Chapter VII: Ragusa Under Hungarian Supremacy—the Turkish Invasion, 1358-1420 (2)

Ostoja, after having received the homage of Sebenico and Traù, renewed his request that Ragusa should recognise his supremacy; but again the citizens refused, and renewed their oath of fealty to Sigismund, merely promising to take no part in the hostilities between Bosnia and Hungary, and to refuse to admit Bosnian rebels into the town. The following year a number of Sigismund’s opponents in Hungary, Croatia, and Dalmatia collected at Zara, and Ladislas crossed over from Italy and was crowned by the Hungarian Primate King of Hungary, Croatia, and Dalmatia. Ostoja himself, however, was not altogether satisfied, for although he had favoured Ladislas’s cause as long as the pretender was in Italy, the moment he landed in Dalmatia, the Bosnian king felt that his own interests along the seaboard were menaced. Hrvoje, Duke of Spalato, maintained an ambiguous attitude, and Ostoja determined to make use of this confusion to declare war on Ragusa. He found a pretext in the fact that two Bosnian rebels had been given hospitality in the town; he began by demanding back the Primorije which he himself had ceded, as well as other territory given by his predecessors, and he also insisted that the Ragusans should recognise his full suzerainty. His demands being rejected he sent a force of 8000 men under the Vojvods Radić Sanković, Sandalj Hranić, and Paul Radinović into Ragusan territory. Hostilities lasted from August 1403 to the spring of 1404.[342] We have but meagre details of this campaign besides those given in the untrustworthy chronicle of Resti, and some information in the _Diplomatarium_. According to Resti, the Ragusans at first drove back the Bosnians, but the latter were soon reinforced and again invaded the Republic’s territory. Encounters took place at Bergato and Gionchetto, and 4000 well-armed Ragusans commanded by Giacomo Gondola tried to induce the enemy to give battle, but without success, as the latter retired to Trebinje. Probably the Ragusans were defeated, as we find the Senate asking for the mediation of the Hungarian king shortly after. But the difficulty was, which king, as Ladislas was now in Dalmatia. The tortuous nature of Ragusan diplomacy is well illustrated by the contemporaneous embassies to Ladislas, Sigismund, and Hrvoje. They did not wish to commit themselves by sending regular ambassadors to Ladislas, as Sigismund might still gain the upper hand, so they merely sent a monk, Marino Bodazza, ostensibly to obtain compensation for the property taken by the pretender’s followers. But a request for mediation in the Bosnian quarrel was also hinted at. Ladislas replied that he would consider the matter if a proper embassy were sent to him. This the Senate refused to do, upon which Ladislas declared Ragusa to be his enemy. But, fortunately for the Republic, Sigismund regained his freedom, and collected a large army in northern Hungary, while Ladislas returned to Italy. An embassy was then sent to Sigismund, the envoys being instructed to go first to Hrvoje, the Duke of Spalato, to complain of Ostoja’s conduct, and suggest that he himself might become King of Bosnia; but if he did not care to go so far, he might help some other member of the Kotromanić family, or Paul Radissić, who had been living at Ragusa for the past two years, to acquire the crown. Ragusa had always been friendly to the old Bosnian dynasty, and had given refuge to many of its exiled princes. At the same time they were to inform him that Ostoja, on seeing the retreat of Ladislas, had sent envoys to Sigismund to intrigue against him (Hrvoje). If the latter broached the subject of Ragusa’s relations with Ladislas they were to say: “We are the subjects of the Crown of Hungary, and whoever is actually King of Hungary is our suzerain.” They were to proceed to Sigismund’s court only if Hrvoje advised them to do so. If they did go on to Hungary they were instructed to try to obtain for Ragusa the suzerainty over the three large islands of Lesina, Curzola, and Brazza, to discover what were the provisions of the treaty which was being negotiated between Ostoja and Sigismund, and to warn the latter against the Bosnian king’s fickleness, and induce him to insist that that potentate should give up the territory he had filched from the Republic in the last war, and pay compensation for the damages, calculated at 200,000 ducats, for which he was responsible. They were also to suggest that he should come to terms with Hrvoje, who might help him to reduce Bosnia to obedience, and to advise him to sow dissension among the Bosnian magnates, who were always ready to rebel.[343]

