CHAPTER VIII

THE TURKISH CONQUEST (1420-1526)

For the next hundred years Ragusa remains under Hungarian protection, but bound by ties so shadowy that for all practical purposes she may be regarded as an independent State. During this period, however, she feels the weight of Turkish power more and more, and her tribute to the Porte goes on increasing, until it reaches the maximum limit of 12,500 ducats. But in spite of this ever-present danger she continues to grow in wealth, splendour, and importance, and to carry out her mission as a haven of refuge and a bulwark of Christianity and civilisation. She flourishes as a centre of learning and the arts no less than as an emporium of trade, and all the while she remains singularly free from internal troubles and constitutional changes—a unique distinction in that part of the world. She pursues the even tenour of her way undisturbed, conservative, aristocratic, narrow-minded, but on the whole successful and prosperous, and her population contented.

Very different was the condition of the neighbouring Balkan lands. Bosnia was for the present fairly quiet; the Turks had been driven out of the country, and their leader, Isak Beg, defeated in a raid into Hungary, so that King Tvrtko was able to reoccupy Vrhbosna, and Sandalj Hranić recognised his supremacy for the time being. The long civil war in Croatia and Dalmatia between the partisans of Sigismund and those of Ladislas had resulted in the acquisition of the littoral by Venice, and the only prince who remained independent of the Republic was Ivan Nelipić, Count of Četin, Klissa, and Rama. His estates comprised Western Bosnia and some districts of Hlum and Dalmatia. He could not, of course, face the Venetians on the sea, but he managed to hold his own on the mountain ridges.[364] The Venetians and Tvrtko were ready to come to an understanding on this matter, and a war against Nelipić was under discussion when the Turks again invaded Bosnia. There were 4000 Ottomans in the country all through the summer of 1426, and they seized a number of towns and raided Croatia, Usora, and Srebrnica, while King Tvrtko did not dare to do anything against them.[365] The Ragusan colonies in Novobrdo and Priesrinac were besieged by the Turks and in great danger. The Venetians conducted further operations against them in Albania, the Morea, Achaia, and round Salonica. The routes through Albania, Bosnia, and Slavonia were interrupted,[366] and the inland trade at a standstill.

Sandalj Hranić for a moment seemed to appreciate the danger, and after a visit to Ragusa in 1424, made peace with Radosav Paulović, who now seemed ready to sell his share of Canali to Ragusa for 13,000 ducats down and 600 a year. The Republic created him and his son Ragusan nobles, and gave them a palace in the town.[367] But he soon repented of his bargain, and demanded back the territory, with the excuse that the Ragusans were fortifying it contrary to the treaty. The Ragusans refused to evacuate it, and Radosav collected a large force to make war on them. The Republic raised local levies and mercenaries in Italy, Albania, the Narenta Valley, the Kraina, and Hlum. A band of Italian mercenaries was attacked by Radosav at the Pass of Ljuta and forced to retire, and the enemy raided Breno. An Albanian force went to lay waste Radosav’s lands, while a mixed detachment of Ragusans and Albanians, 1800 strong, under Marino Gozze, made for Trebinje; but the Albanians mutinied, Radosav fell on the divided force, and Gozze had great difficulty in retiring to Breno in good order.[368] More troops were levied in Ragusa and 2000 more mercenaries obtained from Albania and Italy, while envoys were sent at the same time to the Hungarian court to protest against Radosav’s conduct, and to request that troops should be sent against him from Usora. The argument was strengthened by the assertion that Radosav was a Bogomil.[369] A little later another request was made to Sigismund that he should instruct the ambassador he was sending to Sultan Murad II. to ask the latter to punish Radosav, who, although an Ottoman vassal, had violated the truce with Hungary by attacking a town under Hungarian protection.[370] This proves that Radosav was already a tributary to the Turks, and also explains why Sandalj and the King of Bosnia feared to help Ragusa against him, although they were on good terms with the Republic. The Hungarian ambassador, however, was not given the instructions suggested, and a Ragusan envoy had to be sent as well. Finally, Sigismund did intervene directly, and formed an alliance with Bosnia, Ragusa, and Sandalj against Radosav, and 70,000 ducats, of which Bosnia was to pay 40,000, Sandalj 20,000, and Ragusa 10,000, were offered to the Sultan for permission to divide up all his territories between them. The Sultan sent a Pasha to make inquiries on the spot, and he confirmed the Republic’s possession of the land it had bought and Radosav raided, and demanded compensation for the damage inflicted.[371] Finally, after endless negotiations at the Sultan’s court at Adrianople[372] an agreement was concluded by which the Republic retained the territory it had purchased, and was to keep the interest of the money invested by Radosav at Ragusa for twelve years as compensation; prisoners were to be released on both sides without ransom; certain special enemies of the Republic were to be exiled from Radosav’s court, and all damage done to Ragusan territory in future by his vojvods was to be paid for by him (1432).

