CHAPTER VII

RAGUSA UNDER HUNGARIAN SUPREMACY—THE TURKISH INVASION, 1358-1420

By the treaty of 1358 the whole eastern shore of the Adriatic as far as Durazzo was ceded to Hungary, but as a matter of fact that Power only extended its occupation as far as Ragusa. Not having a strong fleet, King Louis feared that the more southern cities would be difficult to hold, and he therefore never exercised his treaty rights over them. Venice, having lost with Dalmatia her chief naval base, turned her attention towards Albania and the adjoining Slavonic countries. She had at one time occupied Durazzo (1205-1208), and through her colonies in Dalmatia had come into contact with the Albanians. Now that her influence in the former country was destroyed, and that she had lost a large part of her mainland possessions, the population devoted itself to “the bee-like task of accumulating wealth and extending its commerce.”[274] Relations were once more established with Albania, trade with that country was encouraged, and the foundations were laid for the revival of Venetian influence in the Adriatic.[275]

The conditions of the Slavonic states behind Dalmatia were at this time extremely disturbed. During the brilliant reign of Stephen Dušan, the Servian people were at the height of their greatness and power. Macedonia, Albania, and other parts of the Greek Empire, and a part of Bosnia, as well as Servia proper, acknowledged the rule of the Servian Tsar, and even Bulgaria paid him tribute. The great position of Servia under this ruler is not usually appreciated by historians of the Eastern Empire. Dušan, as Professor Bury observes,[276] was not only a great warrior, but a great legislator, and drew up the _Zakonik_ or code of laws, comparable with that of Jaroslav for Russia. Had he lived a few years longer, and been able to crush the turbulence of his feudal vassals and consolidate his possessions, Kossovo might never have taken place, and the Balkans never have been subjected to the horrors of the Turkish conquest. But on his death in 1355 the whole fabric of his Empire split up into a number of separate principalities. He was succeeded by his son, Uroš IV. (1355-1367), who was not strong enough to carry on his father’s work, and the Magnates and governors soon began to show signs of insubordination. Not only had he to deal with internal discontent, but he was also attacked by foreign neighbours. In 1358 Louis of Hungary made war upon him with such success that he conquered the erstwhile Hungarian district of Mačva,[277] south of the Save, and placed Nicholas of Gara to rule over it.[278]

The most powerful Servian Magnates were the brothers Vukašin and Ulješa Mrnjavčić, Knez[279] Lazar Grebljanović, who was afterwards to achieve immortal fame on the field of Kossovo, Vuk Branković, the brothers Balša, and Knez Vojslav Voinović. This last and the Balšas obtained their independence during the lifetime of Uroš. In 1367 the last of the Nemanjas died, murdered, it is said, by Vukašin’s followers while out hunting. Vukašin himself, who had been greatly favoured by Dušan and appointed, by the terms of the Tsar’s will, chief State Councillor to Uroš, succeeded to the throne. But this only hastened the disruption of the Empire, for Knez Lazar, Vuk Branković, and Nicholas Altomanovic (the Governor of the Danubian provinces) rose against him, and not only proclaimed their own independence, but occupied part of his immediate possessions.[280]

Of the various states into which the Servian Empire split up the first to be formed was the Zedda, ruled by the Balša family. These were, according to some authorities, of French origin, and according to others were descended from the Nemanjas.[281] A Balša had served in Dušan’s armies, and was afterwards made governor of the Zedda. In a privilege of 1360, in which Stephen Uroš IV. grants trading rights in his states to the Ragusans, the “Zedda of Balša” is mentioned, showing that the province was still under Servian suzerainty. It consisted of the region round the lake of Scutari, _i.e._ of part of Montenegro and Northern Albania; it is, in fact, another name for the ancient Doclea.[282] It was always regarded with especial affection by the Nemanjas as their original home, and in 1195 they made it into a Grand County. The first Balša died in 1361, leaving three sons, Stračimir, George, and Balša II., and a daughter. The sons reigned jointly, the eldest being merely “primus inter pares.”[283] They at once began to aspire to become independent of Servian authority and to expand their own territories. Their first move was an alliance with Ragusa, who made them honorary citizens of the Republic. Between 1362 and 1370 they conquered Scutari and threw off all allegiance to Dušan’s successor.

South of the Zedda lies Albania proper. Formerly a province of the Eastern Empire, it had first been conquered by Charles of Anjou (1266), then by Stephen Uroš II. Milutin, and then again by Philip of Taranto for the Angevins. Finally, after many vicissitudes, it came under the rule of the native prince Charles Topia, who, after he had captured Durazzo from the Neapolitans in 1364, made himself master of the whole of Middle Albania and independent of Servia. In Southern Albania and Macedonia other vassal nobles, such as the Gropa of Ochrida, Radoslav Hlapa in the Verria district, and Alexander at Avlona, rose to power.

In the immediate hinterland of Ragusa was the land of Hlum, ruled by Knez Vojslav Voinović, who owed allegiance both to the Servian Tsar and to the Banus of Bosnia. He too after Dušan’s death made himself independent of his successor, and with Hungarian help also of the Banus. His territory extended from the Servian Morava by Senice and Gacko to Cattaro and Ragusa, and included the coast between those two towns. He was the bitterest enemy of the Ragusans, and never ceased from molesting them. He is described in their chronicles and documents as a “homo perfidus,” who “tamquam infidelis male servat fidem.”[284] On his death in 1363 he was succeeded by his nephew Nicholas Altomanović, who fixed his headquarters at the important commercial town of Rudnik.