The embassy departed for Spalato, and thence, at Hrvoje’s advice, proceeded to Hungary, but there they found that, Ostoja having shown himself willing to make peace, Sigismund had concluded a treaty with him already. By its terms Ostoja recognised Hungarian supremacy over Bosnia, and agreed to renew all the privileges of the Ragusans, and restore all the territory taken save the Primorije or coast-land. This did not satisfy the Republic, and Hrvoje was still more annoyed as it upset all his ambitious schemes. So he concluded an alliance with Ragusa against Ostoja, with the object of deposing him and placing Paul Radissić on the Bosnian throne. Hrvoje was to lead an army of Dalmatians and Bosnian malcontents up the Narenta valley, while Ragusa was to cut off Ostoja’s supplies and intrigue against him at the Hungarian court. Sigismund, however, supported Ostoja, and when the latter was besieged in his castle of Bobovac by Hrvoje he sent a force to his assistance under the Banus of Mačva[344] (Sigismund’s lieutenant in northern Bosnia), and gained back all his territory for him. But he did not forget his faithful Ragusans, and not only induced Ostoja to renew their privileges, but requested him to restore them the coast between the Ombla and Stagno.[345] After long negotiations the Diet or “Congregation” of Bosnian magnates met at Visoki in April,[346] and Ostoja brought Ragusa’s claim before it, but no decision was arrived at. After further useless negotiations the Ragusans again allied themselves with Hrvoje and the Bosnian rebels, including this time Sandalj Hranić and Paul Radinović. A second conference of nobles was summoned, and Ostoja was deposed. Stephen Tvrtko II., son of Stephen Tvrtko I., was elected king, and Ostoja retired to Bobovac, now occupied by a Hungarian garrison. The new king owed his position to Hrvoje and Sandalj, who were the real masters of the country, and Ragusa applied to them to obtain a lasting peace with Bosnia. “For what you desire,” wrote the Rector to Sandalj, “that also the lord King Tvrtko and the Duke (Hrvoje) and all Bosnia desire too, for God has granted you the favour that this should be so.”[347] Eventually Tvrtko gave them back all the territory that had been theirs and some more lands besides. The Republic made him and his brothers, as well as Sandalj, citizens of Ragusa, and gave them palaces in the town.

The loyalty of the Ragusans to Hungary was sorely tried this same year, for Sigismund prepared to make war on Tvrtko as a usurper and reinstate Ostoja as the rightful king. They would not side openly with Tvrtko against this suzerain, but they did not wish to lose the valuable and hardly won favours of Bosnia; they therefore placed their arsenals at the disposal of Tvrtko’s agents, who bought large supplies of arms for the war.[348] Sigismund sent three armies into Bosnia—one under the Banus of Mačva by way of Usora, a second under Paul, Banus of Croatia, up the Una valley towards Bihać, and a third to guard the Bosnian-Slavonian frontier under Peter of Perén. Ladislas lent his fleet to Hrvoje to keep watch at Arbe and attack Sigismund’s forces if they should invade the littoral. But after a few ephemeral successes the Hungarians were defeated at all points, and Tvrtko’s position was thereby considerably strengthened. Ostoja, fearing for his life, asked for a safe conduct to Ragusa in April 1407, and the Senate, much to his surprise, granted it, forgiving him all his former hostility, “for any man who from Bosnia or from the land of any other lord takes refuge in our city, according to the law, may enter freely and live here undisturbed.” But after all he did not avail himself of the permit, either because he mistrusted the Ragusans, or because he still hoped to regain his throne. While Tvrtko was trying to win Cattaro and Budua from the Balšas, Sigismund was preparing his revenge, and in 1408 invaded Bosnia with a large army, defeated the usurper and captured him, together with a large number of magnates, of whom 126 were beheaded at Dobor. Ostoja was replaced on the throne, and Sigismund retired to Buda with Tvrtko in his train.

