La natio dalmata a Padova nel Settecento, con una nota su Simone Filippo Stratico e Giulio Bajamonti

The Adriatic Sea has been the natural sphere of influence of the University of Padua since its opening, back in 1222. In the first centuries of its activity the University of Padua welcomed numerous young students from the Dalmatian region, which constituted the core of the Venetian overseas territory since the year 1000. Students from the most prominent cities of Dalmatia (namely Zara, Sebenico, Spalato, Traù) were particularly conspicuous between the 17th and the 18th centuries, a difficult time in the history of La Serenissima which eventually ended in 1797. For many of these Dalmatian scholars Padua was just a stop along the peregrinatio academica; for others, however, the Venetian city constituted the starting point of a successful career in Humanities and/or Science. This study reconstructs the history of the natio dalmata within the University of Padua in the 18th century, relying on the documents preserved in the Archivio Antico at Palazzo Bo. Special attention is devoted to two distinguished Dalmatian scholars, Simone Stratico and Giulio Bajamonti, who acted as cultural mediators between Western Europe and the South-Eastern Slavic lands.