A struggle for passes towards the Adriatic – Karst from the 12th to the 15th centuries

Political and military historical sketch

Abstract

The Karst in late Middle Ages encompassed a vast area stretching from karst fields in Inner Carniola to coastal
towns and their immediate hinterland. It was a highly transitional area with mountain passes and important trade
routes affording it a major strategic and economic relevance. For centuries, all major regional powers from Carniola,
Carinthia and Friuli struggled to establish their supremacy over this area and its major seigniories of Lož (Laas),
Postojna (Adelsberg) and Vipava (Wippach): the Spanheims of Carinthia, the Counts of Bogen and Andechs from
Bavaria in the 12th and 13th centuries; the Counts of Gorizia and the Aquileian Patriarch in the 13th and 14th centuries;
the Habsburgs, the Counts of Cilli and the Counts of Ortenburg in the 14th and 15th centuries, and finally
the Habsburgs and the Venetian Republic. Having acquired Trieste in 1382, the Austrian ruling house secured itself
an outlet to the sea, but also found itself in a latent confrontation with Venice. In the war of 1508–1516, Emperor
Maximilian ultimately asserted his power over the hinterland of the Adriatic ports and thus strengthened the role of
the Habsburg Trieste. The military and political developments in the Karst area were extremely dynamic and have no
comparison in the broader Slovenian area.