The
article sought to put the social and political agency of the Trogir Canons in
the period from 1300 to 1360 into the wider context of political conflicts that
took place between opposing noble factions within the Trogir commune in the
14th century. However, before commencing with the analysis, the author gives a
basic insight into the status and infrastructure of the Trogir ecclesiastical
organization, situated in its respective Dalmatian- Croatian and Hungarian
context. Starting with the normative definition of a Cathedral Chapter, which
exists to assist the Bishop and engage in the pastoral care of its human flock, the
article compares the idea with the practical dealings of the Trogir Canons. It
is highlighted that their dealings were almost primarily concerned with
these-worldly matters. On the other hand, and on the basis of tracking several
Trogir Canons, namely Jacob son of Peter (Vitturi), John son of Peter
(Castrafoci), Stephan son of Michael (Cega), Lampredius son of Jacob (Vitturi),
Kazarica son of Martin (Kazarice), Albert son of Marinus (Andreis) and some
others, which are heavily exposed in the primary sources, it is argued that the
Trogir Cathedral Chapter was not functioning in practice as an independent church
corporation, rather than the Canons were in one way or another involved in the factional
strifes. More precisely, the considered canons were deeply connected with the noble
families, from which practically all of them originated, and sequentially with
the informal factions. Therefore, the Canons exploited the existing
institutional (corporate) framework and material resources of the Cathedral
Chapter in the pursuit of their own individual or factional goals. In that
respect, the Cathedral Chapter cannot be considered as an entity separate from
the activities of the city lay authorities, regardless of the actual distinction
in political and judicial jurisdiction between ecclesiastical and secular
institutions. The Case of Trogir provided very fruitful material, which
allowed the unraveling of social and political networks and the role of
individual participants in the collective (political) agency. In other words, the
paper put the focus more on individual agency, and less to structures, bearing
in mind that individual agency is exactly that which shapes the institutions in
the end.