Senožeče and Prem – uncommon borough settlements on the so-called Karst seigneuries

Abstract

The contribution deals with the development of two unusual borough settlements in the southwest part of Slovenia along the routes to the sea. The borough Senožeče originates from the Middle Ages and differs from the majority of boroughs by walls, which separated it from the village of the same name. In the second half of the 16^th century, the development of the borough was strongly marked by a colony of Italian tradesmen that brought it prosperity and a modest autonomy. In the first half of the 18^th century the small borough decayed entirely because of the changed economic policy of the Habsburg state; thus, around 1750 it counted only three populated houses. In subsequent decades it consequently lost the borough title, and recovered it only after 1800 when the neighbouring village Senožeče was included in the borough. The other borough, Prem, as well died away and slipped to the degree of a village in the 18^th century. Prem was by its significance all along strongly behind Senožeče, and the borough title, proven as late as the early modern age, was above all a result of the ambitions of its landed proprietors.