Morlachs

Morlachs (Croatian and Serbian: Morlaci, Serbian Cyrillic: Морлаци) was an exonym used for a rural community in the Lika and Dalmatian hinterlands. The term was initially used for a Vlach pastoralist community in the mountains of Croatia and the Republic of Venice in the second half of the 14th until the early 16th century. Later, when the community straddled the Venetian–Ottoman border in the 17th century, for Slavic-speaking, mainly Eastern Orthodox, and to a lesser degree Roman Catholic people. The exonym lost its use by the end of the 18th century, and came to be viewed of as derogatory. With the nation-building in the 19th century, the population of the Dalmatian hinterlands espoused either a Serb or Croat ethnicity.

Etymology

The word Morlach is derived from Italian Morlacco and Latin Morlachus or Murlachus, being cognate to Greek Μαυροβλάχοι Maurovlachoi, meaning "Black Vlachs" (from Greek μαύρο mauro meaning "dark", "black"). The Serbo-Croatian term in singular is Morlak and plural Morlaci [mor-latsi]. In some 16th-century redactions of the Doclean Chronicle, they are referred to as "Morlachs or Nigri Latini" (Black Latins).Petar Skok derived it from Latin maurus and Greek maurós ("dark"), the diphthongs au and av indicating a Dalmato-Romanian lexical remnant.

Morlachs (Venetian irregulars)

The Morlach troops was an irregular military group in the Dalmatian hinterland, composed of "Morlachs", that was hired by the Republic of Venice to fight the Ottoman Empire during the Cretan War (1645–69) and the Great Turkish War (1683–99).

Leaders

The leaders, called harambaša (tr. "bandit leader") and serdar ("commander-in-chief"), held several titles in Venetian service.

History

With the Cretan War (1645–69), a solid organization was needed, with an officer commanding over several harambaše. At first this position was undetermined. Priest Stjepan Sorić is mentioned as "governator delli Morlachi", Petar Smiljanić as "capo", Vuk Mandušić as "capo direttore", and Janko Mitrović as "capo principale de Morlachi", Jovan Dračevac as "governator" etc. This "Uskok" or "Morlach" army had less than 1,500 fighters.