Based on research of archival material from Dalmatian cities, the article aims to provide a framework for understanding the circumstances in creating medieval court records. The key questions are: why were records simplified, and what was their purpose? In order to answer these questions, the author relies on Niklas Luhmann’s study concerning the legitimization of social order, and further studies by James C. Scott on power relations and the simplification of social reality. Considering the key questions from these perspectives shows that court records offer only one version of reality by prioritizing information that was of some practical value to authorities.

中文翻译：

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过去和社会现实的痕迹：达尔马提亚城市的中世纪晚期法庭记录

基于对达尔马提亚城市档案资料的研究，本文旨在提供一个框架，以了解在创建中世纪法院记录时的情况。关键问题是：为什么简化了记录，其目的是什么？为了回答这些问题，作者依据了尼古拉斯·卢曼（Niklas Luhmann）关于社会秩序合法化的研究，以及詹姆斯·斯科特（James C. Scott）对权力关系和社会现实简化的进一步研究。从这些角度考虑关键问题表明，法院记录通过优先考虑对当局具有某些实际价值的信息，仅提供一种现实版本。