We must now return to Ragusa’s relations with the Balšas. When George II. died in 1403 he was succeeded by his son, who styled himself Balša III. The Zedda was now surrounded by jealous rivals; the Turks claimed tribute, Venice wished to establish posts in the country against them, and various native princelings aspired to enlarge their estates. Ragusa being at war with Bosnia, allied herself with the lords of Njegoš (the nucleus of modern Montenegro) and with Cattaro, and tried to conciliate Venice. Balša determined to oust the Venetians from Albania, and invited the Turks to help him to capture Drivasto and Scutari. Thus Ragusa and he were in opposite camps. Drivasto fell, and so did the town of Scutari, but the castle held out (1404). With the help of Sandalj Hranič and the Albanian magnates Venice soon recovered all that she had lost, and by June, 1407, Balša and his ambitious mother Helena had to sue for peace and give way on all points. Balša, however, did not carry out his engagements, and Venice resorted to the threat of calling in the help of Bayazet to force him to do so (January, 1409); in June of the same year the Venetian fleet sailed down the Adriatic and put in at Ragusa, where the Capitano in Golfo met the envoy of Sandalj.[349] Balša, being now thoroughly frightened, went to Venice with his mother and signed a further agreement. But in 1410 he again raided the Venetian possessions and attacked Scutari with a large force. Benedetto Contarini defended the town with great skill, and received much assistance from a Ragusan flotilla operating on the lake.[350] Balša having also threatened Cattaro, that town offered itself to the Venetians, who were ready to occupy it; but now Sandalj came forward with his claims on it, which caused further complications. Ragusa, although allied to Venice, tried to better her relations with Balša on account of her Albanian trade. But this ambiguous attitude was not quite successful, and Ragusan merchants ended by suffering molestations both from the Venetians and from Balša’s subjects. In 1412 peace was concluded, and Balša restored everything.

Once the danger from Balša was passed Ragusan hostility against Venice revived again, and the Senate wrote to protest against Venetian depredations in Albanian and Sicilian waters. The Republic still desired the supremacy of Hungary in the Adriatic, and although that cause was lost, it tried to bolster it up by inducing Cattaro to return to Hungarian allegiance. This attempt was made, however, more with the object of injuring Venice than with any hope of benefiting Hungary. Ragusa also contracted an alliance with Balša and with Sandalj, who had married Balša’s mother, and was meditating a _coup_ on Cattaro. But the Cattarini succeeded in inducing Ragusa to mediate between them and Sandalj, and even to provide them with a large loan with which to arm the whole population of the Bocche. The maze of intrigue and counter-intrigue between Venice, Hungary, Ragusa, Bosnia, and the various Slave and Albanian princes now becomes hopelessly involved, and no man trusted any other. Ragusa’s policy is well explained in a despatch,[351] in which it is stated that the Republic “had to be on good terms with these lords of Slavonia, for every day our merchants and our goods pass through their hands and their territory, and we fear lest they (the merchants) should suffer injury.” But when Balša demanded a number of Ragusan shipbuilders to repair his vessels for operations against Venice the Senate refused, fearing to incur the latter’s displeasure.