Stephen Tvrtko, Banus of Bosnia, profited by the break-up of Servia to consolidate his own possessions. He had come to the throne in 1353, and sided with Hungary in the war against Venice and the Serbs. Apparently some of his Magnates were inclined to rebellion and encouraged in their disloyalty by the Tsar Dušan, who thus hoped to annex the whole Banate; in this he might have succeeded had he not been cut off by death while on the march to Constantinople (Dec. 20, 1355). But as soon as the power of Servia was broken, Louis of Hungary changed his policy towards Bosnia, and obliged Tvrtko to agree to very onerous conditions. His possession of the Banate was recognised, but he had to give up his rights over Hlum to Elizabeth, Louis’s wife.[285] At the same time he was reduced to the position of a vassal of Hungary, and various feudal lords on the frontier were encouraged to shake off their allegiance to him. A general rising of the Bosnian barons ensued, and the sect of the Bogomils, taking advantage of this state of anarchy, became so influential that Pope Innocent VI. proclaimed a crusade against them early in 1360. This was more than Louis had bargained for, and he sent an army into Bosnia (June 1360) which put down the revolt and restored Tvrtko’s authority. Another rebellion broke out in 1365, and Tvrtko was driven from the country and forced to apply once more for Hungarian help; a small contingent was granted to him, and after severe fighting he managed to regain the throne in 1366; his brother Vuk, a Bogomil, who had been among the rebels, fled to Ragusa. Shortly after Tvrtko visited that city in full state, accompanied by a train of nobles, confirmed all the privileges granted to it by his uncle Stephen, and contracted a treaty of perpetual alliance with the Republic, “save for what shall do injury to the honour of the King of Hungary.”[286] But he failed to achieve the main object of his visit, viz. the surrender of Vuk. The Ragusans refused to give him up, and on becoming a Catholic he enlisted the sympathy of the Pope (Urban V.) for his claims to the Bosnian throne. But Louis of Hungary would not support him, having turned his attention to Poland, of which country he hoped to become king. Tvrtko was thus able to enjoy a period of peace, and to consolidate his somewhat disturbed Banate.

The Republic of Cattaro continued to remain in a state of semi-independence. It was usually on good terms with Venice, and the town contained a flourishing commercial colony of Venetians. Ensconced in the deep and well-sheltered inlet known as the Bocche di Cattaro, its trade was active and its mercantile fleet large. Its relations with Ragusa were characterised by mutual jealousy, owing partly to commercial rivalry (especially on account of the disputed salt monopoly), and partly to the intrigues of Venice, who wished to prevent all possible coalitions of the Dalmatian townships against her own supremacy.[287]

A new Power now makes its appearance as a factor in the history of Europe, the Ottoman Turks, who were destined in the space of two centuries to conquer the whole of the Balkan peninsula, a large part of Dalmatia, and nearly the whole of Hungary, humbling that kingdom to the dust. The Serbs and other South Slavonic peoples by their civil wars and mutual jealousies prepared the way for their greatest enemy and that of all Christendom. In these events the part played by Ragusa was a curious one. At one moment the Republic actually tried to arbitrate in the quarrels of the Servian princes and to induce them to unite against the invader. But from the point of view of general European history its chief interest lies in the action of its Government in obtaining information as to the movements of the Turkish armies. The Ragusans were subsequently on good terms with the Turks, and permitted to visit all parts of the Empire, even when other Europeans were excluded. Ragusan merchants and agents sent home despatches which are preserved in the city records, and in them we can follow the Turkish conquest step by step, as city after city, province after province, was first raided, then rendered tributary, and finally absorbed into the Sultan’s dominions. This is not the place to tell the story of the conquest, but it will be well to remind the reader of a few of its more important events and dates.

The first Turkish invasion of Europe occurred in 1341, when Orhan crossed the Bosporos to intervene in the civil wars of the Eastern Empire. Several minor raids followed, while the Emir Orchan (1326-1360), who may be regarded as the founder of the Ottoman power, established his capital at Brusa. In 1358 his son Suleiman again invaded Europe, and the Chersonnese was soon filled with colonies of Ottomans.[288] In 1359 Gallipoli, “the key of Europe,” was occupied and rebuilt as a Turkish town. In 1360 both Orchan and his son Suleiman died, and his second son Murad succeeded to the throne. The latter in the following year captured Adrianople, which henceforward was to be the seat of the Turkish Government, and the headquarters for the attacks on the Greek Empire, the Serbs, and the Bulgarians. In 1370 a Turkish army of 70,000 men under Murad spread into Macedonia, but was driven back by the Serbs under King Vukašin and his brother Ulješa. He advanced again the following year, and encountered the Serbs at Černomen,[289] on the right bank of the Marica, a day’s march from Adrianople. The Serbs won in the first instance, but during the night the Turks rallied, and inflicted a terrible defeat on them. Vukašin and his brother fell with the flower of the Servian chivalry.[290] The Turks now overran Macedonia and Servia, and forced Marko Kraljević, Vukašin’s eldest son, and other Slave princes to pay tribute to them. The vassals who had hitherto obeyed Vukašin now rebelled against his son, and the Servian Empire was definitely broken up, while the Turks became ever more powerful.

