City · Kingdom of Croatia and Dalmatia · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Spalato

Spalato lives inside the walls of Diocletian's palace and is the metropolitan see of Dalmatia and Croatia, heir to ancient Salona.

It stands under the Hungarian-Croatian king by Coloman's privileges and elects its count. Its hinterland is not its own: the royal fortress of Klis (cro) holds the pass above it, the Croatian counts hold the fields beyond, and the Kačić of Omiš, who stoned its archbishop Rainer to death in 1180 over church estates on the Mosor, hold the coast to the south-east. Heretics (Patarenes) live in the town and in Trogir that winter: the archbishop would drive many of them out, and they would find refuge in Bosnia with Ban Kulin (papal letter of 11 October 1200).

Who holds the see that morning is the campaign's ruling.

Who holds it

Name
Not named for 1199-1200 in the sources used (Domald becomes count only by 1207)
Title
Count (comes) of Spalato, under the king of Hungary and Croatia
Confidence
low

English and Italian Wikipedia (archdiocese of Split, cronotassi); English Wikipedia (Domald of Sidraga; Ban Kulin); campaign notes.

Lord in 1200

King Emeric; the commune under its count. The see (Church map record) is GM ruling 7: the lists give Archbishop Bernard of Perugia, Emeric's former tutor, from 1198; the campaign notes have an archbishop of Andrew's making under papal inquiry, with Bernard archbishop during 1200.

Allies and rivals

The crown and the ban; rivals: the Kačić (since 1180), Trogir over land, Ragusa over the Bosnian see.

How things stand that morning

The king's town under its count; the archbishopric disputed between the crown's candidate and Andrew's appointee (GM ruling 7).

Wealth

Port tolls, the archbishop's estates (Kaštel Sućurac, Solin), the vineyards of the district and Šolta.

Threats

  • The Kačić of Omiš.
  • Heresy and the papal inquiry.
  • The quarrel over the see.

Charter

Coloman's privileges of 1108 for the Dalmatian towns: the citizens elect their count and their bishop for the king's confirmation, keep their own law, keep two thirds of the port tolls (the king takes one third), and no Hungarian may settle inside the walls against their will.

Council

The count, the judges and the nobles' council, with the citizens' assembly; the archbishop and the chapter carry great weight. Thomas the Archdeacon, the town's historian, is a child about this time (born about 1200).

Communities

A Latin patriciate and a Croatian population; Patarene heretics (expelled during 1200). No foreign merchant colony is recorded.

Fairs and markets

Not recorded.

Militia

The citizens' levy and their boats. No numbers recorded.

Walls and castle

The walls and towers of Diocletian's palace; suburbs outside them. Klis above the town is a royal fortress, not the town's.

Trade and crafts

The trade of the Croatian and Bosnian hinterland through Klis; salt, wine and oil; sea trade with Apulia and the Marches.

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

  1. During 1200 (campaign notes)Bernard of Perugia is archbishop of Split during 1200 and drives the Patarenes out of Split and Trogir before October.Depends on: The crown's candidate prevailing in the papal inquiry. Stopped by: Rome confirming Andrew's man (GM ruling 7).
  2. 11 October 1200Innocent III's letter to Emeric about the Patarenes expelled from Split and Trogir and received by Kulin.

Places of note

  • Salona (Solin): The ruins of the ancient metropolis and the archbishop's lands.
  • Šolta: Split's island.

Where the sources disagree

  • GM ruling 7: the cronotassi (Italian and English Wikipedia) give Petar VII to 1196 and Bernard from 1198, with no intruder listed; the campaign notes say Andrew installed archbishops at Split and Zadar whom Celestine III had excommunicated, and that Bernard is archbishop at Split during 1200. Two readings fit the evidence: (a) Bernard was elected in 1198 and holds the see on 1 January 1200, Andrew's man being an intruder whom Rome never recognised; or (b) Andrew's man holds Split that morning and Bernard takes possession during 1200 once Emeric has the province back. Bernard is certainly in office and active by October 1200 (the papal letter). Recommended: rule (b) if the campaign wants the contest in play, otherwise (a); either way the date of Bernard's entry is not pinned.
  • Celestine III died on 8 January 1198, so any excommunication by him of Andrew's appointees means they were in place by the turn of 1197-1198 (cro notes the same point).

Evidence: The see's holders and the heresy affair are documented; the count of 1199-1200 is not named.

On the map: The district is drawn as the Split peninsula with Solin and the island of Šolta (the modern city's share of Čiovo is cut out: Čiovo was Trogir's); the archbishop's estates on the Kaštela shore and the bounds toward Klis and the Poljica are not drawn.

Primary sources for Croatia and Dalmatia

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

Sources and studies

  1. Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Split-Makarska (English Wikipedia)
  2. Arcidiocesi di Spalato-Macarsca (Italian Wikipedia), cronotassi
  3. Ban Kulin (English Wikipedia)
  4. Kačić family (English Wikipedia)
  5. campaign notes on the Church: Part 6 H, Part 11 ruling 7

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.