The protection and promotion of trade was the keynote of Ragusan policy, and everything was done with that end in view. In the meanwhile the Senate acquired much knowledge concerning the affairs of Italy and of the East from the Ragusan traders, and communicated the information to Sigismund. Thus the latter learned about the advance of the Turks in Bosnia at the instigation of Vuk, the son of Knez Lazar, who wished to get possession of his brother’s principality. Ladislas continued to send piratical fleets to Dalmatia, which did much damage to Ragusan commerce. But the Ragusans revenged themselves by relieving Curzola, which was attacked by the Apulian fleet. “With the favour of St. Blaize we shot so many arrows and javelins against the enemy, and did their ships so much damage with our bombards, that many of their men were killed or wounded. They abandoned much property and arms, and not only desisted from the siege, but abandoned these parts altogether.”[352] This same year (1409) the Venetians began to re-establish their rule over Dalmatia, and obtained Zara from Ladislas. This caused an outbreak of hostilities between them and Sigismund, who regarded Dalmatia as an integral part of his dominions. While the two Powers were fighting the common enemy was advancing, and in 1411 a Ragusan despatch announces that the Turks had taken and burnt Srebrnica. In 1413 negotiations were opened between Hungary and Venice, in which Ragusa took part, and while Sigismund agreed to give up the greater part of Dalmatia, Ragusa asked for and obtained the lease of the three coveted islands of Lesina, Curzola, and Brazza, which had been withdrawn from Hrvoje’s rule.[353] The Ragusans had hoped to obtain full ownership, but even the lease was a great point gained, and the Republic thought that it would eventually become vested into absolute possession. The islanders, however, were not well disposed towards their new masters, and were only cowed into submission by a naval demonstration. A count was appointed for each island, to remain in office for six months, with a salary of which Ragusa was to pay one-third and the islanders the remainder.[354] This acquisition might have been the beginning of great things for the Republic had its policy been a little less narrowly provincial and nervous. Its territory was now fairly large, its commerce and finances flourishing, and with its intimate connection with the dying kingdom of Bosnia it might have extended its influence far into the hinterland, establishing a strong Latin-Slavonic State as a bulwark against the advancing Turks. Ragusa was also trying to get possession of another part of Canali and Dračevica from Sandlaj Hranić, but the latter would not give it up, because “if he were hard pressed by the Turks he would have no other means of escaping to the sea,” and also because Dračevica was the best position for dominating Cattaro,[355] which he had now forced to pay him tribute. The Venetians, Sandalj, and Balša were now all suffering from the Turkish _obsession_. The enemy’s headquarters were at Üsküb, whence many raids into Bosnia and Albania were made. In 1415 the Turks invaded Bosnia for the third time, and raiding parties came as far as Sebenico and Almissa, so that the Ragusan Senate ordered the islanders to arm light galleys to co-operate with those of Ragusa and Stagno. The ridges dividing the hinterland from the sea were anxiously watched, and every moment it was feared that the dreaded turbans might appear over the crest. In 1416 Sigismund announced to Ragusa his intention of making war on a grand scale against the Turks, and declared that the property of all those who helped them should be confiscated. As the Despot of Servia, Sandalj Hranić, and almost every other Slavonic prince were more or less tributaries to the Sultan, this seems rather a sweeping order. In the same letter he declared that the three islands were withdrawn from Ragusan suzerainty and were to be given over to one Ladislas Jakez, a favourite of the Empress Barbara (September 21-23, 1416). No reason is assigned for the withdrawal of the concession, but it was probably due to the somewhat high-handed manner with which the Republic had governed its new possessions. Curiously enough, the Senate did not seem very unwilling to lose them.

There were now fresh disturbances in Bosnia, and Tvrtko, who had been deposed in favour of Ostoja, was causing trouble. He raised a band of rebels, with which he defeated his adversaries and obliged some of them to take refuge in Ragusan territory. Of this hospitality Tvrtko, as an old friend of the Republic, complained, but the citizens replied that it was better for malcontents to fly to Ragusa, where they usually ended by making peace with their king, than to other lands. For a few months Tvrtko was quite powerful, but soon after he was again defeated. Hrvoje, who had been deprived of his duchy, now called in the Turks to aid him against Hungary and Bosnia, and the Sultan Mohammed I. thereupon sent a force into the latter country, which defeated the Hungarians near Usora, and obtained much booty. As soon as it had retired civil strife broke out again, in consequence of the murder by Ostoja of Paul Radinović, a powerful Bosnian noble. Hrvoje died in March 1416, and in October a Ragusan despatch declared that “the whole of Bosnia is laid waste, and the barons are preparing to exterminate each other.” The rebel magnates met in a Diet, and forced Ostoja to fly to Hlum, where he succeeded in establishing a precarious rule, but after the year 1418 nothing more is heard of him. The magnates elected his son, Stephen Ostojić, as King, and Ragusa at once sent an embassy to try to obtain from him the rest of Canali, of which a part had been given by Sandalj and a part by Paul Paulović. This request Ostojić granted, and in exchange for a yearly tribute of 500 _ipperperi_ promised to protect the city. Sandalj and Paulović still retained a part of that territory, but on Paulović’s death in 1419 Sandalj sold all his remaining share to the Republic for 18,000 ducats, and included that of Paulović. The latter’s son, Radosav, protested, and induced the Canalesi to revolt. He too asked for Turkish help, for, as Resti says, “he had begun after the example of the other Slave princes to nourish in his breast the viper that was to devour them all.” He continued to disturb Ragusa for years to come.

