About the project

The research concept empbraced in the project Cities of the Croatian MIddle Ages (URBES) is mirroring emerging research trends within European medieval urban history by focusing on relationship between society and city space. By focusing on “urban elites” URBES also recognizes them as undoubtedly social groups that were the most influential in the shaping of the urban spaces. Although all social groups and institutions were very important in the shaping of a medieval town, elite represent the key social group within the medieval community, for their economic activity and municipal offices.  The goal of the URBES project is to provide answers to questions such as: What was the role of the urban estates (with regard to its size, location, level of possession and continuity) in the formation of medieval urban elites? How did (lay) elites in chosen cities transform through the chosen period with regard to the usage and possession of (urban) estates? What was their influence upon the planning of the urban space, and their social presence in the urban space? How did the social structure of the elites influence the shaping of urban space? URBES focuses on selected cities of two geographical regions (coastal region and interamnium of Sava-Drava rivers). The foci of URBES project are Gradec – nowadays Zagreb, Varaždin, Labin, Rovinj, Rab; Zadar, Trogir, Šibenik, Split and Dubrovnik. URBES examines the period between the High and Late Middle Ages.

Project URBES, under no. IP-2014-09-7235 is financed by Croatian Science Foundation and lead in Croatian Institute of History, Zagreb (15 September 2015 - 14 September 2019).