The exchange of Hungarian supremacy in the place of that of Venice brought about less change in the internal situation of Ragusa than might have been expected, but the dignity of the Republic was enhanced by the further extension of its autonomy, for it now becomes to all intents and purposes an independent State. When the last Venetian Count departed a commission of three Rectors, elected by the citizens, was appointed to carry on the affairs of the Government, and they were to be changed every two months. But a few months later the number was reduced to one,[291] and his tenure of office limited to one month. Formerly, in the periods during which Ragusa had been independent, the ruler of the State had held office for six months, and had enjoyed considerable authority. But the example of Damiano Juda had made the citizens chary of entrusting their destinies to a too powerful magistrate, and they now curtailed his initiative till he became a mere figure-head. His chief duties were the safe-keeping of the keys of the castles and of the State seals, the summoning of the Grand Council, the Senate, and the Minor Council, and the proposal of the affairs to be discussed in these assemblies, in which, however, he himself had only one vote. During his brief tenure of office he might never leave his official residence save in full state, _i.e._ accompanied by twenty-four retainers attired in scarlet, two musicians, and all the chief secretaries and palace functionaries. His own robe was like that of a Venetian senator. Under these circumstances we can hardly imagine him taking much pleasure in a quiet walk for a breath of fresh air. If he was ill or excluded from the Council “in his own interest or in that of his relations,”[292] his place was taken by the senior member of the Minor Council. If he died while in office he was borne to the grave on the shoulders of the nobles, the bell of the Palace tolled, and the city gates were closed. In 1441 Ladislas, King of Hungary, conferred upon the chief magistrate of Ragusa the title of Arch-Rector, which was confirmed by King Matthew Corvinus in 1463, but the Senate refused to allow him to use it, lest it should inspire him with dangerous ambitions! He was, however, permitted to accept the knighthood of the Golden Spur with which he had been invested by the same monarch. No other important changes were made in the constitution from this date until the fall of the Republic.

Ragusa’s international position, however, was now considerably altered. The King of Hungary allowed the citizens the most absolute liberty to manage their own affairs, and not only had he no Hungarian representative in the town, but he did not even attempt to interfere indirectly with the Government. Ragusa was merely bound to pay him a tribute and to provide a naval contingent in time of war on the terms set forth in the treaty of Višegrad. She always remained the faithful friend and ally of Hungary, and was quite content to render this not very onerous allegiance; in her relations with that Power there was no trace of the constant recriminations and bickerings that there were with Venice. The reason of this difference of feeling towards the two Powers lies in the character of Venetian as compared with Hungarian policy. Venice was ever extending her influence down the Adriatic coast, consolidating her dominion, and destroying local autonomies. Above all, Venice was a great maritime Power and could swoop down on Ragusa or any other Adriatic town with her swift galleys at any moment; commercial rivalry, too, had its effect, for Venice aspired to the monopoly of the same trades as those in which Ragusa dealt. Hungary, on the other hand, was purely a military State. Its aims were internal consolidation and the security of its own immediate frontiers. It did not aspire to distant dominions, as it had no powerful navy, and it merely desired to possess Dalmatia so as to secure a wider outlet to the sea than the Croatian coast; and it had no sea-borne trade to interfere with that of Ragusa. On the land side it wished to secure the allegiance of the Bosnian Banus, but there was little danger of its establishing an absolute sway over the Slave lands immediately behind Ragusa.

The Ragusans now set to work to consolidate their independence and develop their trade, but they were not destined to enjoy a long period of absolute peace. Their first quarrel was with Vojslav Voinović, Count of Hlum (“Comes Chelmi Magnus Procer Imperatoris Sclavoniæ”).[293] Early in 1359 the Republic sent an envoy to him, offering to pay a sum of 4000 _ipperperi_ as tribute due to the Emperor of Slavonia; but shortly after he raided the Ragusan districts of Astarea and Gionchetto, burned the houses and churches, cut down the vineyards, took a number of prisoners, and arrested the Ragusan traders in his territories. Vojslav was known to be meditating an expedition against Stagno and even Ragusa, so that defensive measures were taken. All the city gates except two were walled up, a special guard of night watchmen was formed, troops and sailors levied throughout the Republic’s dominions, and a band of mercenaries was raised at Curzola with the permission of the Venetian Count for the defence of Stagno. A master-mechanic was sent for from Messina to superintend the war engines, and a master-crossbowman from Italy. In the meanwhile the Senate sent envoys to the King of Hungary and to his lieutenant the Banus of Croatia and Dalmatia, complaining of Vojslav’s conduct, and asking for assistance against him.[294] He was described as being “like a wolf who wishes to devour us lambs,”[295] and a price of 10,000 _ipperperi_ was put on his head the following year.[296] Ragusa also tried to resort to another measure against Vojslav. The latter’s territory reached as far as the neighbourhood of Cattaro, which town served him as a port. Ragusa now proposed an alliance with the Cattarini, and suggested that they should break off all relations with the lord of Hlum and cease to provide him with provisions and salt. But Cattaro was unable to accede to this plan from fear of Vojslav’s power. Ragusa then determined to punish that town, and made an alliance to this end with the Balšas, lords of Zedda. Negotiations were opened with the Servian Tsar Uroš and with his most powerful vassals, and envoys were sent to the King of Bosnia and to Sanko to arrange a plan of campaign against Hlum. Operations began by sea, and on July 6, 1361, Ragusa itself appears to have been attacked by Vojslav’s ships.[297] The Republic confiscated the money which that prince had deposited in the town,[298] and a naval expedition was fitted out to operate against Cattaro and raid the Bocche. Raids were also made into Vojslav’s territories on the land side, and doubtless the Ragusans were able to pay their enemy back in his own coin. The quarrel with Cattaro and Vojslav lasted nearly two years, and only ended through Venetian and Servian mediation.