Between 1417 and 1421 Balša had been at war with most of his neighbours, including Venice and Ragusa, but in this last year his stormy life came to an end, and with him the house of Balša died out, for he left no sons. Stephen, the Despot of Servia, Sandalj Hranić, and a native prince named Stephen Maramonte, laid claim to his estates, but Venice obtained the lion’s share, as Drivasto, Dulcigno, and Antivari surrendered spontaneously to the Republic. Thus disappeared the principality of the Zedda.

With the year 1420 opens a new epoch in the history of Dalmatia, for it marks the final reconquest of the country by Venice and the withdrawal of Hungary from the Adriatic. In 1409 the great Republic had, as we have seen, reoccupied Zara, and in 1412 Sebenico. She seized the opportunity of Sigismund’s being engaged in the Hussite war in 1420 to seize Lesina, Brazza, Curzola, and Almissa. Traù, defended by a strong Hungarian garrison, held out for a little while, but ended by surrendering too. Spalato fell next, and Cattaro, after having for some time owed allegiance to Sandalj Hranić, now spontaneously surrendered to the Venetians, who took possession on March 8. Thus they regained the whole of Dalmatia, including the Croatian towns of Novigrad, Nona, and Vrana. Ragusa alone remained outside their sphere, but according to Resti they meditated a _coup de main_ even on the town, and had actually prepared an expedition for the purpose; the plot, however, was disclosed by a Venetian Senator to a Ragusan who had lived twenty-seven years in Venice and was regarded as almost a Venetian. But he had not forgotten his duty towards his native city, and hastened to inform the Ragusan Government. The town was immediately put in a state of defence, so that when the Venetian squadron arrived it saw that a surprise was out of the question, and gave up the idea. This story, like every other statement of Resti’s, is doubtful; but according to Lucio there actually were hostilities between the two Republics at the time, nor is it unlikely that Venice may have meditated uniting her Dalmatian possessions by occupying Ragusa.

The situation of Ragusa towards Hungary was thus considerably altered, as the Hungarians were no longer on her borders. The Republic from this date assumes a still greater degree of independence than before, but from the despatches to the King of Hungary it appears that it still recognised his suzerainty to a certain extent. Hungary was, however, no longer able to afford it valid protection, and the Venetians it did not trust; this explains its subsequent attitude towards the Turks, whom it was now obliged to conciliate, lest it should suffer the fate that was soon to befall its neighbours. But its dependence on the Sultan amounted to little more than the payment of a tribute.

As we have seen, the one important alteration brought about by the exchange of Hungarian in the place of Venetian overlordship was the establishment of the Rector, elected by the city council. This form of government lasted unchanged until the fall of the Republic. Its character tended to become more and more oligarchic, and although the “Specchio,” or Golden Book, was not compiled until 1440, all save the nobles were practically excluded from any share in the government. A new high court of justice was formed, consisting of five judges, who remained in office for one year. Beyond this there is no important constitutional or administrative change to record.

