačke terraferme. Pripadnici hrvatskoga konjaništva isprva su, kako je kazano, pripadali iseljenu stanovništvu zavičajem sa širega zadarskog područja. S vremenom će u te postrojbe pristupati i žitelji iz drugih dijelova Dalmacije i Boke kotorske, ali i albanski i crnogorski iseljenici iz drugih dijelova Mletačke Albanije, ponajprije iz onih krajeva koji su se nalazili pod osmanskom vlašću. Kao i prethodno spomenuti oltramarini, i hrvatski konjanici imat će prevažnu ulogu u sustavu obrane Serenissime sve do posljednjih dana opstojanja Republike Svetoga Marka. 3 Temeljno gradivo koje govori o vojničkom djelovanju i postrojbama u kojima su zapovjedni i vojnički kadar ponajprije činili Hrvati, ali i pripadnici drugih naroda duž istočne obale Jadrana i unutrašnjosti -pohranjeno je u Archivio di Stato di Venezia. Riječ je o arhivskoj zbirci pod nazivom Inquisitori sopra l'amministrazione dei pubblici ruoli (dalje: RI -ASVe -0715, Inquisitori … pubblici ruoli) u kojoj je sadržano više od tisuću svežnjeva (busta) u kojima se nalazi gradivo o vojnim postrojbama u 18. stoljeću, iako su manjim dijelom uključeni i dokumenti koji se odnose i na starije razdoblje mletačke vojne povijesti (od 1604. godine). Kada je riječ o konkretnim postrojbama, za istraživače mletačke vojne povjesnice (ponajprije u 18. stoljeću) od iznimne su važnosti popisi unovačenih vojnika 3 Podrobnije usporediti: Berlam 1935: 56-58;Concina 1972: 29-41;Favaloro 1995: 100-103;Čoralić & Balić Nižić 2006. to follow, Zadar -as the chief Venetian stronghold and the place where these units were formed -would become the center of their operation, recruitment and training. The Croat cavalry would be particularly active in the 17 th century, during the Wars of Candia and Morea (1684 -1699) when, headed by their local commanders, they would fight along the entire Dalmatian front, efficiently contributing to Venetian conquests and pushing the Ottomans out from the immediate hinterland of Dalmatian cities. As elite fighting units, the Croat cavalry would fight not only along the Dalmatian front, but also across the entire Venetian terraferma. In the beginning, as previously mentioned, the members of the Croat cavalry were recruited from the population that had migrated from the Zadar area. In the course of time, the population of other parts of Dalmatia and Bay of Kotor would also be joining these units, together with Albanian and Montenegrin emigrants from Venetian Albania, primarily from the regions under the Ottoman rule. Just like the already mentioned oltramarini, the Croat cavalry would play a very important role in the defense of the Serenissima, until the very last days of the Republic of St. Mark. 3 The fundamental documents on the military activities and units the commanders and troops of which primarily consisted of Croats, but also of the members of other peoples from Eastern Adriatic and its hinterland, can be found in Archivio di Stato di Venezia. It is an archival collection entitled Inquisitori sopra l'amministrazione dei pubblici ruoli (hereinafter: RI -ASVe -0715, Inquisitori … pubblici ruoli), containing more than a thousand bundles of documents on military units from the 18 th century, including some of the documents referring to even earlier periods of the Venetian military history (going back to 1604). As regards specific units, featuring prominently for the researchers of the Venetian military history   (Artiglieria, 1652(Artiglieria, -1797. For exploring the share of the Eastern Adriatic officers and soldiers in these fighting Venetian units, particularly important are the Croat infantry and cavalry units, although these officers and soldiers were present in all other above mentioned units. 4 This paper primarily analyzes the share of the Sinj and Cetina Border (Cetinska krajina) troops in the Venetian overseas infantry units (Fanti oltramarini) and cavalry units (Croati a cavallo, Cavalleria Croati), using the above mentioned documents from the Venetian magistracy Inquisitori sopra l'amministrazione dei pubblici ruoli as its principal source. The paper is based on the research carried out in recent years, during which part of the available material on the Croats' participation in the Venetian armed forces was researched. We believe that the sample analyzed -more than two hundred bundles or 35-40% of the overall material -is sufficient for an objective analysis that would yield scientific conclusions. The next