Traù is a small walled town on an islet between the mainland and Čiovo, whose copy of King Coloman's privileges (1108) is the one that survives.
The Saracens sacked it in 1123 and it was rebuilt. It governs a district on the mainland and Čiovo, quarrels with Split over land on the Kaštela shore, and on 1 January 1200 shelters, like Split, a group of Patarene heretics whom the archbishop of Split would expel during the year.
Who holds it
- Name
- Not named for 1199-1200
- Title
- Count (comes) of Traù, under the king of Hungary and Croatia
- Confidence
- low
English Wikipedia (Ban Kulin; Domald of Sidraga); Coloman's privileges (1108), granted first to Trogir.
Lord in 1200
King Emeric; the commune under its count and its bishop (Church map record, name not pinned for 1200).
Allies and rivals
Split (rival over land and the Bosnian refugees' expulsion); the Croatian counts of the hinterland.
How things stand that morning
The king's town under its count.
Wealth
Port tolls, salt, the farms of the district.
Threats
- Split's ambitions on its land.
- The Croatian lords of the hinterland (Domald's later attempt on the town, about 1210).
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. The surviving text of 1108 is the one granted to Trogir.
Council
The count, the judges and the nobles' council; the bishop.
Communities
Latin patriciate and Croatian commoners; Patarene heretics (expelled during 1200).
Fairs and markets
Not recorded.
Militia
The citizens' levy. No numbers recorded.
Walls and castle
Walls round the islet town; no royal castle.
Trade and crafts
The farms and salt pans of the Trogir field; sea trade with Italy.
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.
- Before 11 October 1200The archbishop of Split drives the Patarenes out of Trogir; they go to Bosnia.Depends on: Bernard's campaign against heresy.
Places of note
- Čiovo: The island facing the town, in its district.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The town's state in 1200 is known only through the heresy letter and the general privileges.
On the map: District drawn as the town, Seget and Čiovo; the Kaštela shore claimed against Split is left out.
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.
- History of the bishops of Salona and Split, by Thomas the Archdeacon, Thomas of Split (about 1266). Written two generations later by a Split churchman born about 1200. Read online
- History of the doges of Venice (about 1229, with a continuation). The earliest surviving Venetian narrative close to the events. Read online
- The Deeds of the Hungarians, by the Anonymous Notary of King Béla, Anonymus (P. magister) (about 1200 to 1210, the date disputed). Not a record of events but a picture of the kingdom's nobility and geography as a courtier of about 1200 wished to see it: the clans and their lands, the castles and counties, the Vlachs, Cumans and other peoples of the Carpathian basin, all projected back onto the conquest. Read online
- The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
- Charters of the kingdom of Croatia, Dalmatia and Slavonia, volume 2, 1101 to 1200 (documents of 1101 to 1200, edited 1904). The Croatian and Dalmatian charters to 1200: the acts of Duke Andrew as lord of Croatia and Dalmatia (1197 to 1204), the Hungarian kings' grants, the Templars and the bishops of Zagreb, Split, Zadar and Trogir, the communal statutes of the coastal towns, and the papal letters of 1200 to Emeric about Ban Kulin of Bosnia and heresy. Read online
- Hungarian royal charters: Fejér's Codex diplomaticus and Szentpétery's critical calendar of the Árpád kings (documents of the 11th to 13th centuries; Fejér published 1829 to 1844, Szentpétery vol. 1 in 1923). The documentary base for Hungary in 1200: King Emeric's grants to Pannonhalma, the bishops, the Templars and Hospitallers, Duke Andrew's acts in Croatia and Dalmatia, and the papal letters of 1200 to Emeric about his brother's rebellion and about heresy in Bosnia. Read online
- Documents on the older commercial and political history of the Republic of Venice, part 1, 814 to 1205 (documents of 814 to 1205, edited 1856). Venice's treaties and privileges in full text. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.