Various measures were taken to improve the general conditions of the city. Lepers were confined to a spot outside Ragusa called San Michele alla Cresta, which they were not allowed to leave. As elsewhere, they were regarded with feelings of horror mixed with superstitious awe. The earliest mention of them is in a small legacy in their favour dated 1295.[356] They probably made their first appearance at Ragusa at the time of the Crusades. We have already alluded to the great plague of 1348, and after that there were several outbreaks of the dread malady in Ragusa; they are recorded in Gradi’s history of the plagues at Ragusa, written “ad memoriam et terrorem cunctorum gentium.” In 1363 a second outbreak took place, a third in 1371, and a fourth in 1374. According to Gradi, the total number of victims in these four visitations amounted to 250 nobles and 25,000 commoners. Quarantine stations for persons coming from infected spots were established at Ragusavecchia and on the island rock of Mercana, but in spite of these precautions there was a fifth outbreak in 1391, which lasted six months, nearly all the nobles taking refuge at Gravosa. In 1397 a still more rigorous quarantine was established, but in 1400 the plague broke out afresh and carried off 2500 victims, and in 1401 it returned. The city then remained free from the scourge until 1416, when two months of plague caused the death of 3800 persons. It was imported from the East, it is said, by Paolo Gondola. In 1410 one Giacomo Godoaldo of Ferrara had been appointed official physician to the Republic, and seeing that his remedies were of little avail, he suggested in 1416 that plague patients should be isolated. The Senate agreed, and two houses in the suburb of Danče were set apart for them. When another outbreak occurred in 1422, the number of victims was very small, owing to these precautions.

Ragusan trade continued to increase considerably, and followed much the same lines as in the preceding period; but, owing to the Turkish invasion and the constant wars in the Slave lands, it tended more and more towards the sea. Italy, the Greek Empire, Asia Minor, and Egypt were always the chief markets for Ragusan merchants, and special exemptions were granted to them to trade with the Infidel,[357] although they were forbidden to sell timber, iron, or arms in those countries. Their relations with the Turks were satisfactory, and they often sent envoys to the Emirs and Sultans. At the same time, this did not interfere with their good understanding with the Christian Powers, and they did much business with Constantinople and the rest of the Greek Empire, both by sea and by land. The land trade with the Slavonic hinterland, although subject to frequent interruptions, was still very active, and new and flourishing commercial colonies arose in Bosnia, Hlum, Servia, Albania, and Bulgaria. With Hungary there was a very active trade, both by way of Bosnia, Servia, and the Danube, and by sea _via_ Croatia. Embassies were frequently sent to the Hungarian court and to the Banus of Croatia and Dalmatia, who resided at Zara as the King of Hungary’s viceroy. The envoys in question frequently acted as commercial travellers for Ragusan goods, of which they brought samples to sell. An enactment, which is greatly to the credit of the little Republic is the prohibition of the slave trade, “perchè turpe scellerato ed abominevole” (1417).[358] In this the Ragusans were ahead of most of the other Christian States at the time, and later, as we shall see, the city became an important ransoming agency for liberating slaves captured by the Turks.

The citizens were now extremely wealthy, and addicted to luxury and splendour. They took much pleasure in picturesque popular festivals, of which that of San Biagio (February 3), and the anniversary of bringing of the Saint’s arm to Ragusa (July 5) were the most important. On both days races were run for a banner (_palio_), which attracted large crowds of peasants from the neighbourhood.[359] A third feast was that of the Forty Martyrs (March 9), established in 1400 to commemorate the city’s escape from tyranny.[360] The procession is thus described in the Ceremonial of the Rector:—

“On the 8th day of March his Excellency the Rector issues forth under the arcades (of the Palace), whence he is invited by the parish priest of St. Blaize to enter the church. The following morning he again comes forth and seats himself on the upper seat, opposite the magistrates, as is customary in such festivals, with the rest of the Senators; the bells of the Senate and of the Council are then rung. After the third tucket of the pipers the Secretary begins, with his Excellency’s permission, to read out in order the names of all the magistrates and of the remaining members of the Senate and of the Council; all must be present, save in case of illness or other legitimate impediment—absentees are fined 25 _ipperperi_. This done, his Excellency proceeds along the street of the Palace, with all the aforesaid nobles, marching two and two, carrying lighted torches given them by the people. They enter the church of San Biagio, our Standard-bearer, and then come out again in procession, carrying the three relics which are wont to be thus carried, viz. the Head, the Arm, and the Foot of the Saint, and they march across the Piazza, round the Loggia, and return by the Palace street. They again repair to the said church, and High Mass begins. When it is finished the Archbishop leads the way, followed by his Excellency, to the Loggia, where the guard is. Then the Preaching Father of the Cathedral delivers a political discourse. This ended, the procession returns to the church in the same order. There the Archbishop and the Rector make obeisance to each other before the choir; the former enters the choir, the latter returns to the Palace; the torches remain in the church.”[361]

