Starohrvatska seoska zajednica

The most important and life-long work of Don Miha Barada (1889–1957), a prominent Croatian historian, paleographer, archaeologist and priest. The book represents a thorough scientific investigation of the organization of ancient Croatian society in the early Middle Ages, with special emphasis on the village community as the basic social unit.

Barada studies in detail the structure of the ancient Croatian village: the form of land ownership (joint and individual), forms of management, family cooperatives, village elders, legal customs and relations between peasants and nobility. Based on Latin documents, cartulary and other medieval sources, he reconstructs how the village community functioned before and after the settlement of Croats, and how it developed under the influence of feudalization.

The work is written in the precise, documented style characteristic of Barada – erudite, but clear. It represents a significant contribution to the understanding of early feudal social relations in Croatia and the wider South Slavic area. It was published in the year of Barada's death (the author died while finishing the proofreading), and it remains a fundamental reference work for all those concerned with Croatian medieval history, agrarian relations and social organization.

With 186 pages of expert analysis, the book is still an indispensable piece of literature in Croatian historiography. It is appreciated for its thoroughness, critical approach to sources and the importance of the topics it covers – from cooperatives and rural self-government to the process of feudalization. It represents the crown of Barada's scholarly oeuvre and an important stone in the mosaic of understanding ancient Croatian society.