According to some authorities[299] Vojslav died in 1363, and was succeeded by his cousin Nicholas Altomanović; according to others[300] in 1371. The latter date is probably the correct one, the confusion having arisen from the fact that Nicholas came to reign jointly with his brother in 1363 or 1364, and after that date we find them both mentioned in the Ragusan documents. This system of dual or plural sovereignty, prevalent in Servian lands, caused much trouble, and also weakened the resistance against the Turkish invaders, as the rival princes were always quarrelling among themselves and intriguing with outside foes against each other. At this time a coalition of a number of Servian princelings and nobles against others was formed, and produced the most fatal consequences by breaking up the organisation of the country. During this war the Balšas, in order to consolidate their power, began to make political and commercial alliances with their neighbours. For this purpose they applied to Ragusa, requesting the honour of Ragusan citizenship for themselves. The Senate was well pleased to accede to this desire, as the Republic was feeling by no means safe from Vojslav, and Hungarian help delayed in coming. A treaty of offensive and defensive alliance was concluded, by which it was agreed that the Balšas should attack Cattaro, Vojslav’s ally, by land and the Ragusans by sea. The Ragusan envoy, Clemente Dersa, informed the Balšas that Vojslav was meditating a _coup de main_ on Budua, and that this would be a serious menace to their territory. Budua is a small town on the Adriatic, just south of the entrance to the Bocche di Cattaro. It is of ancient origin, and has one of the earliest municipal statutes in existence.[301] It was under the direct protection of the Servian Tsars, who were represented by a _castellano_, and independent of the vassal feudatories. Ragusa had had a quarrel with the town in 1359 owing to the alleged acts of piracy committed by its inhabitants, but afterwards peace was made when Budua became in a manner subject to the Balšas and helped them in their revolt against Servia. During the hostilities the Cattarini besieged Budua and nearly captured it, taking a number of prisoners in the sorties, until a Ragusan flotilla came to the rescue and drove them back.[302] In April 1362 Ragusan ships blockaded Cattaro by sea, while the Balšas attacked it by land.[303] During these hostilities the Ragusans captured the property of some Venetian merchants as contraband of war, and this caused further unpleasantness with Venice. Cattaro then requested Venetian mediation, and in January 1362 Paolo Quirini and a Hungarian representative were sent to Dalmatia to arbitrate, but without success. At last, in August, the Servian Tsar intervened, and on August 22 peace was signed at Onogost.[304] All parties regained their former privileges, prisoners were liberated, and compensation paid for injuries. The chief result for Ragusa was the introduction of the plague from the lands beyond the mountains.[305] The Balšas, however, were able to extend their territory along the coast as far as Dulcigno, and in 1367 the dignity of warden of Budua passed to George Balša, and he and his brothers thenceforward styled themselves “magnificent barons of Maritime Slavonia.” They were now able to negotiate with Venice, and became an important Power in the Adriatic. This ultimately proved advantageous for the Ragusans, to whom they granted many privileges and opened the trade routes up the rivers of Northern Albania. They also obtained for the Republic from the Servian Tsar the full possession of the island of Meleda.[306]

But the peace failed to prevent the molestations of the lawless Count of Hlum, Nicholas Altomanović. In April 1371[307] the Ragusans wrote to the King of Hungary complaining of his raids, and describing him as “the worst of all the Rascian barons, although they are all false and infamous.” Not content with the gifts they had made to him, he had demanded the tribute due to the Servian Tsar, and on their refusal he invaded their territory and tortured the prisoners he made by pouring boiling lard over them. The Ragusans added that the Banus of Mačva, who was the King of Hungary’s vassal, had done nothing to restrain Altomanović, but was secretly his friend. The whole of the interior being in a state of anarchy, inland trade was almost at a standstill, and the Republic requested the King to intercede with the Pope for the renewal of the licence to send two ships every year to the lands of the Infidel.

The Ragusan forces, however, managed on several occasions to defeat the bands of Altomanović, and later in the year the Republic joined the alliance of Knez Lazar and Tvrtko, Banus of Bosnia, against that prince. The latter now had won the Balšas to his side by the gift of Canali, Trebinje, and Dračevica, but the coalition succeeded in conquering a large part of his possessions. Knez Lazar occupied Rudnik, and Tvrtko the upper valley of the Drina, and drove George Balša from Trebinje. The King of Bosnia’s possessions were thus extended by 1376 over the greater part of the Servian lands as far as Trebinje, Cattaro, and Nikšić in the south, to Senice in the east, and included the important monastery of Mileševo, where St. Sava, the Apostle of the Serbs, was buried.[308] He was now the most powerful ruler in this part of the Balkans, and had himself crowned at Mileševo with two crowns, styling himself “Stephen Tvrtko in the name of Our Lord Christ King of Servia and Bosnia and the Primorije (coast land).”[309] Ragusa was the first State to recognise him, and proved quite willing to pay the 2000 _ipperperi_ a year due to him as lord of Servia.

The Ragusan Senate had the foresight to understand the growing importance of the Ottoman Turks, and having obtained from Urban V. an exemption to trade with the Infidel, it contracted commercial agreements with the Sultans of Egypt, Syria, and Konia in 1359, and in 1365 obtained from the Sultan Murad a firman granting the citizens of Ragusa freedom to trade in all parts of the Ottoman dominions and protection for their commercial factories, in exchange for a yearly tribute of 500 ducats. Ragusa was thus the first Christian State to make a treaty with the Ottoman Turks, and its citizens were enabled to penetrate into the remotest parts of the Turkish Empire and form permanent settlements there at a time when other Christians were either excluded altogether or limited to a few coast towns. The tribute which they paid for these advantages, although often raised subsequently, proved a most profitable investment.