Another more secular festival was that of the Tree on May 3. There existed a society of patrician youths, from ten to eighteen years of age, and therefore too young to take part in the affairs of the State. The society elected some of its members managers of the festival, and “on the last day of April they plant a maypole, artificially covered with fir branches, to be burnt on May 3. They choose a page, and three or four attendants for him, from among the patrician boys under ten, to read out the prayers suitable for the occasion On May 1 and on each of the following days the members of the society repair daily to do homage to the Rector and the chief authorities, who encourage them, and give them sweetmeats as a reward for the trouble they are taking. The ceremonies round the maypole are accompanied by fireworks and discharges of small cannon, and on the evening of the third day the maypole is set on fire. While it is burning splendid fireworks are set going. The whole company then repair to the house of the page, whose father receives formal thanks.”[362]

A symbol of Hungarian suzerainty, possibly connected with the May festival, is the so-called statue of Orlando. In many mediæval towns a pillar was erected in the chief square, from the summit of which the public crier proclaimed the enactments of the Government. Here, too, the people were wont to gather when their consent was required, and near this spot capital sentences were sometimes executed. The pillar also served as a support for the city standard. It was usually adorned with a statue of a warrior, whence it was called in German towns the _Rolandssäule_ or _Rolandsbild_, Roland being the symbol of Imperial authority. Such a monument did not exist at Ragusa until the fifteenth century, when Sigismund, King of Hungary, the city’s protector, was elected Emperor of Germany. The Roland column at Ragusa is a square pier in the piazza opposite the church of the Patron Saint, with a statue of a knight in full armour on one side and a flagstaff on top, from which the banner of the Republic floated on grand occasions. The right arm of the figure, from the elbow downwards, served as a standard of measurement for the cloth merchants.[363] From the platform on the summit political orations and funeral discourses were held and public announcements proclaimed. In 1825 the monument was upset by a terrific hurricane, and among its foundations a brass plate was discovered with the following inscription:—

MCCC....III . DE . MAGGIO . FATTO . NEL . TEMPO . DI . PAPA . MAR
TINO . V . E . NEL . TEMPO . DEL . SIGNOR . NOSTRO . SIGISMONDO . IMPERA
TOR . ROMANORVM . ET. SEM(per Augustus) . ET . RE . D’ONGARIA .
E . DALMATIA . E . CROATIA . ET . CETERA . FO . MESSA . QVESTA . PIE
TRA . ET . STENDARDO . QVI . IN . HONOR . DI . DIO . ET . DI . SANTO . BLA
SIO . NOSTRO . GONFALON . LI . OFFICIALI....

Part of the figures of the date are erased, but as Martin V. was Pope from 1417 to 1431, and Sigismund Emperor from 1411 to 1437, the full date should be MCCCC_XV_III, or MCCCC_XX_III, or MCCCC_XX_ with the III as the day of the month. There is no mention of Sigismund’s title of King of Bohemia, which he assumed in 1419, so that the earlier date seems more probable, according to Professor Gelcich. On the other hand, in this case the day of the month would not be mentioned, and as the year 1420 was that of the end of Hungarian rule in Dalmatia (the Convention of Cattaro was signed on March 8, 1420), it is likely that this column was erected to reconfirm Ragusa’s allegiance to the Hungarian crown, as well as to proclaim its independence from Venice. The date, May 3, may have some connection with the aforementioned festival.