Tolerance towards the "others" in the cities of Venetian Dalmatia (1540-1645)

The ‘others’ in the Dalmatian hinterland were Turks, Morlachs and Orthodox. We can not speak about one general (theoretical) type of tolerance towards these groups. In reality, there were different types of tolerance for different groups and in different contexts. Under these circumstances we can only notice that many aspects of this problem existed, which demand profound and specific research in order to better understanding this subject. Research would be necessary to be conducted in order to define some methods of summarising the models of tolerance within the Dalmatian communities during the 16th and 17th centuries. Thus, it is necessary to keep in mind that the relationship towards the ‘others’ depended on specific situations. Regarding tolerance towards the Ottomans it is necessary to distinguish at least four types of situation: a) tolerance towards the official representative of the Ottomans in the cities as was the case in all major centres on the coast: he was surrounded with a small court and he was not excluded from social and the economic life of a city; b) tolerance towards the Ottoman merchants which implied the tolerance towards his customs and costumes (almost in all of the centres on the coast); c) tolerance towards the caravans led by Turks and the customs of Muslims which was the specific case in Split and a little bit less in Kotor; d) tolerance towards the Ottomans who lived near the border: there were numerous points of everyday co-existence between the Ottoman and Venetian places such as in the hinterland of Zadar, along the River Krka, along the borderline between Klis and Split, or in the Bay of Kotor, between Herceg Novi (Castelnuovo).