In 1378, in consequence of the intrigues of Venice and Genoa to obtain a predominant position at Constantinople, war broke out between the two Republics—the famous Chioggia war—in which Ragusa too was involved. The Genoese induced Francesco Carrara, lord of Padua, who had been humbled but not subdued by Venice, to join them, and further help was obtained from Louis of Hungary. Ragusa, as vassal of that potentate, joined the coalition. But Venice, undismayed, made all preparations for war, and invested Vettor Pisani with the supreme command at sea. A Venetian victory off Cape Antium was won on May 30, and Pisani took Sebenico and Cattaro by storm; these and other towns on the Adriatic coast which his garrisons occupied were harried and blockaded by Ragusan vessels, who also seized this opportunity to destroy the salt-pans of Cattaro, thus ridding the Republic of a dangerous competitor.[310] The Ragusans were in great fear of an attack by the Venetian fleet, and made desperate efforts to strengthen the defences of the town and of Stagno. They also asked for assistance from Tvrtko, King of Bosnia, who offered them a contingent; but on hearing that he was treating with the Venetians, possibly with a view to a move against Ragusa, they refused it. On October 14, 1378, the Genoese fleet under Fieschi put in at Ragusa,[311] where a Ragusan galley joined it, and the admiral received two bombards and a present of money from the Republic. Armed barques issued forth from the town to scour the Adriatic and obtain news of the movements of the Venetian fleet, which were at once transmitted to the Banus of Dalmatia and Croatia at Zara, while privateers cruised about to plunder the enemy’s merchantmen. Ragusan ships were, in fact, the eyes of the allied fleet.

The Senate sent a squadron out under Stefano Sorgo to capture all Venetian or Cattarine ships found in South Dalmatian waters,[312] while envoys went to Cattaro to stir up the people to rebel against Venice and return to Hungarian allegiance. But the Cattarini, still fearing the Venetians, at first refused. Then a joint Genoese and Ragusan fleet made a demonstration against the town, and the authorities promised to raise the Hungarian standard on a certain date. But they failed to do so, and intrigued instead with the King of Bosnia against Ragusa, plundered Ragusan grain ships, and captured the sentinels guarding the approaches to the city on the Monte Sergio. After the total defeat of the Venetian fleet off Pola in May the Ragusans pursued their operations against Cattaro by land and sea with renewed vigour, and by June 26 the town had once more returned to Hungarian allegiance.[313]

Meanwhile the Genoese had carried the war almost to the very gates of Venice, and were besieging Chioggia. A Ragusan contingent under Matteo Giorgi was of great assistance to them in the siege, owing to Giorgi’s knowledge of the use of artillery,[314] and, according to Razzi, he would have prevented the blockade of the Genoese fleet, which was executed, by closing the harbour with sunken boats, if only his advice had been followed.[315] On the defeat of the Genoese the Ragusan galleys managed to escape, and saved a number of the fugitives whose vessels had been sunk (June 24, 1380). Desultory fighting continued for a few months longer, in which the Ragusan galleys took part, and in 1381 peace was signed at Turin. Although in the end the Genoese had been defeated, Venice was by no means victorious, and had to confirm her renunciation of Dalmatia, much to the satisfaction of Ragusa.

But it seemed as though the little Republic of St. Blaize were destined never to be at peace with her neighbours for long. Hardly was the Chioggia war over when a storm-cloud appeared on the side of Bosnia. Now that the Bosnian king had humbled his neighbours and become the most powerful sovereign of the Southern Slaves he began to assume an unfriendly attitude towards Ragusa. His kingdom possessed a stretch of coast from the Bocche di Cattaro to the mouth of the Četina, but the two best ports of that region—Ragusa and Cattaro—were independent Republics owing allegiance to the King of Hungary, who was by no means likely to be always friendly to a powerful and independent Bosnia. If Tvrtko wished to establish a really strong Servian state he would have to occupy those towns. While still Banus he had granted the freedom of his territories to the Ragusans in a charter dated from Bobovac, February 5, 1375.[316] On April 10, 1379, he came to Žrnovica, very near Ragusa, accompanied by his magnates. The Republic sent out a commission of nobles to greet him, and a new and advantageous commercial treaty was concluded, Ragusa agreeing to pay Tvrtko and his successors 500 _ipperperi_ a year for freedom to trade in Bosnia, and 2000 a year as lord of the Servian lands.[317] But this friendship did not last long, for on July 26, 1379, we find the Republic complaining to Louis of Hungary that the people of Cattaro having offered their city to the King of Bosnia, the latter refused to allow foodstuffs to be imported into Ragusa. Louis defended his faithful vassals, and Tvrtko was forced to desist from his annoyances. When, in 1382, Louis died, he left a widow, Elizabeth, who was Tvrtko’s cousin, and two daughters, Mary and Hedwig. He had declared Mary his successor, and betrothed her to Prince Sigismund, son of the Emperor Charles IV., King of Bohemia; but on his death the Poles, who were united to the Hungarians under the same dynasty, refused to be ruled by Mary, and elected her younger sister Hedwig as their queen instead, and even in Hungary and Croatia a considerable party was opposed to Elizabeth and Mary. Civil war broke out and devastated Hungary, Croatia, Dalmatia, and Slavonia for the next twenty-five years. Of these disturbances Tvrtko determined to take advantage, now favouring Elizabeth and Mary, now Charles of Durazzo, who as an Angevin claimed the throne of Hungary also, and his son Ladislas, always with an eye to his own profit.[318] His first thought was for Ragusa. He knew that he could not capture the town without a large fleet, for Ragusan shipping had revived since 1358, and was now very formidable. But he also knew that its inhabitants lived entirely by trade, and he determined to injure them by establishing a rival trading centre at the entrance of the Bocche, making it the chief port and the commercial capital of Bosnia. He called it Sveti Stjepan (San Stefano), but the name was soon changed to Novi, and then to Erzegnovi (Castelnuovo). In violation of his treaties with Ragusa he opened salt-pans at Castelnuovo, which soon became an important trading station not only for the neighbourhood, but for the whole of Dalmatia and Croatia. The Ragusans complained bitterly, and as they obtained Hungarian support, Tvrtko deemed it prudent to give way for the moment, and he promised to close the salt market.[319] But again in 1383 he re-opened it, and the Republic sent Pietro Gondola and Stefano Luccari to Budapest to complain of this breach of the treaty to Queen Mary. The latter at once issued a decree forbidding the inhabitants of Dalmatia and Croatia to trade at Novi.[320]