chapter of this paper introduces the fundamental determinants of the share of the Sinj and Cetina Border soldiers in the Venetian ground forces in the 18 th centurythe most completely covered by the said material. u 18. stoljeću, razdoblju za koje je navedeno gradivo najpotpunije sačuvano. Razmatrat će se opći brojčani parametri (broj u izvorima zabilježenih Sinjana i Cetinjana, vremenski raspon njihova spominjanja), zatim omjer udjela Sinjana i Cetinjana prema rodovima (pješaci ili konjanici), njihov vojnički status (činovi), mjesta djelovanja (stacioniranja i popisivanja pojedinih jedinica), zapovjedni kadar, kao i -u skladu s raspoloživosti dostupnoga gradivaneke osobne karakteristike pješaka i konjanika zavičajem iz Cetinske krajine i samoga grada Sinja (dob, statura, boja kose i slično). Naposljetku, u prilogu rada tabelarno će se predstaviti svi Sinjani i Cetinjani koje smo zabilježili tijekom dosadašnjih istraživanja navedenoga gradiva pohranjenoga u mletačkome Državnom arhivu. 5 OPĆE ZNAČAJKE DJELOVANJA SINJANA I CETINJANA U MLETAČKOJ KOPNENOJ VOJSCI: RAŠČLAMBA ARHIVSKIH SPISA Ukupan broj Sinjana i Cetinjana zabilježen u popisima prekomorskih pješačkih i konjaničkih postrojbi iznosi 76. Od toga su broja 62 vojnika navela da potječu iz grada Sinja, a za njih 14 kao zavičaj je navedena Cetinska krajina (Cetina). Svi dokumenti potječu iz 18. stoljeća -najstariji upis datiran je u 1714. godinu (upisani su konjanici Ivan Janko, Stipan Medaković i Nikola Vladičević), a završni spis potječe iz 1797. godine (upisan je pješak Toma Blase/Blažević). Brojni su vojnici -pješaci ili konjanici -u pojedinim jedinicama spomenuti samo jednom te je njihovu kasniju karijeru -prema dosadašnjemu stupnju istraženosti gradiva -nemoguće kontinuirano pratiti. Neki su pak pod stijegom svetoga Marka proveli dobar dio života -od najranije mladosti do prestanka aktivne službe. Takav su primjer konjanici Vid Bilić iz Sinja, zabilježen kao vojnik u raznim jedinicama u golemu rasponu od 1717. do 5 S obzirom na to da će u tabelarnome pregledu uz svakoga vojnika i njegovu ubilježbu biti navedena točna signatura unutar arhivskoga fonda Inquisitori sopra l'amministrazione dei pubblici ruoli (broj svežnja, odnosno buste) u nastavku rada nećemo u svim primjerima opterećivati tekst usputnim bilježenjem signature. span of the records), their ratio by sub-branches (infantry or cavalry), their status (ranks), places of deployment (where their units were stationed and listed), chain of command and -subject to availability of the material -some personal characteristics of the infantry and cavalry troops from Cetina Border and Sinj proper (age, stature, hair color etc.). And finally, in the appendix, spreadsheets are provided that include the names of all the Sinj and Cetina Border soldiers that we found while researching the above mentioned material kept in the Venetian State Archives. 5

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SINJ AND CETINA BORDER SOLDIERS IN THE VENETIAN GROUND FORCES: AN ANALYSIS OF ARCHIVE DOCUMENTS
A total of 76 soldiers from Sinj and Cetina Border can be found on the lists of troops in the overseas infantry and cavalry units. Of these, 62 stated that they came from the city of Sinj and the remaining 14 that they were from Cetina Border (Cetina) region. All the documents are from the 18 th century: the entries span 1714 (cavalrymen Ivan Janko, Stipan Medaković and Nikola Vladičević) and 1797 (infantryman Toma Blase/Blažević). The names of numerous troops -both infantrymen and cavalrymen -are mentioned only once in their respective units, so their later careers are impossible to follow continually (at least based on the research carried out so far). Some, on the other hand, spent most of their lives under the banner of St. Mark -from their early youth to the end of their active service. For example, entries on cavalryman Vid Bilić from Sinj can be found in various units over a very long period of time -between 1717 and 1762. Pavao Radanović, also a cavalryman, was a member of various companies between 1730 and 1762. 5 As the entry for every soldier in the spreadsheets includes its correct call number in the archival collection Inquisitori sopra l'amministrazione dei pubblici ruoli (the bundle number), we will not complicate the text below by specifying the call number for every single example. 1762. godine, kao i Pavao Radanović, prisutan u raznim satnijama od 1730. do 1762. godine.
