Studying economic and social history of the Slovenes has for decades been one of the basic directions of the Milko Kos Historical Institute at ZRC SAZU. In 2012, when the institute celebrated its fortieth anniversary and organised a symposium presenting the retrospective and perspectives of such studies in Slovenia and abroad, an idea emerged to compile a monograph that would bring new incentives in this area. The production of the monograph took place throughout the entire 2013 and the comprehensive book of 386 pages was published in 2014. The monograph edited by the collaborating researcher Darja Mihelič, PhD contains the discussions of six collaborating researchers (apart from Mihelič also M. Kosi, M. Bizjak, M. Preinfalk, B. Golec, and M. Seručnik). The contributions describe the state of the hitherto research, new opportunities for the future, as well as some of the latest new findings in the fields of economic and social history (e.g. relating to studies of nobility, the history of towns, seigniories and crafts, the integration of agricultural population into non-agrarian activities, and the development of Slovenian provincial names in light of the identity of their inhabitants). The assorted monograph is completed by contributions of foreign colleagues from Austria, Switzerland and Croatia, and an extensive bibliography of the hitherto historiographical works produced in said area.
COBISS.SI-ID: 272480512
A phenomenon has challenged Slovenian historiography, in which no systematic study has ever been carried out on why and when the inhabitants of White Carniola/Bela krajina and Kostel began to identify themselves in the early modern era as Croats and to call their language Croatian, as also already discussed in Janez Vajkard Valvasor’s The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola (1689). What is more, in recent decades publications of various sources have provided confirmation of the presence of the name ‘Croatian’ in two other Slovenian border areas: as a linguonym and ethnonym in Prekmurje, and only as a linguonym in Prlekija. The reasons for the establishment of the term ‘Croatian’ in place of the original ‘Slovene’ were similar in all four border areas under discussion but also specific to each one. The areas differed with respect to the time frame in which the term ‘Croatian’ was documented and also with respect to its rootedness. Using comparative methods and drawing on the widest possible spectrum of sources, this discussion sheds light on the reasons for the appearance and disappearance of the term ‘Croatian’ in four Slovenian border areas. Its main conclusion is that the term ‘Croatian’ in the areas under discussion established itself as a transitional phenomenon substituting for the original term ‘Slovene’(noun) or ‘Slovenian’ (adjective), the area being at the time replete with “prenational” significance and embraced by a good part of modern Croats as their own.
COBISS.SI-ID: 262959360
MIHA Kosi, PhD, was one of five leading collaborators in compiling the first Slovenian scientific historical atlas which was published in 2011. He authored more than forty maps and a number of tables. The atlas contains several hundreds of new maps produced on the basis of the latest scientific knowledge, and presents the political, social, economic and cultural development of the Slovenian territory from prehistory to present day. The atlas is a major achievement of Slovenian historical science that undoubtedly contributes to a better understanding of our history and identity. The reference from COBISS is one example of a more complex chart.
COBISS.SI-ID: 33017901