Abstract
<jats:p>This paper examines events in Dalmatia during the Candian War (1644– 1669), with particular attention to the role of the Serbian population, the Uskoks, and the Morlachs in military operations between the Venetian Republic and the Ottoman Empire. The study analyzes military conflicts, frontier devastation, population movements, and the demographic changes that resulted from the prolonged war. Special attention is devoted to the settlement of Orthodox Serbs in Venetian territories and to their military role in the defense of Dalmatian cities and border regions. At the same time, the activities of the Catholic Church are also considered, as it perceived the newly settled population as an opportunity for the expansion of the Union and for processes of Catholicization. The research relies to a considerable extent on letters written by Dalmatian bishops and other high-ranking church officials to the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith and to other ecclesiastical authorities. These sources, collected and published from the Vatican archives by Marko Jačov, provide valuable information on wartime destruction, demographic movements, the condition of dioceses, and relations between Catholic and Orthodox populations. Through the analysis of these testimonies, it is possible to gain insight not only into the military and political circumstances but also into religious policy and everyday life on the Venetian–Ottoman frontier. The paper thus demonstrates that the Candian War, although fought primarily over Crete, had profound and long-lasting consequences for the social, demographic, and confessional relations in Dalmatia.</jats:p>