Catherine Wendy Bracewell is a Reader in Southeast European History at UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies. She is coeditor most recently of Balkan Departures: Travel Writing from Southeastern Europe (as Wendy Bracewell).

The Uskoks of Senj is a study of piracy, privateering, and banditry in an area stretching from the Adriatic Bay of Kotor to Istria, and along the military frontiers of three empires—Habsburg, Ottoman, and Venetian. Complemented by a splendid choice of published sources, the book is an exemplary contribution to the history of the sixteenth-century Adriatic and Balkans.(American Historical Review) Bracewell delves into the cultural and political attributes that transformed the coastal town of Senj into a crusading fortress. She also strives to ascertain exactly who undertook the hazardous and often ineffectual labor of combating the Ottoman 'Turk,' and why they did so. Bracewell argues that frontier culture shaped the Uskoks and their ethos. It forced them to be obstinate and shockingly pitiless.(Journal of Modern History) Bracewell explains with care why the uskoks were able to provide a vehicle for the expression of a political and social identity for the people of the border. This book not only brings the uskoks into the light but also is a pathbreaking study of the nature of group identity and popular political consciousness in the sixteenth century.(Sixteenth Century Journal)

• 1. IntroductionThe Uskoks of Senj between Three EmpiresApproaches to the UskoksSources2. The Borders and Border Military SystemsThe Impact of Ottoman InvasionConflict and Community on the BordersBorder Military SystemsKlis and Senj in the Military Frontier3. Origins and Motives of the UskoksOrigins and NumbersWhy Become an Uskok?4. The Raiding EconomyMilitary Frontier SubsidiesThe Economies of RaidingTrade as a Function of Plunder5. Military Authority and RaidingSenj Citizens and UskoksUskok Rank-and-File: Venturini and StipendiatiUskok CommandersCaptains of SenjThe Habsburgs and the Military Frontier Administration6. Legitimating Raiding: The Uskok CodeThe Uskok antemurale ChristianitatisHonor and VengeanceSolidarity and Conflict7. Allies and VictimsRelations with the InfidelUskoks and Ottoman ChristiansChristian Neighbors: Venice and DubrovnikMerchants and CitiesThe Rural Population of Dalmatia8. The Final DecadesDeteriorating Relations with VeniceRabatta's Commission in SenjDissent over the Limits of RaidsThe Peace of Zsitvatorok and Conflict with the HofkriegsratPopular Support for the UskoksVlatkovic's Trial: The End of the Independent VojvodasToward War with Venice9. The Dispersal of the UskoksAppendix I: ChronologyAppendix II: GlossaryBibliographyIndex

Catherine Wendy Bracewell is a Reader in Southeast European History at UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies. She is coeditor most recently of Balkan Departures: Travel Writing from Southeastern Europe (as Wendy Bracewell).

The Uskoks of Senj is a study of piracy, privateering, and banditry in an area stretching from the Adriatic Bay of Kotor to Istria, and along the military frontiers of three empires—Habsburg, Ottoman, and Venetian. Complemented by a splendid choice of published sources, the book is an exemplary contribution to the history of the sixteenth-century Adriatic and Balkans.(American Historical Review) Bracewell delves into the cultural and political attributes that transformed the coastal town of Senj into a crusading fortress. She also strives to ascertain exactly who undertook the hazardous and often ineffectual labor of combating the Ottoman 'Turk,' and why they did so. Bracewell argues that frontier culture shaped the Uskoks and their ethos. It forced them to be obstinate and shockingly pitiless.(Journal of Modern History) Bracewell explains with care why the uskoks were able to provide a vehicle for the expression of a political and social identity for the people of the border. This book not only brings the uskoks into the light but also is a pathbreaking study of the nature of group identity and popular political consciousness in the sixteenth century.(Sixteenth Century Journal)

