2.1. The Counts of Gorizia. This family of highborn feudals began to assert itselfmore obviously when the Investiture Conflict went to an end and when it wasgiven the title the Counts of Gorizia and stewards of the Church of Aquileia. Inthe middle of the 13th Century they inherited from the Counts of Tyrol, thusgetting another count title and stewardship over thè dioceses in Brixen andTrident, besides they were also Carinthian Counts Palatine from the 14th Centuryat the latest. In 1271 the family split into two branches: of Gorizia-Tyrol and ofTyrol-Gorizia. Meinhard IV of Tyrol-Gorizia became also thè Duke of Carinthia in1286, thus achieving the rank of the Imperial Duke, however, thè man line of thisbranch of the Counts of Gorizia became extinct as early as in 1335. The Gorizia-Tyrolian branch, which reached its climax with Albert II ( t 1304) and especiallyhis son Henry II ( t 1323), whose dominion extended, at thè height of his power,practically from the river Brenta in the river Po lowland to the Croat border on theriver Kolpa and from the Pustertal in Tyrol to Istria, again split into two branchesin 1342. The Gorizia estâtes in Istria and in Carniola (Slovene March with WhiteCarniola), which the Count Albert IV had been given, passed into the hands ofthe Habsburgs as early as in 1374, whereas the rest of the estâtes of the Countsof Gorizia in the Carst, in Friuli, in the Isonzo région and in Carinthia theHabsburgs inherited in 1500 after the death of the last Count of GoriziaLeonhard.
2.2. Ministerials and Milites. With these conceptions we understand a specialsocial stratum of unfree nobility, which is mainly a phenomenon of thè medievalGerman state. The word ministerial is defined by the service (Lat. ministerium),with which an individual made himself liable to his lord. At the height of this socialphenomenon (11 th - 13th Century) a ministerial was personally unfree andpersonally dépendent on his lord. His serfdom was manifestated in the fact thathis lord treated him in legal proceedings as a thing he could donate, hand overwith the charter, exchange, devide his children etc. On the other hand, however,a ministerial posessed characteristics, typical of a free nobleman. First of all hecould be given feuds and enfeoff them to somebody else, so that he had theactive feudal right. As he didn't cultivate his estate by himself and as it was only asource of his land income, he was a landiord. This social group began to createalso its own law, i.e. especially individual rights they were given and with whichthey were gradually getting rid of their serfdom (e.g.freedom by entering amatrimony). With émancipation, however, also a personal link, connectingministerials to their lords, was broken. Ministerials developed mostly into theprovince nobility (Landesadel), which is now, irrispective of whose it was up tilithen, subjected to thè authority of the sovereign prince (Landesherr) in theterritory (province), determined by the uniform legal order. In those days,however, the phenomenon miles (knight) had the meaning of a lower stage ofunfree nobility, classified under ministerials at thè very end of a feudal hierarchicscale and had only a passive feudal right. Legally, socially and economically theywere therefore under ministerials. A knight in this sense began to develop in themajority of Alpine provinces as early as in the second half of the 13th Century,earlier a knight denoted mostly a soldier in a broad social are from an ordinaryarmed man to a ruler. Consequently there was originally no contradictionbetween both conceptions ministerialis and miles, one and the same person canbe denoted with both conceptions, because both denoted differentcharacteristics of such a person: miles thè chivalric way of life, a ministerial,however, a servile relation and thus dependency on his master. In this sense aliministerials - to look upon a little simplified - were also milites (but not viceversa), the latter conception being wider and comprising an essentially largercircle of persons. Only with the shift of the meaning of the word miles in thesecond half of the 13th century, the conceptions ministerial and miles make apair, dividing two social groups of unfree nobility.