In 1431 the Council of Basel had met, and one of its most active members was Johannes Stoicus of Ragusa, who made every effort to promote the union of the Eastern and the Western Churches, and end the religious strife in the Balkans with a view to common action against the Turks. He requested the Ragusan Senate to try to induce the chief princes of Servia and Bosnia, whether schismatics or Bogomils, to send envoys to Basel. The attempt was actually made, but the whole country was in such a state of anarchy and rebellion that none of them were able to pay any attention to the matter.[373]

A war had broken out between the King of Bosnia and Stephen Lazarević, Despot of Servia, which was destined to last for thirty years. All the Slave princes were fighting amongst themselves, and Ragusa had another opportunity of extending her dominions far into the interior had she been so minded. But according to Resti, the reason why she abstained was that she realised that the Turks had earmarked all that country, and that for her to occupy it would be to court annihilation, and Trebinje, which was now offered to her, was refused. It seemed more prudent to content herself with a small compact territory and with acting the part of intermediary between East and West, civilisation and barbarism, Christianity and Islam, than to aspire to dangerous conquests. The Ragusan despatches for the next few years are full of the Turkish advance. In 1432 Isak Beg invaded Croatia, passing through Bosnia with 3000 men, and raided the territory of Zara, while another army entered Wallachia and Transsilvania, forcing the lord of Wallachia to recognise the Sultan’s supremacy. Two years later, however, the Turks met with a serious check in Albania, where a native force under Arneth Spata defeated the invaders several times; in 1435 Isak Beg himself sustained a reverse, and most of Albania was cleared of the Turks.[374] But the wars amongst the Slaves made organised resistance impossible, and Sandalj Hranić, whose power now extended throughout Hlum to the borders of Croatia in the north, far into the Zedda in the south, and as far as Podrinje in the east, took the opportunity of the war between the King of Bosnia and the Despot of Servia to join the latter in buying of the Sultan the right to despoil the former of his kingdom. The Despot received Usora and Zvornik, while Sandalj was to take the rest.[375] Tvrtko, whose power had been slipping from him, was now forced to fly, and took refuge with Sigismund of Hungary;[376] but the civil war continued. On March 15, 1435, Sandalj died, leaving his broad lands to his nephew, Stephen Vukčić, generally known as Stephen Kosača,[377] who afterwards assumed the title of Duke[378] of St. Sava, because the shrine of that saint was in his dominions. The same year Ivan Nelipić, the last of the independent Croatian counts, died, and his estates were annexed by the Hungarian king and divided among the Ragusan citizens Matthew, Francis, Peter, and John of Talovac (or Thallovez) as a reward for their services to Hungary. Kosača, regardless of the Turkish danger, continued his petty intrigues; he at once began to quarrel with Radosav Paulović, who was in a sense his vassal, and each made a bid for Turkish help. Ragusa attempted to mediate between them and to dissuade them from calling in the enemy, but Kosača asked for and obtained 1500 Turks to reduce Radosav to obedience.[379] In 1438 he invaded the plain of Trebinje, which was under the latter’s jurisdiction, and forced the inhabitants to fly into Ragusan territory. Later he proposed to Peter and Matthew of Talovac to attack Ragusa itself, but they refused, and the Republic on being informed intrigued against the Duke, and told the King of Hungary that he was merely an instrument of the Turks.

