The Hvar Confraternity of the Holy Spirit in the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Era.

Sa？etak In this text the author present the activities of the Hvar Confraternity of the Holy Spirit from the time of its founding in the 14th century until French rule was imposed in Dalmatia in 1806, when almost all the Confraternities in the eastern Adriatic Communes were disbanded, including this one. On the basis of an analysis of the archive source material in the administrative book of the Confraternity of the Holy Spirit (1773-1804) which are kept in the State Archive in Zadar, as well as the published rule-book (register) of the Confraternity, the pastoral visitations of Valier and Priuli to the Hvar Bishopric in 1579 and 1602-3, plus information from relevant literature about Hvar’s church history, this study seeks to set out the charisma and activities of the aforementioned Confraternity, to describe its internal structure, which was based on the model of the communal organization of society, and finally to highlight its religious and social-charitable role in Hvar society during the late Middle Ages and early Modern Era