3. Catalogue. The first part of the catalogue (3.1.) deals with and presentsministerials and milites of the Counts of Gorizia in Istria - twelve families of lowbirth, named after places of their living - (Barbana, Devin, Grdo Selo, Kožljak,Kršan, Lupoglav, Momjan, Pazin, Rakalj, Rašpor, Sovinjak, Završje), and thesecond part (3.2.) with the same in thè Slovene March and White Carniola(Črnomelj, Gradac, Hmeljnik, Kozjak, Mehovo, Metlika, Rožek, Soteska,Šumberk, Žužemberk). The research of each individual family in the cataloguewas consciously projected in the way that it went into détails. All known andaccessible records, on the basis of which each individual family and its role asministerials of the Counts of Gorizia was tried to be handled with as precisely aspossible, were collected and treated. This part is especially interesting also forhistorians, who are interested in the local history, because it brings a sériés ofnew findings referring to individual lowborn families and places, after which theywere called and where they lived. A more detailed présentation of results of thispart of the research (according to individual families) - which among otherresulted also in genealogie surveys in the appendix (6.1.) would unfortunatelytake too much place in the frame of this summary. However, the results of thispart of the research only enabled to a great extent the treating of the role ofministerials and milites of the Counts of Gorizia during the territorial-legaldevelopment of the estâtes of the Counts of Gorizia in Istria and Carniola , whichis the object of the next research complex (4.). The results of this research,however, are bound into a wider synthesis, which, due to the subject itself, goeseven over the territories, dealt with in the catalogue, and in many aspectcomprises the whole dominium of the Counts of Gorizia.
4.1.1. Territorial Development of the estâtes of the Counts of Gorizia in Istriashowed that only the stewardship of the Counts of Gorizia over the Diocese ofPoreč, which they acquired in the years 1191-1194, opened them the door toIstria, because also Pazin - the later centre of their estâtes in Istria - with awreath of neighbouring places passed into their hands. On this basis they beganto appropriate to themselves, mostly in the second half of the 13th Century andmostly at the expense of the Patriarchate of Aquileia, an extensive estatebetween the rivers Dragonja and Mirna and on the line among Buzet, thehinterland of thè mountain Učka and the upper stream of the river Raša.Approximateiy at the same time also thè estate at the lower stream of the Rašaand along thè bay of the Raša, which at thè end of the 12th Century still belongedwithin the frame of thè Municipality of Pula, was annexed. Herewith the territorialdevelopment of the of the estâtes of the Counts of Gorizia in Istria was finishedin main features at the beginning of the 14th Century; ministerials of Gorizia, whoserved the Counts of Gorizia to take away feuds from the Patriarchate ofAquileia, had a decisive role in this process. In this time a special administrativestructure for estâtes of the Counts of Gorizia in Istria began to be formed and inthe second half of the 14th Century the development was closed withestablishment of a special territorial-legal unit: the County of Pazin.
4.1.2. Territorial Development of the estâtes of the Counts of Gorizia in theSlovene March and White Carniola. In 1277 the ruler gave the Count of GoriziaAlbert II in pawn thè kernel of the later County of the Counts of Gorizia in the"March and Metlika", i.e. thè dominion Mehovo and the belonging White Carniolawith the market town Črnomelj. In that time the Counts of Gorizia owned alreadythe great dominion Šumberk, and also Hmeljnik, at least a part of it, was in theirhands. The inner structure of the County in the "March and Metlika" began onthose foundations at thè end of thè 13th and in the beginning of the 14th Century.Thus Metlika emerged in White Carniola until 1300 and not long thereafterGradac was built between Črnomelj and Metlika. At the same time this complexof the estâtes of the Counts of Gorizia had to be connected with the one at theupper stream of the Krka river (Šumberk, Žužemberk, Kozjak). For this purposethe Counts of Gorizia were given Soteska situated along the road, leading fromthe upper stream of the Krka to Črnomelj, and had Rožek built as well a littlemore to the south. in the 14th Century, from the constitutional-legal aspect, thewhole estâtes of the Counts of Gorizia in Carniola formed a special province withits own sovereign prince (Landesherr), province law, judicature and primeminister of the province (Landeshauptmann).