Sinjani i Cetinjani zabilježeni su, kako je razvidno iz prethodno navedenoga, i kao pješaci i kao konjanici, a omjer njihove zastupljenosti unutar ta dva roda iznosi 46 : 30 u korist pripadnika konjaničkih pukovnija. Ovdje je, nadalje, potrebno spomenuti da ni u jednome primjeru ne bilježimo prijelaz vojnika iz jednoga roda u drugi (primjerice iz konjaničke u pješačku pukovniju ili obrnuto). *** Uz svakoga se vojnika redovito navodi i zapovjednik satnije te pukovnija (nazvana prema pukovniku ili bojniku koji njome zapovijeda). Upravo nam pregled pukovnika koji su zapovijedali ovdje istraživanim sinjskim i cetinskim pješacima i konjanicima otkriva širok spektar, cijeli niz imena najistaknutijih onovremenih mletačkih vojnih zapovjednika zavičajem s istočne obale Jadrana. Neki od njih isprva se spominju kao kapetani satnija, s vremenom bivaju promaknuti u pukovnike, a neki su u završnoj etapi bogate vojne karijere postali i generali. Navođenje njihovih imena svojevrsna je retrospektiva znamenitih hrvatskih časnika (kao i časnika drugih narodnosti) koji su pod stijegom Privedre Republike postigli vrlo visoka postignuća. O nekima od njih u historiografiji je već pisano, a mnogi su -nepravedno i nezasluženo -ostali gotovo zaboravljeni u "moru" još uvijek nedovoljno iskorištenoga gradiva u mletačkoj pismohrani. Radi boljega razumijevanja konteksta djelovanja Sinjana i Cetinjana u mletačkim kopnenim postrojbama, osnovne podatke o tim visokim vojnim časnicima (obiteljsko podrijetlo, činovi, upute na odgovarajuće izvore i historiografska saznanja) vrijedi navesti nešto podrobnije. To su, navedimo samo neke primjere, konjanički pukovnici iz drevne i ugledne zadarske plemićke obitelji Benja/Begna, 6 zatim Lujo (Alvise) Detriko/Detrico (1670. -1749.), posljednji muški potomak As can be seen from the above documents, the Sinj and Cetina soldiers served both in infantry and in cavalry, the ratio of the two being 46:30 to the advantage of the members of cavalry regiments. It should also be noted that no transfer from one sub-branch to another (for example, from an infantry regiment to cavalry or vice versa) has been recorded in the careers of these troops. *** Next to every soldier's name, his company commander and his regiment (named after the colonel or major commanding it) are always specified. It is the names of these colonels who were the commanding officers of the Sinj and Cetina infantrymen and cavalrymen researched here that reveal the wide range of the most prominent contemporary Venetian commanders descending from the regions of Eastern Adriatic. Some of them, first mentioned as company captains, were later promoted to colonels; some were even made generals at the end of their outstanding careers. Their names are listed here as a retrospective of a sort of the prominent Croat officers (as well as those of other ethnicities) who had very successful careers under the banner of the Most Serene Republic. While historiography wrote about some of them, many have unjustly and undeservedly remained almost forgotten, condemned to the ample and still insufficiently researched documents in the Venetian archives. In order to obtain a better insight into the context of the participation of the Sinj and Cetina soldiers in the Venetian ground forces, the basic information about these