Tvrtko, not feeling yet strong enough to attack Ragusa openly, allied himself with the Venetians. The latter sold him a large galley fully armed and equipped, and allowed him to have two others built in Venice, sent Niccolò Baseio to him as admiral, and made him honorary citizen of the Republic.[321] These movements disturbed not only Ragusa, but also the two Hungarian queens, who feared that Tvrtko might avail himself of the discontent in Croatia and Dalmatia to raise further trouble. They therefore sent Nicholas of Gara to his court at Sutieska to try to come to some arrangement. Finally Tvrtko was induced to agree not to disturb Ragusa nor the Hungarian dominions, for which promise he was rewarded with the town of Cattaro.[322] This occupation brought him into conflict with the Balšas of Zedda, but after some fighting peace was restored through Venetian mediation. On April 9, 1387, Tvrtko concluded a treaty with Ragusa, in which he promised to protect the city from all enemies, and the Ragusans granted him the right of asylum should he ever be in need of it. It was added that if he should come to the town for any reason, and Queen Mary, who was then a prisoner in the hands of the rebels, should escape, he should be warned in good time and allowed to leave.

By the following year the King of Bosnia’s power in Croatia and Dalmatia had greatly increased, and he became possessed of such important castles as Clissa, Vrana, Ostrovica, and probably Knin, the key of Croatia.[323] He now tried to get hold of the Dalmatian coast towns, as the whole country was in a turmoil of war and revolution, Ragusa alone remaining quiet and loyal to Queen Mary and her husband Sigismund. Various Dalmatian towns promised to pay allegiance to Tvrtko, including Spalato, which was to raise the Bosnian standard on June 15, 1389. But on that very date the death-knell of the Southern Slaves sounded on the fatal “Field of Crows.”[324]

While Tvrtko was thus consolidating his kingdom at the expense of his neighbours, while Hungary was a prey to civil war, while the various princelings of Servia were eternally fighting among themselves, the Turks were ever marching onward. As early as 1375 Marko Kraljević, the hero of Servian popular poetry, had initiated the disastrous policy of calling in Turkish assistance in a quarrel against another Christian prince. Wishing to reconquer Kastoria and other towns in Southern Macedonia and Albania held by the Musacchi family and their ally George I. Balša, he obtained a Turkish contingent for the enterprise, but was defeated by Balša. In 1376 Tvrtko had allied himself with Knez Lazar, who ruled over the Danubian provinces of Servia (the last remnant of the Servian Empire) against Nicholas Altomanović, and continued to remain on good terms with him after Nicholas’s death. He regarded Knez Lazar’s principality as a buffer State between his own dominions and those of the Turks. After the fall of Niš in 1375, and of Sofia in 1382, he gave Lazar assistance, and in 1387 he sent him a contingent which enabled him to cut to pieces a Turkish army of 20,000 men at Pločnik on the Toplica (Old Servia). But the Sultan Murad I. determined to avenge the defeat, and prepared an expedition against Lazar. The latter, seeing himself in great danger, appealed for help from all his neighbours, but the King of Bosnia alone sent him a force, commanded by Vlatko Hranić. The Servian-Bosnian army, under the leadership of Knez Lazar, with Marko Kraljević as chief lieutenant, had its headquarters at Priština, in the plain of Kossovo—a long plateau surrounded by mountains extending from Verisović to Mitrovica. The Turkish army was commanded by the Sultan Murad in person; the right wing was led by his son Bayazet, and the left by his son Yakub. The fight began early on Wednesday, June 15, 1389, and raged all day. For a long time the fortunes of the battle seemed doubtful, and both sides fought with heroic courage. But at last Bayazet succeeded by a sudden attack in throwing the Servian left wing into confusion. At the same time Vuk Branković, whose name has been handed down to the execration of the whole Servian race as a traitor, abandoned the field of battle with all his division. Then Vlatko Hranić and the Bosnian contingent began to give way, and the main body of the Serbs was driven slowly back. Knez Lazar, after fighting like a lion, was killed in the _mêlée_; Murad was mortally wounded in his own tent by the Servian chief Miloš Obilić, who pretended to be a traitor and to have information to give him. He was himself cut down instantly, and then Lazar’s head was brought in by attendants to cheer the dying Sultan, who expired soon after.

The Turks did not follow up their victory, and from the first news of the fight which he received Tvrtko thought that the Christians had triumphed, and sent messages to that effect to the foreign Powers. In the churches of Florence _Te Deums_ of victory were sung, and the Republic congratulated the Bosnian king. Even when the true result was known no one realised at the time what a crushing blow had fallen on the Slavonic peoples of the Balkans. The native princes continued to fight among themselves regardless of their impending doom, and Tvrtko, who was the most powerful of them, thought more of occupying Dalmatia and Croatia than of strengthening his southern frontier. His enterprises were fairly prosperous; he succeeded in conquering the whole country from the Velebit mountains to Cattaro, Zara and Ragusa alone remaining true to Sigismund, while the three islands of Brazza, Curzola, and Lesina recognised the suzerainty of the Bosnian king (1390). He died in 1391, leaving Bosnia in such a position as she had never enjoyed before. But her power was not based on a solid foundation, and therefore short-lived. His brother, Stephen Dabiša, who succeeded him, soon lost the greater part of Dalmatia and Croatia.

