| Popis: |
In the Early Modern Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, situated on the borders of the Habsburg Monarchy with the Ottoman Empire, many administrative and social reforms took place during the 18th century, aiming to instil principles of a “good policy” in Croatian public servants. The traditional military role of Croatian nobility took a back seat after the end of continuous Ottoman wars, and the nobility found itself at a turning point. Extensive state-building processes brought important changes in domains on which the honour and prestige of the nobility rested. The careers of the nobility became more oriented toward the public service, which opened up for them new possibilities in the Habsburg power system. Nevertheless, new careers were heavily influenced by the state-building processes and pressures of ‘modern’ education, which imposed new social and moral norms as adequate in practicing public relationships. These brought significant changes in the ways of communication not only with the Court of Vienna, but also within the local public service. The research starts from the point of view that the perception of corruption has greatly influenced the behaviour of public servants during the process of developing a protomodern state, and that early modern corruption can be better understood and explained by understanding individual choices. Using early modern archival/published sources from Croatian, Hungarian and Austrian State Archives, it is discussed in what extent state provisions, state- controlled education for civil servants and changes in criminal practices modified the perceptions of rightful and equitable public service at the (semi-)periphery of early modern Europe. The emphasis of the research is laid on the late 17th and 18th century. The chronological scope was chosen to show the differences in the perception of corruption / public service before and after the reforms that led to the creation of proto-modern state administration. On the other hand, the research is geographically based on the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia within the Habsburg Monarchy, thereby providing an example of the reaction of (more) traditional societies within the early modern Europe to state-building processes. In this regard, the objective is to discuss following questions: How did universal perceptions on corruption get reflected on Croatian-Slavonian public service? In what extent Habsburg provisions contributed to this, although they were not automatically applicable in the Kingdom? Have these provisions influenced educational outcomes of Croatian-Slavonian nobility? Have they influenced local economies and societies? |