high-ranking officers (their family backgrounds, ranks, references to adequate sources and historiographic insight) deserves to be presented in some detail. To mention a few, these are, for example, the cavalry colonels from the old and distinguished aristocratic family of Benja/Begna from Zadar; 6 then Lujo (Alvise) srednjovjekovne zadarske plemićke obitelji, istaknuti sudionik Morejskoga rata (bitke kod Knina, Imotskoga, Herceg Novoga, Bara i Ulcinja) i na kraju karijere obnašatelj generalskoga čina, 7 kao i zadarski plemić i pukovnik (od 1713.) Šimun Nassi. 8 23 We will finish this extensive, interesting and very informative review of the commanders of the units in which the Sinj and Cetina soldiers who are the subject of this paper spent parts of their military careers by mentioning three more officers: Albanian Marko Ginni (infantry colonel from around 1750 to the late 1770s), 24 Italian Antonio Paravia (infantry colonel in the late 18 th century) 25 and Venetian aristocrat Angelo Emo (colonel in Croat cavalry units from the 1770s to the 1790s). 26 *** The most complete -and most helpful to researchers -information in the sources at our disposal is the one about rank-and-file soldiers in infantry or cavalry units. Census-takers would regularly enter all of their personal data (full name, father's name, native region, sometimes physical characteristics/looks). Unfortunately, such information (e.g. native region and stature) cannot be found for officers, particularly those of higher ranks, the reason probably being the fact that such data was all too familiar to everyone 21 Antun Marković was promoted to captain around 1720. He was an infantry colonel from around 1750 to the late 1760s. For details, see Čoralić & Markulin, 2018b. 22 The documents on Nikole Medin's activities in the rank of colonel can be found in RI -ASVe -0715, Inquisitori … pubblici ruoli, bundle 454, 650-655 (1787-1797). 23 On Ivan Maina (Krapović). For details, see Čoralić, 2011b. 24 Marko Ginni was born to a family of Albanian immigrants active in the social and military life of Dalmatia (particularly Zadar) in the 17 th and 18 th centuries. The documents on his activities in the rank of colonel can be found in RI -ASVe -0715, Inquisitori … pubblici ruoli, bundle 604A-613 (1749-1777). 25 The documents on Antonio Paravia's activities in the rank of colonel can be found in RI -ASVe -0715, Inquisitori … pubblici ruoli, bundle 671 (1796-1797). 26 The documents on Angelo Emo's army career in the ranks of major and colonel can be found in RI -ASVe -0715, Inquisitori … pubblici ruoli, bundle 810-814 (1774-1797). vjerojatno je činjenica da su ti podatci bili svima (tada) vrlo dobro poznati. Stoga, osim u nekoliko slučajeva gdje je taj podatak izravno naveden, Sinjane i Cetinjane ne možemo na osnovi ovih izvora tražiti među časnicima i dočasnicima jer za njih podatak o podrijetlu najčešće nije naveden. Bilježimo ih, samo u nižim vojnim dužnostima, ponajprije kao kaplare ( Josip Benincassa: 1762. -1768Vuk Janković: 1742. -1743. i Nikola Vladičević: 1714. -1727 te će tek izradba usporedne baze podataka (načinjene na osnovi komparacije s drugim izvorima) moći pružiti odgovarajuća saznanja o Sinjanina i Cetinjanima koji su u mletačkoj profesionalnoj kopnenoj vojsci postizali dočasničke i časničke činove.
