OSOBITOSTI NASLJEDNO-PRAVNOG UREĐENJA CRESKO-OSORSKOG STATUTA IZ 1441. GODINE

Abstract

Particular attention in this research is paid to the regulation of property relations arising after the death of the testator in the Statute of Cres-Osor. The provisions regulating inheritance relations among family members in the content of this source confirm the importance of the family as a community as well as the importance of family property within this late mediaeval commune. In this regard, the Statute of Cres-Osor shows specific features. The equality of male and female descendants when it comes to intestate inheritance is marked by the inheritance regulation of the rare communes of the Kvarner region, including the Cres commune. In this regard, it is important to determine the position of women in marriage and family. In a period when under the influence of the reception of different legal sources, primarily of the Venetian and Byzantine ones, most Adriatic communes adopted almost identical features of inheritance law, in which the inheritance of family property is linked to a certain degree of kinship. The Statute regulated testamentary freedom and free disposal of property according to the will of the testator or for religious purposes. As the systematic analysis of the legal provisions of the statute is merely the subject of the discussions in academic community, a detailed analysis of hereditary relationships regulated by the provisions of this source will certainly contribute to understanding of the legal reality of this mediaeval island commune. This research conducts a detailed analysis into the legal source, and compares specific provisions of other close communes in order to analyse inheritance by will and intestate inheritance regulation as well as other important issues such as the position of certain categories of heirs. Moreover, it aims at detecting the origin of a separate regulation of hereditary relations in this island community.