4.2.1. Origin, Language Appurtenance and Relationship Connections ofMinisterials and Milites. In the foreground there is a question of the local and notsocial origin (for the latter our material is too late) of ministerials. In most casesthis question can not be solved or is limited to conclusions, being only probable.The reason lies in the nature of sources, because the social stratum thatinterests us, appears most of ali on the lists of witnesses from charters, whereindividuate are quoted by their names and place (castle) of residence. With thèchange of residence thè "sumarne" changes as well, what makes theidentification of individual persons of course very difficult. The cases, where theorigin of ministerials of the Counts of Gorizia could be stated, prove quite amobility and some common characteristics: mobility within thè dominion of theCounts of Gorizia as a whole, mostly in the direction north - south and west -east, which is in accordance with the âge of the estâtes of the Counts of Gorizia,being "younger" towards south. Those movements are an expression of theplanned policy of the Counts of Gorizia, who settled représentatives of their oldministerial families on the newly taken over territories which only needed to befortified. Very little is known also about language appurtenance of ministerials ofthe Counts of Gorizia. Ethnie appurtenance was not a dominant cathegory formedieval people, therefore it hasn't been mentioned in the sources. On the basisof disposable material it can, likewise, not be stated, who among them was aGerman, Roman or Slav, but only who knew German, Latin respectively Italian orFriulian and Slovene respectively Croat. The question of language appurtenanceis thus reduced to the question of language knowledge. A general statement isthat all those ministerials, owing a dominion, where they were holders ofpatrimonial judicature - and according to the privilege from 1365 it was securedto them at least in Istria and in thè Slovene March with White Carniola - had toknow the language of their surrounding, because otherwise implementation ofthis judicature over the serfs in that dominion can not be imagined.
4.2.2. The estate of individual ministerial families as to their extent was verydifferent and comprised more large dominions (of Devin, Pazin) or just quitesmall estâtes. As to the structure, feuds prevailed, which ministerials wereenfeoffed from very different feudal lords.
4.2.3. Legal Status and the Privilege of 1365. The essential statement referringto development of the legal status of ministerials of the Counts of Gorizia andalso territories of the Counts of Gorizia is that this development lagged behindthe neighbouring régions. Styrian ministerials got free as early as in 1237,Carniolan in 1276 at the latest, whereas for those of Gorizia there exists acontract of 1314 on dividing their children. Similarly the term "landlord" (Landherr)for nobility of the Counts of Gorizia emerges in the seventies of the 14th Centuryfor the first time and it was given its privilege almost two centuries after theStyrian one. The most suitable time to increase the influence and significance ofministerials of the Counts of Gorizia proved to be the time of guardianships ofjuvenile Counts of Gorizia, which is especially true for the periods 1323-1338 (thetime of guardianship of the juvenile Count of Gorizia John Henry) and 1385-1394(the time of guardianship of juvenile Counts Henry IV and John Meinhard). Inthose times ministerials of the Counts of Gorizia got free of personal links,binding them to their master and transformed themselves into province nobility(Landherren), which, at thè end of the 14th Century, already began to organizeand transform itself into the State. In 1365 the Count of Gorizia Albert IVenfeoffed extra to the nobility on his estâtes in Istria and extra to his nobility inthè Slovene March and White Carniola two equal privilèges, with which hesecured them some of their essential rights, especially inferior legal authority intheir dominions, inheritance of feuds by the women family branch as well and ina larger family circle, the right on enfeoffing a dowry on both feuds as well asallodiums, and the obligation to help defend thè country. Those two Privilegeswere given in the time, when it was already clear that Albert IV would die withoutmale issues and that the estâtes of the Counts of Gorizia in Istria and in Carniolawould pass over to the Habsburgs, with whom Albert IV had made an inheritancecontract. Both Privileges were given for the sake of thè lowborn nobility of Goriziain those territories, because they confirmed in writing the rights, they owned andwhich should be respected by a new sovereign prince (Landesherr) as well. Afterthe death of the Count of Gorizia Albert IV the new sovereign princes(Habsburgers Albert III and Leopold III) confirmed both privilèges, thus creating abasis for a special legal status of the Habsburg Istria and Slovene March withregard to Carniola, which were valid even in the 16th Century.
4.2.4.1. Court and Central Administration of the Counts of Gorizia. A detaileddealing with thè court and central administration of the Counts of Gorizia, knownto us only for individual holders of those offices, showed that a clear distinctionbetween two periods in the history of this administration can be made. During thefirst period typical court offices were created (a servant, barman, Chamberlainand a little later major-domo (Marschall) as well). At the turn of the 13th into the14th Century, with development of the estâtes of the Counts of Gorizia into aprovince, they changed into "provincial" offices, whose main représentative is theoffice of the prime minister of province - Landeshauptmann (a special primeminister for the so-called "Front County of Gorizia”, comprising the territories ofthè Counts of Gorizia in Carinthia and Tyrol and a special one for the County ofGorizia, to whom, in a way, prime ministers of province in Metlika and Pazin weresubjected, too), while the main court office became the office of the court tutorand master of ceremonies (Hofmeister). In that time the office of the Counts ofGorizia, through which ail business was performed, quite developed. Businessorganization in the office hasn't been researched good-enough, but undoubtedlyit ladded behind the Tyrolian, where registry and accounts books from evenbefore the end of the 13th Century have been preserved. The seat of thisadministration was in Gorizia and later on - especially in the 14th and 15thCentury - in Bruck by Lienz as well. The main holders of these offices (one of theresults of this research is also an individual list of all known holders of individuaioffices until the end of the 14th century (4.2.4.1.1.)) were exactly ministerials ofthè Counts of Gorizia, who, however, never succeeded to ensure themselvesthose offices hereditarily. Mostly they originated from Carinthia, however, alsothe proportion of office-holders from thè area south of the Karavanke mountainswas not so limited as it was thought up tili now.
