The sixteenth century Istrian peninsula was a land divided between two great powers: Venice, a declining and decadent sea power jealously protecting its Adriatic Empire, and Austria in ascendancy with the Habsburg's firm grasp of the Imperial Crown and the beginnings of hegemony in Central and Eastern Europe. The collision course seemed inevitable and two great wars were fought to determine whether the Serenissima's maritime supremacy could be broken. In the shadow of these great powers and their ceaseless maneuvering, the inhabitants of Istria had to live with malaria, plague, famine, banditry, war and each other. Sharing a common ethnic and cultural identity, the predominantly Slavic subjects in the rural hinterlands of Istria had to balance their everyday struggle for survival with political allegiances resulting from the presence of the frontier. The microcosm of Istria was riddled with tensions and disputes over imprecise boundaries that failed to delineated vital forests and pastures, leading to frequent bouts of violence. Yet, at the same time, the inhabitants of Istria worked and married across state boundaries, creating a complicated network of identities and producing a trove of everyday human stories. This book brings to light the colorful mosaic of frontier life at the very end of the Middle Ages.