Guerra e pace: l’Adriatico nella Gloria del Ducato di Carniola (1689)

Abstract In this paper we propose to focus on some aspects of the presence of the Adriatic Sea to be found in The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola, the monumental seventeenth-century work dedicated to the description and glorification of that province of inner Austria which was to constitute the nucleus of the future Slovenia. It being impossible completely to cover such a vast subject in the space available, we have tried above all to focus, principally with regard to books XI and XII of the total fifteen of the work, on two aspects of the presence of the Adriatic in the Glory: one linked to 'peace', that is to the sea in everyday life as a source of livelihood and as a means of transport for travel and commerce, and the other attributable to 'war', that is to say the sea as a border and battlefield. A third level of interpretation of the sea which might be described as 'aesthetic', that fascination linked to the beauty and delight that it can bring to man, is perceptible in several passages, although it remains rather secondary compared to other aspects.