In the 18 th century, particularly after the end of the final Venetian-Ottoman war, the companies of some Venetian infantry and cavalry regiments were stationed in the main military strongholds of the Serenissima. Those were the fortified cities in the Venetian territories in Veneto -the so-called terraferma -(Venice -Lido, Padua, Treviso, Palmanova, Verona, Bergamo, Udine and others), major strongholds in Eastern Adriatic (Zadar, Split, Kotor) and, after the Treaty of Požarevac in 1718, the remaining Venetian possessions on the Greek islands. According to sources, the units were very mobile: some companies were deployed on various locations over a short period of time. Statistically, and based on every list of infantry or cavalry units analyzed in this paper, it is clear that the said units (companies, regiments) were usually stationed in the City of Venice (Lido) and in the cities of the terraferma (67.11%). The companies that included the soldiers from Sinj and Cetina were also frequently deployed in Eastern Adriatic, all the way from Istria (Poreč) to Bay of Kotor (32.21%). Only one such company was recorded on the island of Corfu (0.67%). If we analyze the locations in the terraferma and the City of Venice where these infantry and cavalry units were deployed, we can notice that they were mostly stationed in Venice itself (specifically, in the neighboring Lido). The reason was probably the fact that the army base at Lido was used for concentration, final recruitment and dispatching of the newly-formed units to other Venetian possessions -coastal or hinterland -so lists of the available troops were regularly made there. The soldiers from Sinj and Cetina were also mletačke posjede te se ondje redovito vršio i popis raspoloživih vojnika. Sinjane i Cetinjane, pripadnike pješačkih i kopnenih jedinica, učestalo bilježimo i u satnijama raspoređenim u drugim, Mletačkoj Republici izrazito važnim uporištima u sjevernome dijelu Apeninskoga poluotoka. To su, s najviše primjera, Udine i Brescia, slijede potom Verona, Palmanova, Padova i Treviso, dočim su ostali talijanski gradovi zabilježeni u malom broju ili samo u pojedinačnim primjerima (Bergamo, Cremona, Rovigo, Salò).
As mentioned above, the companies deployed in Eastern Adriatic accounted for 32.21% of all the ground force units. Most of the lists of soldiers were made in Dalmatia's capital, Zadar. Then follows Kotor -the principal stronghold of the Serenissima in Albania Veneta. Other fortified cities lag behind them (Split), some of them with not more than a single case each (Poreč, Ostrovica, Sutomišćica on the island of Ugljan). *** Sometimes, although not always regularly and correctly, census-takers would record physical characteristics of individual soldiers (not officers). While relatively small, the sample available to us offers a basic insight into the age and appearance of the Sinj and Cetina infantrymen and cavalrymen.
When it comes to the overseas infantrymen, a soldier's average age was 29. 27 The youngest infantryman on record is Mate Mijalović from Sinj (18) and the oldest one is Jure Cvitković, also from Sinj (aged 40 when entered in the records). The average age of Croat cavalrymen was somewhat higher -34 years. The youngest on record among them is Pavao Radanović (25, Sinj) and the oldest one (53 years of age!) is Luka Milošević (Sinj). The latter one was recorded in 1730; a subsequent entry tells us he died two years later.
sample is rather small, but nevertheless it can be seen as evidence that the census-takers arbitrarily classified the soldiers from Sinj and Cetina as being mostly of "medium growth" (comun, ordinario). There are several examples of tall, well-built (alto) soldiers and a single case when the official scribe assessed a soldier as being basso (short).
