The theme of this thesis was the Rab nobility in the 18th century. specifically, the aim was to determine the level of authonomy the nobility – and therefore the whole Comune of the island of Rab – posessed in dealing with the liege that was the doge of Venice in the 18th century. The thesis was put as follows: the nobility of the Rab Commune had a greater level of authonomy in dealing with the Venetian government than other nobilities on the eatern Adriatic coast. In order to gain a wider understanding of the issue, it was necessary to begin, chronologically in the Middle Ages, for it is at that time that the structure of government in the Commune of Rab had been formed. Afterwards there was a mention of the Republic of Venice and its status in the 18th century, in which we might have gotten a bigger picture of the reason for the demise of the nobility in the Rab Commune. In other words, the bigger picture was that Venice had been experiencing a systematic decline in all state segments in the 18th century, so it might very well be said that the abrogation of the nobility status in the Commune of Rab had been colateral damage. The final part of the thesis deals with the political, economic, social and religious elements that occurred on the island of Rab during the 18th century. Through extensive research it is revealed, finally, that while it may very well be the case that the Rab nobility did enjoy a higher level of independence than its neighbouring communes, the issue turned out to be far more complex. Namely, the prince of Rab, the Rab nobility and the common folk of Rab all squabbled with one another and tried to push their own cases to the Doge of Venice. The end results were at times surprising, as the Doge didn’t always rule in favour of the prince or the nobility, but the commoners often got their way as well.