George II. Stračimirov Balša, who now styled himself “absolute lord of all the Zedda and of the coast,” and had established a brilliant court at Scutari,[325] was equally unconscious of the danger, and thought only of capturing Cattaro. He began by occupying the Krivošije,[326] and blocked all the roads leading into the town. Ragusa at the request of Cattaro acted as mediator, and peace was made, probably on an understanding on the part of the Cattarini that they would pay a tribute to George.[327] Ragusa was beginning to be really alarmed at the progress of the Turks in Albania, and saw the necessity of allying herself with the other Dalmatian townships, “propter oppressionem Turcorum.” In 1390 the Senate had tried in vain to mediate between the King of Bosnia and Hungary, so as to end the war which was desolating the country,[328] and now it made a proposal of this kind to Hungary and Venice. At the same time it granted a subsidy of arms and ammunition to George Balša. But mutual jealousies prevented the idea from being realised,[329] and in 1392 George himself was a prisoner in the hands of the Turks.[330] He was soon ransomed, but he lost Scutari, and his power was seriously shaken.

The year 1395 proved an unfortunate one for Ragusa. In the first place, one Constantine Balša, a relative of George II., who had obtained a trade monopoly in the Zedda and inland as far as Prizren and Novobrdo, laid heavy impositions on Ragusan trade so as to exclude it from the country.[331] At the same time heavy rains flooded the city and its immediate neighbourhood, destroying all the crops, and on May 19 a severe earthquake—the first great shock felt in Dalmatia for many centuries—wrought great havoc.[332] During this period the Adriatic was infested by the pirate barques of Gabriele da Parma. There was another quarrel with George Balša on account of a certain monk named Marino of Dulcigno, who intrigued with the Slaves near Ragusa. However, this was soon settled to the satisfaction of all parties, the Albanian markets were re-opened, Constantine Balša recovered Scutari from the Turks for his kinsman, and declared himself despot of the town. In 1395 George visited Ragusa, where he was splendidly received as Prince of Albania.

Although the Ragusans were usually on bad terms with their immediate neighbours, they had been for some time good friends with the Bosnian magnate Vlatko Vuković. On his death in 1392 his estates descended to his nephew Sandalj Hranić, to whom Ragusa sent an embassy of homage in 1395. He was a true type of South Slavonic lordling of that time. His one object was to consolidate and enlarge his territories, so as to carve out a principality for himself and be independent of the King of Bosnia or the Despot of Servia. Like all his colleagues, he completely failed to appreciate the terrible significance of the Turkish danger, and while he began by “proclaiming his misfortunes from the mountain tops, he ended by descending into the plain to declare himself the vassal of the powerful invader.”[333] He was certainly less cruel than most of his neighbours, and, unlike them, was guilty of no particularly heinous murders. The result of his ambitious schemes was the formation of the Duchy afterwards called of St. Sava or the Herzegovina.[334] In 1396 he meditated a descent on Cattaro in order to round off his dominions. This town was also coveted by Radić Crnoević, lord of what is now Montenegro. Radić got into trouble with Balša, by whom he was defeated and killed, while Sandalj, although he could not take Cattaro, took Budua, probably at the secret instigation of Venice, who did not wish Balša to advance further north. Sandalj was granted the honorary citizenship of Venice.

In the meanwhile, in spite of several set-backs, Turkish raids into Bosnia continued. Small bands were sent forward as feelers to ravage and plunder and prepare the way for their grand advance. We find the Ragusan Senate asking the King of Hungary to recommend them to Venice for protection against the Turks,[335] while they gave asylum in Stagno and Sabbioncello to many Slaves and Vlachs who were flying from the terrible enemy. On September 28, 1396, Sigismund, King of Hungary, at the head of a confederate force of 100,000 Christians, was totally defeated by the Sultan Bayazet at Nikopolis on the Danube. The King himself managed to escape down the river on a Venetian galley to the Black Sea to Constantinople, across the Ægean, and up the Adriatic to Ragusa, which he reached on December 21. He was honourably and hospitably received by the Rector and Councillors, who offered him the keys of the town. He spent nine days there, being entertained, together with his suite at the expense of the Republic, and he received in addition a present of 2000 ducats and two years’ tribute in advance. As a reward he granted the Republic the right to strike silver coinage.[336] On December 30 he departed on board a Ragusan galley for Spalato. He took the four sons of the ship’s chief officer into his service, and subsequently through his favour many Ragusans rose to high positions in Hungary.