The assessments of soldiers' appearances included also the stereotypes relating to their hair color -one of the features sometimes specified by the census-takers. In the sample available to us, the infantrymen and cavalrymen from Sinj and Cetina were mostly brown-haired (castagno); there are but a few examples of black hairs. The example of Vid Bilić, a soldier from Sinj who spent decades in the Cavalleria Croati (from 1717 to 1762), is interesting in this context. Entries on Bilić's career were made almost annually, spanning the period from 1717 (the year of the first entry) to 1762 (the final entry). He was first described as a brownhaired soldier, but much later, in the final year, the census-taker noticed a logical and expected change, defining Bilić as griso (gray-haired).
And finally, when it comes to soldiers' distinguishing features, we should also point at the description of their horses (for the members of cavalry units) -specifically, their color. The Sinj and Cetina soldiers mostly rode bay horses (bai, baio); black horses (mor, moro) also accounted for a significant share; there were only a few gray horses (lear, leardo) and sorrels (saur, sauro). The above mentioned example of the Sinj cavalryman Vid Bilić is interesting in this context, too. Short, brown-haired and eventually gray-haired, soldier Vid Bilić rode a sorrel (according to the 1717 census). In the 1725 census and in a few subsequent censuses up to the one in 1737, the horse assigned to Bilić was a bay. In 1741 Bilić had a sorrel again. Ten years later he got a bay. In 1758 he was issued a black horse for the first time, but he switched to a sorrel the same year. Eventually, in the final year of his recorded service (1762) Na kraju -na osnovi podataka iz uzorka kojim raspolažemo -možemo pokušati načiniti "fotorobot" sinjskoga ili cetinskoga vojnika u mletačkoj vojsci. Njegova je prosječna dob bila oko 30 godina, smeđokos je i srednjega stasa, a u konjičkim je jedinicama najčešće bio zadužen za CONCLUSION The history of Sinj and Cetina Border in the 18 th century was closely connected with the contemporary political and military developments across the Venetian possessions in Eastern Adriatic. The most prominent event from that period is the well-known siege of Sinj in 1715, today commemorated with the Alka of Sinj jousting tournament. Extensive reports about the siege were written by contemporary Venetian governors-general and high-ranking officers. This paper is focused on a less known subject, not covered in historiography yet -the share of the Sinj and Cetina soldiers in Venetian infantry units (Fanti oltramarini) and cavalry units (Cavalleria Croati, Croati a cavallo). The analysis of the sample indicates their continued presence in the above mentioned Venetian overseas ground forces throughout the 18 th century. The analysis was primarily focused on the rank-and-file troops.
Obtaining an insight into the number of the Sinj and Cetina soldiers among commissioned officers would require research of additional archive material. The companies and regiments that included the troops from Cetina Border were usually commanded by the officers who were native to Eastern Adriatic -the descendants of the Zadar families Benja, Detriko and Nassi, Šibenik families Divnić and Fenzi, Trogir families Michieli Vitturi and Radoš, and Bay of Kotor families Buća, Paskvali, Smeća and Štukanović. As the ranks of these units were filled with the soldiers coming from the regions stretching from Istria and northern Croatian hinterland to Dalmatia, Bay of Kotor and all the way to Northern Albania, a strict analysis of their composition is also a priceless contribution to the overall participation of the Croats and members of other ethnic groups (Albanians, Montenegrins, Greeks and others) in the army of the Republic of St. Mark in the final century of its existence. The soldiers from Sinj and Cetina Border accounted for a major share in the overall number of the Croat troops in the Venetian army and thus significantly contributed to its power, which is why this paper deals with them.
in the Venetian army. His average age was 30. He was brown-haired and of medium growth. In cavalry units he was usually issued a bay or a black horse. He was stationed mostly in the Venetian cities in Veneto but, due to the mobile nature of his unit, he would often be deployed in the cities on Croatian Adriatic coast. The Croat infantryman or cavalryman never changed his original subbranch, but was occasionally assigned to a unit under command of some other captain, major or colonel. After a decades-long career in the service of the Serenissima, he -like Vid Bilić from Sinjwould become a gray-haired war veteran.