Nada Klaić

Nada Klaić (1920 - 1988) was a Croatian historian. As the most influential Croatian medievalist of the 20th century, she modernized Croatian historiography in general.

Historical studies

She was born in Zagreb as the granddaughter of the historian Vjekoslav Klaić. In 1943 she graduated history from the University in Zagreb, where she was hired as a university instructor in the same year. In 1946 Klaić got her Ph.D. with the thesis Political and Social Organization of Slavonia under the Árpád dynasty. In 1954 she became a private assistant professor; in 1968 she became a professor of the history of Croatia.

She researched the period from the arrival of the Slavs (see Migration Period) until the 19th century. She contributed to the Croatian Medievalism by writing papers about social history. The book History of the Yugoslav Peoples II (1959) includes her comprehensive overview of the history of Croatia in the Early Modern Times, including elements of economic and social history.

She paid special attention to the history of cities, as shown by several studies and books: Zadar in the Middle Ages until 1409 (with Ivo Petricioli, 1976), Zagreb in the Middle Ages (1982), Notes on Vukovar in the Middle Ages (1983), Trogir in the Middle Ages: Public Life of the City and its Inhabitants (1985), Koprivnica in the Middle Ages (1987).

She wrote numerous studies about revolts and social conflicts, which she collected in the book Social Turmoil and Revolts in Croatia in the 16th and 17th Centuries (1976). She described the role of specific nobles in the books The Last Dukes of Celje in the Lands of the Crown of St. Stephen (1982) and Medvedgrad and its Masters (1987).

A large part of her work is the analysis and publication of sources. Relying partly on the contributions of earlier historians, she analyzed the entire Croatian diplomatic material of the Early Middle Ages (Diplomatic Analysis of the Documents from the Age of Croatian Rulers of Croat Descent, 1965, 1966-67), questioning its authenticity. Along with the anonymous Split chronicle called Historia Salonitana maior (1967), Klaić published several sources translated from Latin for the needs of students (Sources for Croatian History before 1526, 1972).

She provided a comprehensive and original concept of the early medieval development of the Croatian lands in the book History of the Croats in the Early Middle Ages (1971), while she collected her writings about numerous problems of the later period in the book History of the Croats in the High Middle Ages (1976). Her posthumously published books are Medieval Bosnia: Political Status of Bosnian Rulers before the Coronation of Tvrtko in 1377 (1989) and History of the Croats in the Middle Ages (1990).

Influence

Nada Klaić was the most influential Croatian medievalist in the 20th century. Some of her achievements are the innovation and general modernization of the approach to Croatian history (especially for the Middle Ages), which helped release it from the romantic nationalism of the 19th century; the foundation of a modern interdisciplinary approach to Croatian history, combining archaeology, palaeography, economic history, history of art and cultural history; the revaluation of older historical sources; and the dissolution of many myths reflecting the political function of Croatian historiography in the 19th century.

Since she often engaged in heated disputes, Klaić sometimes proposed untenable theories, such as her refusal to acknowledge the first Croatian printing press in Kosinje (Lika) or the theory that the Croats originally migrated from Karantania. But regardless of such slips, she still made many valuable contributions to Croatian medievalism. Many of her theories have been confirmed after her death.

Works

• Političko i društveno uređenje Slavonije za Arpadovića (Political and Social Organization of Slavonia under the Árpád dynasty, 1946)
• Text in Historija naroda Jugoslavije II (History of the Yugoslav Peoples II, 1959)
• Diplomatička analiza isprava iz doba hrvatskih narodnih vladara (Diplomatic Analysis of the Documents from the Age of Croatian Rulers of Croat Descent, 1965, 1966-67)
• Povijest Hrvata u ranom srednjem vijeku (History of the Croats in the Early Middle Ages, 1971)
• Povijest Hrvata u razvijenom srednjem vijeku (History of the Croats in the High Middle Ages, 1976)
• Društvena previranja i bune u Hrvatskoj u XVI i XVII stoljeću (Social Turmoil and Revolts in Croatia in the 16th and 17th Centuries, 1976)
• Zadar u srednjem vijeku do 1409. (Zadar in the Middle Ages until 1409, 1976)
• Zagreb u srednjem vijeku (Zagreb in the Middle Ages, 1982)
• Zadnji knezi Celjski v deželah Sv. Krone (in Slovenian, The Last Dukes of Celje in the Lands of the Crown of St. Stephen, 1982)
• Crtice o Vukovaru u srednjem vijeku (Notes on Vukovar in the Middle Ages, 1983)
• Trogir u srednjem vijeku: javni život grada i njegovih ljudi (Trogir in the Middle Ages: Public Life of the City and its Inhabitants, 1985)
• Koprivnica u srednjem vijeku (Koprivnica in the Middle Ages, 1987)
• Medvedgrad i njegovi gospodari (Medvedgrad and its Masters, 1987)

Published posthumously:

• Srednjovjekovna Bosna: politički položaj bosanskih vladara do Tvrtkove krunidbe, 1377. g. (Medieval Bosnia: Political Status of Bosnian Rulers before the Coronation of Tvrtko in 1377, 1989)
• Povijest Hrvata u srednjem vijeku (History of the Croats in the Middle Ages, 1990)

Translations

From Latin to Croatian:

• Historia Salonitana maior (1967)
• Izvori za hrvatsku povijest do 1526. godine (Sources for Croatian History before 1526, 1972)