Every day fresh batches of refugees fled into Ragusan territory before the advancing Ottoman hordes, who even threatened the Bocche di Cattaro. George Balša himself began to fear for his own safety, and requested that Ragusa should give shelter to his wife and family. The Republic placed a palace at his disposal, and also allowed him to purchase arms and ammunition in the town and have his old weapons repaired there. But even this had to be done secretly, lest Sandalj, who was an enemy of the Balšas and a friend of the Turks, should retaliate on the Ragusans. We find an interesting entry in this connection by Andrea da Bologna, the Chancellor of the Republic, in the _Reformationes_ for 1398: “Die ... (blank space) Januarii (1398) Filius Pasayt (Bayazet) cum magna quantitate Turchorum _et Sclavorum_ intravit Bossinam, et fuit depredatus ipsam. In reversione major pars ipsorum propter immensum frigus decesserunt.”[337] This shows that even at that early date the Turks found allies in the renegade Slaves. The Ragusan Senate tried to mediate between Sandalj and George so as to strengthen Hungary, and arranged a meeting between the former and his rival’s wife, but the attempted conciliation failed. Apparently, too, some of the Slavonic lordlings tried to draw Ragusa into their intrigues with the Turks, and in 1399 Feris (?Ferid), Governor of Svečanj, visited the town as Turkish envoy, but nothing came of the negotiations.[338]

The kingdom of Bosnia was, as we have seen, subject to constant incursions on the part of the Turks, whom it was incapable of resisting, for under the reign of King Dabiša and Queen Helena Gruba the Vojvods had risen to power once more, and had become almost independent. Of these the most important were Sandalj Hranić, lord of Hlum, of whom we have already spoken; Hrvoje, Duke of Spalato; and Paul Radinović. Sandalj ruled over a great part of Hlum as far as the Drina. Hrvoje, who has been described as the “Bosnian Warwick,” owing to the number of princes he deposed and set up, ruled over middle Dalmatia, a large part of Bosnia, including the town of Jajce, and some districts of Hlum, including Livno. Paul Radinović was lord of Trebinje, part of Canali, and other lands as far as Prača. His sons, Peter and Radosav, took the name of Paulović. Queen Helena lost her throne owing to a rebellion in 1398 or 1399, and was succeeded by Stephen Ostoja, probably a natural son of Stephen Tvrtko.[339] Ostoja had to depend for his authority on the goodwill of his magnates, but his reign was at first successful. He defeated Sigismund of Hungary, who tried to enforce his claims on Bosnia, and had invaded it at two points. Also on the Turkish frontier things were more peaceful, and, according to Klaić, after the raid of 1398 Ostoja concluded a treaty with Bayazet to support the claims of Ladislas of Naples to the Hungarian throne against Sigismund.[340] Later, Bayazet became still less formidable, as he had to hurry off to Asia to defend his Empire against Timur.

For a few years after his accession Ostoja had been friendly to Ragusa, and in 1399 he granted them a further stretch of coast from Stagno to Klek, near the mouth of the Narenta. For this the citizens had given him a palace in the town and made him an honorary citizen; they granted the same favours to Hrvoje for his intercession.[341] But Ostoja, finding himself with no coastline save the bit between the rivers Četina and the Narenta, repented of his generosity, and tried to induce Ragusa to recognise Bosnian supremacy. When in 1400 the envoys brought him the tribute he suggested that the city should throw off the Hungarian yoke and come under his protection. But the Republic would not hear of the proposal, preferring to obey the distant and complaisant King of Hungary rather than the near and untrustworthy King of Bosnia. The latter did not yet feel strong enough to attack the city openly with any chance of success where Tvrtko had failed, so he resorted, if we are to believe the local historians, to intrigue, and secretly fomented a conspiracy of ambitious nobles. The circumstances of the plot are not very clear, and Ragnina’s account, detailed though it is, leaves much unexplained. In the early part of 1400 four nobles, Niccolò and Giacomo Zamagna, and Lorenzo and Simeone Bodazza, determined to become masters of the city with the help of the Count of Popovo (in the Herzegovina), the Vojvod of Trebinje, and other Bosnian barons. According to Ragnina the conspiracy was engineered by Ostoja, or by Stephen the Despot of Servia. It is more likely that the former was privy to it, as the Despot of Servia was now a person of no importance, and his territory did not even border with that of the Republic. The Bosnian king probably saw in this plot a means of possessing himself of the town and its valuable port; but he did not appear in the actual intrigue, which was carried on by the neighbouring vojvods. Ragusa at this time was almost deserted, a large part of its inhabitants having taken refuge in the neighbouring country on account of the plague. On the Feast of the Forty Martyrs (March 9) a number of the conspirators were to dine in the house of a certain artisan at Ragusa to mature their plans. The man not having enough table utensils for the company sent his wife to the house of a noble named Niccolò Gozze, in whose service she had been, to ask for a loan of the required articles. Gozze promised to lend them, but wanted to know for whom they were required. The woman told him the names of the nobles in question, and as they were men of somewhat shady antecedents Gozze became suspicious. He bribed the woman to take note of all that she should hear at supper, and to report it to him the following morning. This she did, and informed Gozze that a Morlach named Miloš and four companions had come with the nobles, and that it was agreed that Miloš should wait at the town gate for a Slave messenger who was expected with letters from the Bosnian magnates. They also discussed how to raise a band of followers from among the dregs of the people, and secretly to admit some Slaves from outside, with the object of overpowering the town guard, seizing the gates, and opening them to a large force of Bosnians. Gozze, although suffering from the gout, rose from his bed, had himself carried to the Government Palace, and summoned the Minor Council. The woman was secured and summoned to give evidence, and the chief conspirators were arrested. They confessed everything under torture. At the same time a trusty man was sent to await the arrival of the letters in the place of the Morlach; he gave all the requisite signs when the messenger arrived, and received the papers. The contents were as follows: “In the first place remember your promise and take care of yourself and yours, and we shall do what we have decided.” The conspirators were beheaded on March 10, and their property confiscated. A few who managed to escape were condemned in contumacy. This episode is interesting as being one of the only instances of an internal revolution in law-abiding Ragusa. There is not enough evidence to enable us to understand its character nor the actual complicity of Ostoja. It may also have been an early symptom of the disagreement between the Latin and Slavonic elements of the population.

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.