History of Bol

Brač was inhabited in prehistoric times, probably in the Mesolithic, and certainly in the Neolithic, i.e. at the end of the third millennium BC, by the pre-Indo-European population, whose main occupation was animal husbandry. In the second millennium, in the age of metal cultures, the island was inhabited by the Indo-European Illyrians, who were more herders than farmers.

The Romans did not establish settlements, but they organized farm dwellings (villa rustica).
At the end of the 8th or beginning of the 9th century, the Neretva Croats arrived in these areas. They suppressed the Romanized indigenous Illyrian population.
The island of Brač was at that time under Frankish rule. At the beginning of the 11th century, these areas were occupied by the Venetians. In the middle of the century, Brač became part of the Croatian state under Petar Krešimir IV.
In the 12th century, these areas were formally under Byzantine rule, but were ruled by the Venetians. During the reign of King Coloman, in 1107, Brač was part of the Croatian-Hungarian state. However, in 1135, Venice conquered Brač, and around 1170 it was again under Byzantine rule for a short time, because in 1180 it was again part of the Croatian-Hungarian state. Andrew II, the Croatian-Hungarian king, gave Brač to the Frankopan princes of Krk.

Then Brač was occupied by pirates from Omiš. The people of Brač asked Venice for protection, which they were granted. Thus, on April 1, 1278, these areas came under the rule of Venice, which lasted until 1358. In the same year, Brač once again became part of the Croatian-Hungarian state. Brač continued to change masters frequently. Thus, in 1390, it was under the protection of the Bosnian king Tvrtko I, in 1394 it was ruled by the Croatian-Hungarian king Sigmund, in 1403 the island was ruled by Hrvoje Vukčić, and in 1413 it came under the rule of Dubrovnik.
Finally, in 1420, Brač was conquered by the Venetians and ruled until 1797, i.e. until the fall of Venice. Venice formally respected the previous communal arrangement and abandoned all forms of communal self-government, but in practice it acted in accordance with its own laws and interfered very intensively in the internal affairs of the commune with the help of its officials. It abolished the provisions of customary law and introduced common legislation under the administration of the general providur. The princes of Brač were mostly impoverished Venetian nobles who came to the island to enrich themselves. They restricted communal self-government and behaved arrogantly.

With the fall of Venice, the people of Brač thought they had been freed from all obligations and were now free. However, in the same year, Austria occupied these areas and ruled them until 1805. With the Peace of Požun in 1805, this area came under French rule, which introduced many economic reforms. The nobility was abolished, schools were founded.

In December 1806, the Russians occupied Brač, but by mid-1807 the French were back again, but they still had no peace. English ships attacked the island twice, in 1811 and 1812. In June 1811, an English corvette attacked Bol , destroyed several ships in the harbor, and took a rich booty of grain, oil, and wine to the island of Vis.

After the fall of Napoleon, Brač came under Austrian rule again on July 7, 1814. In 1823. a new territorial division of the island occurs. Brač is divided into seven municipalities, including the municipality Bol .

A long and difficult struggle for the Croatian language, for unification with Croatia, lay ahead. The Bol folklorists finally succeeded in 1883. to seize power in the municipality. Second half of the 19th century century is a time of national awakening. In 1897. The Croatian Reading Room is founded. From 1. December 1918 In 1991, Bol was part of a new state (Yugoslavia) in which national dreams were not realized.

After the turbulent Second World War, Bol was part of the SFR Yugoslavia, until the establishment of the independent Republic of Croatia.