''Cappelletti'', later ''Croati à cavallo'' (), or ''Cavalleria Oltramarina'', was a cavalry unit of the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

. In the beginning, they were organized as part of the

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

n '' Oltremarini'' corps as light cavalry for the surveillance of the Venetian border in Dalmatia, but also as a police unit.

History

Military elites of the eastern Adriatic,

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

s of Dalmatian cities, and war bands of Croatian nobles of

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...

and

fought under the Venetian flag already in the

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in the wars against

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, and in the dynastic wars for the control of Dalmatia against

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, and in the opening wars against the Ottoman Empire. At the end of the 15th century, it was from these warrior elites that the first commanders and mercenaries of Venetian professional units of naval infantry and light cavalry, originating from Dalmatia, the so-called "'' Schiavoni''", would emerge. The fall of the Zadar hinterland under Ottoman rule in the early

16th century The 16th century began with the Julian calendar, Julian year 1501 (represented by the Roman numerals MDI) and ended with either the Julian or the Gregorian calendar, Gregorian year 1600 (MDC), depending on the reckoning used (the Gregorian calend ...

resulted in the migration of the Croatian nobility (Knights from Posedarje and Bribir) to the coastal cities (

Zadar Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...

, Biograd,

Šibenik Šibenik (), historically known as Sebenico (), is a historic town in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka (Croatia), Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is one of the oldest Croatia, Croatian self-governing cities ...

). Nobles took with them the members of their household. Venice formed elite military units from this Croatian military core, which continued the anti-Turkish fight under the Venetian flag as ''cappelletti''. Probably the most famous member of the Dalmatian chapels was the Zadar nobleman and poet Brne Karnarutić, who participated in the Fourth Venetian-Ottoman War as a captain of the Croatian cavalry (''Capitaneus equitum Croatorum''). Together with related units of the

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and Albanian '' Stratioti'', they were the main border unit of the Republic of Venice. After the fall of the Venetian Greek possessions, the ''Stratioti'' gradually disappeared from historical sources, and were completely replaced by the ''cappelletti'' in the 17th century. Finally, in the 1720s with the reorganization of the Venetian armed forces, the cavalry corps was divided into light and heavy cavalry. The heavy cavalry consisted of 2 regiments of

cuirassier A cuirassier ( ; ; ) was a cavalryman equipped with a cuirass, sword, and pistols. Cuirassiers first appeared in mid-to-late 16th century Europe as a result of armoured cavalry, such as man-at-arms, men-at-arms and demi-lancers discarding their ...

s, while the light cavalry was divided into 4 regiments of dragoons (from Terraferma) and 2 regiments of ''Croati à cavallo'' from

. All regiments had around 300 horsemen each.

Gallery

File:Brne Krnarutić - poprsje, Zadar.jpg, Poet Brne Krnarutic in cavalry uniform, statue in

. File:Sinj, Sinjska Alka, Alkar.jpg, Alkar, the alkar uniform is an 18th-century representation of the Croatian horseman uniform in Venetian service from the southern Dalmatia. File:Crovatto 1580.jpg, Portrait of a Croat horseman, Venice, 1590, Cesare Vecellio{{Cite web , title=Cesare Vecellio {{! De gli habiti antichi et moderni di diversi parti del mondo, libri due ... , url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/358319 , access-date=2024-10-30 , website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art , date=1590 , language=en

References

Military units and formations of the Republic of Venice Cavalry units and formations