Chapter I: Front Matter

THE REPUBLIC OF RAGUSA

_All rights reserved_

THE REPUBLIC

OF

RAGUSA

AN EPISODE OF THE
TURKISH CONQUEST
BY LUIGI VILLARI

WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS
BY WILLIAM HULTON

LONDON: J. M. DENT & CO.
29 & 30 BEDFORD STREET, W.C.
MCMIV

Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO.
At the Ballantyne Press

PREFATORY NOTE

Various accounts of Dalmatia have been written in English, many of which include a historical survey of Ragusa; but the only special histories of the town itself are in German or Italian, and even those are not by any means complete. The best is undoubtedly Professor Gelcich’s little book, _Dello Sviluppo Civile di Ragusa_, a perfect mine of valuable information, of which I have availed myself largely in the present volume. But it deals principally with the internal development, the archeology, and the architecture of the town, and does not dwell on its international position, which for foreign readers is its most important aspect. Engel’s _Geschichte des Freystaates Ragusa_ is useful and fairly accurate, but it is somewhat dry, and more in the nature of a chronicle of events than a real history. The works of the local historians and chroniclers, such as Resti, Ragnina, Luccari, Gondola, and others, although they contain some interesting details and picturesque descriptions, traditions, &c., are written without a notion of historical accuracy, and are inspired by a strong bias which admits no facts unfavourable to Ragusa. That of the Tuscan, Razzi, is more reliable, but by no means wholly to be depended on, and it only brings us down to the end of the sixteenth century. The safest guide to the subject is to be found in the original records of the town, a large portion of which have been published by the South-Slavonic Academy of Agram, by the Hungarian Academy, and various other collections of documents on the history of the Southern Slaves, such as Miklosich’s _Monumenta Serbica_, Marin Sanudo, the works of Theiner, Počić, Farlati, &c. The modern works on the history of Ragusa of which I have made the most use, besides the above-mentioned work of Professor Gelcich, are the same author’s pamphlets, _La Zedda_ and _I Conti di Tuhelj_; T. Graham Jackson’s _Dalmatia_ for the chapters on Ragusan architecture; Paul Pisani’s _Num Ragusini_, &c., for the Venetian period, and his large work _La Dalmatie de 1797 à 1815_ for the end of the Republic; Klaić’s _Geschichte Bosniens_ for the relations between Ragusa and Bosnia; Heyd’s _Histoire du Commerce du Lévant_ and Professor Jireček’s _Handelsstrassen und Bergwerke_ for Ragusa’s commercial development; Horatio Brown’s _Venice_ for Venetian history; and Puipin and Spasowicz’ history of Slavonic literature. A fuller list of authorities consulted is appended.

I must express my especial indebtedness to Professor Gelcich for the assistance and encouragement which he afforded me in preparing this volume. I also received valuable aid from Signor V. Adamović, who kindly placed his library at my service during my stay at Ragusa; to Signor A. de Serragli, who gave much information on the topography and archeology of the town; to the Padre Bibliotecario of the Franciscan Monastery, who assisted me in my researches; and to Signor Giovanni Saraca. I may say that during my visits to Dalmatia I always found the natives courteous and kindly, and willing to assist me in every way, especially at Ragusa. Of the many features which Dalmatia has in common with Italy, the one which I must call attention to is the fact that in every Dalmatian town there is always at least one local antiquary who has made a life-study of the history and archeology, working with no other thought than the love of the subject, and always willing to assist other students.

I am also indebted to Mr. Herbert P. Horne, who kindly assisted me in the chapters dealing with architecture and painting.

In the spelling of the Slavonic names I have adopted the Croatian orthography, as being the most convenient and the most accurate. The following letters have a peculiar pronunciation:—

C = _ts_ in _bits_. Thus Cavtat is pronounced Tsavtat.

Č = _ch_ in _which_. Thus Miljačka is pronounced
Miljachka.

Ć is almost identical to the above, but is used only at
the end of a word when preceded by an _i_. Thus Gundulić
is pronounced Gundulich.

G is always pronounced hard, as in _gig_.

H is like the German _ch_ in _Buch_.

J = _y_ in _yet_. Thus Jajce is pronounced Yaytse. When
at the end of a word and preceded by the letters _l_ or
_n_ it softens them into something like the French _l_ in
_mouillé_ and the French _gne_ in _signe_. Thus Sandalj
and Sinj.

The letter _r_ is sometimes a semi-vowel, and is
pronounced like _eurre_ in French, but less definitely.
Many syllables have no other vowel. Thus the name
_Hrvoje_.

S = _s_ in _since_ (never like _s_ in _nose_).

Š = _sh_ in _shave_. Thus Dušan is pronounced Dushan.

U = _oo_ in _boot_.

Z = _z_ in _blaze_.

Ž is like the French _j_ in _jour_.

In the case of well-known names and words which are usually spelt in another way, I have adhered to the common orthography. Thus I have written Miklosich instead of Miklosić, and Tsar instead of Car. Dalmatians of Italian sympathies, but having Slavonic names, invariably use the _ch_ in the place of _č_ or _ć_.