• 1. IntroductionThe Uskoks of Senj between Three EmpiresApproaches to the UskoksSources2. The Borders and Border Military SystemsThe Impact of Ottoman InvasionConflict and Community on the BordersBorder Military SystemsKlis and Senj in the Military Frontier3. Origins and Motives of the UskoksOrigins and NumbersWhy Become an Uskok?4. The Raiding EconomyMilitary Frontier SubsidiesThe Economies of RaidingTrade as a Function of Plunder5. Military Authority and RaidingSenj Citizens and UskoksUskok Rank-and-File: Venturini and StipendiatiUskok CommandersCaptains of SenjThe Habsburgs and the Military Frontier Administration6. Legitimating Raiding: The Uskok CodeThe Uskok antemurale ChristianitatisHonor and VengeanceSolidarity and Conflict7. Allies and VictimsRelations with the InfidelUskoks and Ottoman ChristiansChristian Neighbors: Venice and DubrovnikMerchants and CitiesThe Rural Population of Dalmatia8. The Final DecadesDeteriorating Relations with VeniceRabatta's Commission in SenjDissent over the Limits of RaidsThe Peace of Zsitvatorok and Conflict with the HofkriegsratPopular Support for the UskoksVlatkovic's Trial: The End of the Independent VojvodasToward War with Venice9. The Dispersal of the UskoksAppendix I: ChronologyAppendix II: GlossaryBibliographyIndex

Catherine Wendy Bracewell is a Reader in Southeast European History at UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies. She is coeditor most recently of Balkan Departures: Travel Writing from Southeastern Europe (as Wendy Bracewell).

The Uskoks of Senj is a study of piracy, privateering, and banditry in an area stretching from the Adriatic Bay of Kotor to Istria, and along the military frontiers of three empires—Habsburg, Ottoman, and Venetian. Complemented by a splendid choice of published sources, the book is an exemplary contribution to the history of the sixteenth-century Adriatic and Balkans.(American Historical Review) Bracewell delves into the cultural and political attributes that transformed the coastal town of Senj into a crusading fortress. She also strives to ascertain exactly who undertook the hazardous and often ineffectual labor of combating the Ottoman 'Turk,' and why they did so. Bracewell argues that frontier culture shaped the Uskoks and their ethos. It forced them to be obstinate and shockingly pitiless.(Journal of Modern History) Bracewell explains with care why the uskoks were able to provide a vehicle for the expression of a political and social identity for the people of the border. This book not only brings the uskoks into the light but also is a pathbreaking study of the nature of group identity and popular political consciousness in the sixteenth century.(Sixteenth Century Journal)

• 1. IntroductionThe Uskoks of Senj between Three EmpiresApproaches to the UskoksSources2. The Borders and Border Military SystemsThe Impact of Ottoman InvasionConflict and Community on the BordersBorder Military SystemsKlis and Senj in the Military Frontier3. Origins and Motives of the UskoksOrigins and NumbersWhy Become an Uskok?4. The Raiding EconomyMilitary Frontier SubsidiesThe Economies of RaidingTrade as a Function of Plunder5. Military Authority and RaidingSenj Citizens and UskoksUskok Rank-and-File: Venturini and StipendiatiUskok CommandersCaptains of SenjThe Habsburgs and the Military Frontier Administration6. Legitimating Raiding: The Uskok CodeThe Uskok antemurale ChristianitatisHonor and VengeanceSolidarity and Conflict7. Allies and VictimsRelations with the InfidelUskoks and Ottoman ChristiansChristian Neighbors: Venice and DubrovnikMerchants and CitiesThe Rural Population of Dalmatia8. The Final DecadesDeteriorating Relations with VeniceRabatta's Commission in SenjDissent over the Limits of RaidsThe Peace of Zsitvatorok and Conflict with the HofkriegsratPopular Support for the UskoksVlatkovic's Trial: The End of the Independent VojvodasToward War with Venice9. The Dispersal of the UskoksAppendix I: ChronologyAppendix II: GlossaryBibliographyIndex