Milling in the Knin-Drniš Region during the 18th Century: Watermills at Roški Slap

Abstract

Milling was a vital premodern non-agricultural production sector, important for both economic and strategic reasons. In all known premodern cases, ownership and management of such enterprises belonged to members of the local elite. As a result, a relatively large number of historical documents about milling have been preserved. This paper examines one of the most significant milling sites in premodern Dalmatia: the watermills at Roški Slap, a series of waterfalls located along the middle course of the Krka River, between Knin and Šibenik. Due to their favourable location along a major traffic route and the abundant water supply provided by the Krka, the watermills at Roški Slap were among the most lucrative in Dalmatia. There is a wealth of written sources on milling in the Knin-Drniš region from the Venetian administration, as well as from the Ottoman and Austrian periods. The area contained numerous watermills, with those at Roški Slap standing out as the most productive. This is clearly evident in the tabular report on the milling industry in the Knin-Drniš region commissioned in 1756 by the Venetian governor of Dalmatia and Albania (provveditore generale) Francesco Grimani. Data from this source are here compared with other relevant Venetian records, primarily investitures, as well as available Ottoman and Austrian sources. Since the ownership of these watermills consistently remained in the hands of the local elite, the study of milling also provides insight into local social structures and the Venetian administration’s policy towards production resource management in the so-called Aquisto Nuovo in Dalmatia.