Onomastic and ethno-confessional landscapes of the Spizza–Antivari region: Latinized and Slavicized place-names in Albanian territories (14th–16th Centuries)

Onomastic and ethno-confessional landscapes of the Spizza–Antivari region: Latinized and Slavicized place-names in Albanian territories (14th–16th centuries)

The source under examination provides a dense onomastic and ethnographic description of the coastal and hinterland regions extending from Spizza (Spič) through Antivari (Bar) toward Budva and the mountainous interior. The text reflects a multilingual environment in which Latin, Italian, Slavic, and Albanian linguistic layers intersect, resulting in heavily Latinized and Slavicized renderings of local place-names, settlements, and tribal designations. Such hybrid forms are characteristic of ecclesiastical and administrative documentation produced in the Adriatic borderlands during the late medieval and early early modern periods.

Several of the named localities are explicitly described as Latin, possessing their own priests, while others are said to be inhabited by schismatics, often in close proximity to Catholic communities. This confessional distinction corresponds closely to known patterns in the Spizza–Antivari zone, where Catholic coastal settlements coexisted with Orthodox or semi-autonomous mountain populations. The mention of shared churches, such as those of Saint Tecla and Saint George in Spizza, further illustrates the practical arrangements that emerged in mixed-confession environments.

Toponymic analysis suggests that many of the names recorded in the source preserve earlier Albanian or mixed Albanian–Slavic forms that were subsequently adapted to Latin orthography. Names such as Marcovicchium, Dedicchium, Murichi, and Sestani correspond well to modern Markovići, Dedići/Dedaj, Muriqi, and Šestani, respectively, all of which are located within or immediately adjacent to historically Albanian-inhabited regions. In other cases, the identification is less certain but remains plausible when phonetic development, regional distribution, and historical context are considered.

Overall, the document is best understood not as a precise administrative survey but as a composite ethnographic and ecclesiastical account that preserves valuable information about settlement patterns, confessional geography, and onomastic continuity. Even where individual names cannot be identified with absolute certainty, their collective distribution and internal consistency strongly support their localization within the Spizza–Antivari–Budva region and its mountainous hinterland. As such, the text constitutes an important witness to the layered linguistic and cultural landscape of medieval and early modern Albanian territories.

List of names and possible meaning

Brischium / Brischa
Likely corresponding to Briš / Briska or Brishë, a locality in the wider Tivari–Ulqin zone.

Stoichium
Possibly related to Stoj / Stojë / Stojnik; identification remains uncertain but geographically plausible.

Sosinium
Potentially connected with Shasin (Svač), an important medieval ecclesiastical center near Ulqin.

Marcovicchium
Identified with Markovići, a well-known settlement cluster in the Budva–Paštrovići area.

Jurazzum
Likely related to Jurë, Jurići, or Jurovići; a personal-name-based toponym.

Guteza
Possibly connected to Gute or Guci/Gucići; identification remains tentative.

Dedicchium
Corresponds closely to Dedići or Dedaj, derived from the Albanian personal name Dedë.

Cuccios (Kuçi or Cucë)
Identified with Kuçi, a major highland community.

Sobriellios / Greys
Possibly connected to Sopoti or Gri; identification remains uncertain.

Tuccios
Likely related to Tuzi and its surrounding communities.

Scaranellics
Possibly corresponding to Shkrel or related groups.

Bechichi (possibly Albanian)
Identified with Bečići near Budva.

Murichi
Corresponds to Muriqi in the Shkodër Lake region.

Sestani
Identified with Shestani, a historically Albanian-influenced area south of Tivari.

Source

Списи Тајног ватиканског архива XVI-XVIII века Av Марко Јачов, Радован Самарџић, Archivio vaticano. 1983

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