Republic of Poljica

The Republic of Poljica or duchy (Croatian: Poljička republika, in older form Poljička knežija) was an autonomous community which existed in the late Middle Ages and the early modern period in central Dalmatia, near modern-day Omiš, Croatia.

It was organized as a "peasants' republic" and is best known because of the Poljica Statute, first written in 1440.

The name poljica stems from the word polje for "field", karst polje in particular, a common geographic feature in the area. The Poljica region was first titled a "republic" by the Venetian writer Alberto Fortis in 1774. It was also known as Poglizza (in Italian).

Poljica is best known for the eponymous statute from the 15th century. It was first written in 1440, revised in 1485, 1515, 1665, and on several occasions up to the 19th century, growing to 116 articles. It is today kept in Omiš's museum. This document contains a description of the Poljica common law and its system of government, and is one of the most important Croatian historical legal statute (together with the Vinodol codex of 1288) written in the mixture of Chakavian and Shtokavian dialects, and in Cyrillic (the name appears in the annex of Statute of Poljica from 1655) (poljičica and poljička azbukvica).

One of the items of Poljica Statute states that "everyone has the right to live", contrary to many mediaeval European laws replete with capital punishments including torture.

A number of other documents dated from the 12th to 17th century regarding the republic have been preserved, such as Poljički molitvenik (1614), Statut poljičke bratovštine Sv.Kuzme i Damjana (1619).

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