4.2.4. Local Administration in Istria, and Slovene March and White Carniola.There are actually no data referring to thè local administration in Slovene Marchand White Carniola, but most probably it didn't differ from thè praxis of otherestâtes of thè Counts of Gorizia (in Carinthia e.g.), where at thè lower level, whenan estate registered in thè land register was in question, (land register) officesexisted, headed by administrators, whose main task was to lead financialopérations of thè offices, trusted to them. In thè Istrian part of thè estâtes of thèCounts of Gorizia, as a rule, rural communities with mayors prevailed at thèlowest administration level. For offices and administrators of that level also thèdésignations "gastaldia" and "gastaldus" were used; they are inheritance ofAquileia, and so is thè institution "vicecomes", emerging in thè Gorizia Istria. Thisadministrator was a predecessor of thè prime minister of province, who wasmentioned in Pazin for thè first time in 1294. At least some holders of thoselower offices originated from the lowborn nobility as well.
4.2.5. Army. The military power of the Counts of Gorizia was that real force,which made them one of the most powerful dynasties in the southeast of theGerman state at thè end of the 13th and at the beginning of the 14th Century andwhich helped the*n create an extensive dynastie territory. An important roleplayed their casties, which were residences of the lowborn nobility and haddifferent functions: they were centres of their territories, with their being situatedby important communications they protected respectively controlled trade routes,they were also of strategie significance at protecting thè Gorizia territories. Assovereign princes the Counts of Gorizia had the right to build casties, only withtheir permission or by their order a new castle could be built in their territory.Those casties were built either by the Counts themselves, i.e.they had them built,so that they stayed under their direct administration, or also by their ministerials,whom they gave casties in fief. As a rule, the lowborn nobility in thè Goriziaterritories didn't have casties in their own posession, but they owned them as afeud, pledge or under some other legai définition; the situation was the same inthe neighbouring provinces. Mainly three legai désignations made themselvesvalid. Individuai could have their residence in a castle of the Counts of Gorizia,situated on a reai feud, on a castle feud or they could live there as castellans. Inthe initial phase the first form prevailed, in the 14th Century, however, mostcasties carne under the direct administration of the Counts of Gorizia, so that thethird form of residence in the casties began to predominate. In the 12th and 13thcenturies the kernel of the army of the Counts of Gorizia consisted of theirministerials and milites, whose military service arose from their feuds (feudalarmy). In the 14th Century this army was obliged to take part only in a defensivewar, but when it went out of the province, it had to be specially paid for that.Quantitatively it was not a great army; in the best case some hundreds cavalierscould be gathered. In the 14th Century mercenaries emerged and mercenaryarmy became the main military force. How those mercenaries joined the militaryservice of the Counts of Gorizia, for how long, for what payment, for whichterritory, under which conditions etc. is evident from a surprisingly great numberof charters on joining the military service of the Counts of Gorizia, which havebeen preserved from the time about the middle of the 14th Century. The thirdelement of the military power of the Counts of Gorizia was a general summons,to which also the subjected population (citizens, peasants) was liable. This form,which was usually made use of only in the greatest need, nearly never came toexpression; the first known case dates from 1419. The army was commandedand led by a Count of Gorizia. As all ruling maie members of the dynasty hadneither a bent nor the knowledge, a commander-in-chief needed, this function ofa professional army leader was, as a rule, performed by the count's deputy formilitary affairs. In the eariier phase he was probably a marshal, later on,however, the prime minister of province, either in Lienz or in Gorizia, who alsohad the right on the summons.