The people of Božava captured the pirate ship

I began transliterating and researching the Glagolitic church books of Božava Parish together with Danny Sullivan from the USA, who wanted to research the origins of his ancestors from Božava. Danny had some information from the literature available to him in the United States about how some of the people from Božava were allegedly pirates or related in some way to piracy. Since I didn't know anything about it or read anything similar, I researched sources outside the Glagolitic registry books and came across a very interesting old article by Dr. Ante M. Strgačić under the title "Božaa people captured the Ulcinj galleon in 1686", which was published in the journal "Radovi Instituta JAZU u Zadru", vol. VI -VII, Zagreb, 1960. Unfortunately, I did not find the article online, but it can be read in the Scientific Library in Zadar.

Strgačić described an interesting event from 1686 that took place on Dugi otok, probably in the area of Veli rat. As written in the title, the people of Božava managed to capture a pirate ship from Ulcinj (Montenegro) with weapons, to capture pirates on it and release the prisoners.

Strgačić believes that under the name Božavljani (people from Božava) hid not only the inhabitants of Božava but also the inhabitants of Veli rat, Soline and Dragove. He draws this conclusion from the fact that in the past the center of this group of villages on Dugi otok was Božava, so he specifically states that until 1684 all four villages were one unit in church terms, with the parish of Božava with its pastor at its head.

Strgačić cites three sources that speak directly about this event, two are in the State Archives in Zadar and one in the Vatican Archives in Rome.

The first source is the diploma of recognition, issued on June 1, 1686. from the Zadar rectors Anđelo Emma and Captain Bartolomej Gritti to the parish priest of Božava, Don Dunat Šarunić called (“rečeni”) Baćoka.

The document states that the Ulcinj pirate galleon was returning home after a robbery in the northern Adriatic with prisoners and loot. A storm threw the galleon onto an islet near Veli Rat and a large hole in the bottom of the ship opened. The pirate crew hurriedly tried to repair the ship, but the parish priest Don Dunat Šarunić Baćoka managed to gather a lot of parishioners, and he probably called for help from the surrounding places, so they headed to the place where the pirate ship ran aground. The people of Božava were armed with "arhibuzi" (simply rifle-like firearms). The captain of the pirate ship and several other pirates were killed in the firefight, and the pirates eventually surrendered. Božava people captured 67 pirates and handed them over, together with the galleon, to the rectors of Zadar, as the competent state authority. This document does not state how many prisoners were released, but it does state that among the prisoners were old pastor from the island of Unije and some mothers with children.

The second source is the termination of the General Providor for Dalmatia and Albania, Aleksandar Molin, from March 4, 1691. This document provides another interesting detail related to this event. After capturing 67 pirates, the people of Božava asked the Venetian authorities in Zadar to give them a prisoner from the Ulcinj pirate ship in order to replace him with one of their locals, who was a Turkish prisoner. The Venetian Senate approved the request with a ducal dated May 9, 1686. and it was ordered that a Turkish prisoner from the Ulcinj galley, Hasan Alidervo, be handed over to them. The whole bureaucratic procedure was delayed because the identity of this prisoner Hasan Aliderv was replaced with another Turk named Assan Alidirno.

The third source that talks about this event is the dispatch of the papal nunciature in Venice from Venice to the papal court in Rome issued on April 27, 1686. The document states that the news reached Venice that four pirate ships (fuste) from Ulcinj had captured 25 Christians from the island of Srakan in the waters of Kvarner near Lošinj. Going back, these pirate ships encountered a big storm near the Zadar islands "near a large village" where the inhabitants of that village released 7 Christian prisoners and captured 63 pirates.

After analyzing the contents of these documents, Strgačić concludes that the people from Božava parish captured a pirate ship on April 25 or 26, 1686. As for the exact place where the pirate ship ran aground, Strgačić belives that it is most likely two small islands called Baćili, north of the lighthouse at village Veli rat, it is less likely that these are the other two small islands in the gates of Maknara, called Golac and Bršćak.

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