For the spelling “Slave,” instead of the more common “Slav,” my authority is Professor Freeman, who in a note on p. 386 of the Third Series of his Essays gives the following reasons for it: “First, no English word ends in _v_. Secondly, we form the names of other nations in another way; we say a _Swede_, a _Dane_, and a _Pole_, not a _Swed_, a _Dan_, or a _Pol_. Thirdly, it is important to bear in mind the history of the word—the fact that _slave_ in the sense of δοῦλος is simply the same word with the national name.”

CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE

I. INTRODUCTION 1

II. THE FOUNDATION AND EARLY HISTORY OF
THE CITY (656-1204) 15

III. VENETIAN SUPREMACY: I.—THE CONSTITUTION
AND THE LAWS (1204-1276) 58

IV. VENETIAN SUPREMACY: II.—SERVIAN AND
BOSNIAN WARS (1276-1358) 90

V. THE TRADE OF RAGUSA 115

VI. ART IN THE THIRTEENTH AND FOURTEENTH
CENTURIES 149

VII. RAGUSA UNDER HUNGARIAN SUPREMACY—THE
TURKISH INVASION (1358-1420) 163

VIII. THE TURKISH CONQUEST (1420-1526) 219

IX. TRADE AND INTERNAL CONDITIONS DURING
THE HUNGARIAN PERIOD 263

X. RAGUSA INDEPENDENT OF HUNGARY (1526-1667) 278

XI. RAGUSAN SHIPS AND SEAMEN IN THE SERVICE
OF SPAIN 306

XII. FROM THE EARTHQUAKE TO THE NAPOLEONIC
WARS (1667-1797) 317

XIII. ART SINCE THE YEAR 1358 339

XIV. LITERATURE 370

XV. THE FALL OF THE REPUBLIC 382

LIST OF BOOKS ON THE HISTORY AND TOPOGRAPHY
OF RAGUSA 417

INDEX 421

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PORTRAIT OF MARINO CABOGA (_Photogravure_)
(_From the Galleria di Ragusei Illustri_) _Frontispiece_

BYZANTINE DOOR-KNOCKER, RECTOR’S PALACE _Title-page_

PAGE

ENTRANCE TO THE HARBOUR OF RAGUSA 1

VIEW OF RAGUSA
(_From P. G. Coronelli’s “Views of Dalmatia,”_ 1680) _facing_ 15

ONOFRIO’S FOUNTAIN IN THE PIAZZA 41

THE QUAY AND HARBOUR GATE _facing_ 54

RAGUSA FROM THE EAST _facing_ 58

TORRE MENZE 66

GENERAL VIEW OF RAGUSA, FROM THE WEST 83

BAS-RELIEF OF ST. BLAIZE, NEAR THE PORTA PLOCE 95

PLAN OF RAGUSA _facing_ 97

FORTIFICATIONS OF STAGNO GRANDE 99

CLOISTER OF THE FRANCISCAN MONASTERY _facing_ 108

COURTYARD OF THE SPONZA (CUSTOM HOUSE) 121

FAÇADE OF THE SPONZA (CUSTOM HOUSE), AND CLOCK
TOWER 131

CAPITAL IN THE FRANCISCAN CLOISTER 152

CAPITAL IN THE FRANCISCAN CLOISTER 153

FAÇADE OF THE RECTOR’S PALACE _facing_ 168

APOTHECARY’S GARDEN, FRANCISCAN MONASTERY 189

ENTRANCE TO THE FRANCISCAN MONASTERY _facing_ 196

TERRACE OF THE FRANCISCAN MONASTERY, WITH THE
TORRE MENZE IN THE BACKGROUND 207

CLOISTER OF THE DOMINICAN MONASTERY 231

SKETCH MAP OF THE TERRITORIES OF THE RAGUSAN
REPUBLIC _facing_ 240

THE ORLANDO COLUMN 249

BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF RAGUSA AND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
(_From an Old Map_, 1670) _facing_ 263

SKETCH MAP OF THE ENVIRONS OF RAGUSA _facing_ 272

FORTE SAN LORENZO 289

GARDEN NEAR RAGUSA 299

ISOLA DI MEZZO 313

COURTYARD OF THE RECTOR’S PALACE 325

MOSTAR, IN THE HERZEGOVINA 334

“ÆSCULAPIUS” CAPITAL, RECTOR’S PALACE 340

SCULPTURED IMPOST, RECTOR’S PALACE 345

SCULPTURED BRACKET, RECTOR’S PALACE 349

CHURCH OF THE CONFRATERNITY OF THE ROSARY 355

TRIPTYCH BY NICCOLÒ RAGUSEI IN THE DOMINICAN
MONASTERY _facing_ 363

GIOVANNI GONDOLA
(_From the Galleria di Ragusei Illustri_) _facing_ 375

TORRE MENZE AND THE WALLS 389

TERRACE OF THE VILLE BRAVAČIĆ, NEAR RAGUSA 405

MAP OF DALMATIA, BOSNIA, AND THE HERZEGOVINA _facing_ 417

MAP OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA _facing_ 418

THE REPUBLIC OF RAGUSA