In 1436 the Sultan Murad again invaded Bosnia, and captured Vrhbosna, which henceforth became the Turkish headquarters in the country.[380] King Tvrtko now returned with Hungarian help, but he found his whole kingdom devastated, Usora, Srebrnica, and Zvornick held by the Despot of Servia, and the rest by the Turks, or by vojvods who were Turkish vassals. He was therefore forced to agree to pay the Sultan a yearly tribute of 25,000 ducats. The real ruler of Bosnia was now Murad, who alludes to it as part of his own dominions in a privilege granted to the Ragusans in 1442, allowing them to trade “in Romania, Bulgaria, Wallachia, Servia, Albania, Bosnia, and all other lands, places, and cities under my rule.”[381] In 1440 he conquered the whole of Servia with the exception of Belgrad, which was gallantly defended by the Hungarian garrison commanded by the Ragusan Giovanni Luccari. The Sultan retired baffled, but the Despot George was forced to fly, and took refuge at Ragusa with his treasure. The following year the Sultan, Isak Beg, and the Pasha of Romania all sent to demand the surrender of the Despot, offering the Republic his treasure and an increase of territory between Cattaro and the Drina as a bribe. The citizens refused to violate the laws of hospitality,[382] but at the same time, as George was an inconvenient guest, it was hinted to him that he had better leave the city. He agreed, and suggested going to Constantinople; but the Senate dissuaded him from doing so owing to the parlous condition of the Eastern Empire. So he went to Hungary instead on a Ragusan galley.[383] Murad determined to punish the Republic for this refusal, and arrested all the Ragusans in his dominions, the ambassadors themselves escaping with difficulty to Constantinople. He then prepared to attack the city by land and sea, and the citizens strengthened their defences, increased their military forces, enlisted foreign mercenaries, and secured the services of an Italian engineer. The Turkish menace was notified to the Pope and to the King of Bosnia, while at the same time the Senate tried to bribe the Sultan by offering to raise the tribute to 1400 ducats. According to local historians, Murad desisted from his proposals out of admiration for the magnanimity of the citizens in respecting the laws of hospitality; but the real reason is probably to be found in his alarm at the attitude of Hungary, and in the fact that the city’s defences promised a long and difficult siege. In any case Murad was pacified, and in 1443 Ali Beg arrived at Ragusa, and a treaty of peace was signed which returned to the _status quo_.[384] King Sigismund had been operating against the Turks in various directions, and obtained the loan of some Ragusan ships to transport the Sultan’s rebellious son (or brother) from Segna to Albania.[385] But he was not very successful in any direction, and it seemed as though the end of the Bosnian kingdom were at hand. On his death he was succeeded by Albert, who died soon after, and then the Polish King Ladislas came to the throne, and to the rescue. It is interesting to note that in the embassy sent to him by Tvrtko to ask for help allusion was made to the common origin of the Bosnians and the Poles—an early expression of pan-Slavism.[386] Ladislas was assisted by the famous leader John Hunyadi, who in 1442 defeated the Turks again and again in the Carpathians. In June 1443 Ladislas and Hunyadi, with an army of Hungarians, Serbs, Bosnians, and Bulgarians, invaded the enemy’s country and defeated Murad at the Kunovica Pass near Philippopolis. Peace was signed between Hungary and the Turks soon after, by the terms of which Servia was given back to the Despot George Branković, and Bosnia freed from the invaders, but Stephen Tvrtko died before this was accomplished. He was succeeded by Stephen Thomas, who in September 1444 held a Diet of the Magnates at Kreševo, where the Ragusan envoys came to greet him on his accession. He confirmed the Republic in possession of the Primorije and of Canali, for which he was to receive the Servian tribute of 2000 _ipperperi_ on St. Demetrius’s day, and the Bosnian tribute of 500 on that of San Biagio. This shows that Bosnia was once more the chief South-Slavonic State and had annexed all the western part of the former dominions of the Servian Tsars. Servia itself was little more than a vassal State of the Turks. During the war Ragusa had made gifts and paid tribute to the Sultan to secure immunity for the Ragusan merchants in Turkish territory and obtain the renewal of the privileges. To this the King of Hungary does not seem to have taken much exception.[387]

In the meanwhile Pope Eugene was preparing an international crusade against the Turks, and he also sent a brief to Ragusa, requesting that a contingent of two galleys should be provided by the Republic, as well as the loan of three more, to be paid for by himself, to escort his legate, the Bishop of Corona, which request was granted.[388] Shortly afterwards the Senate informed the King of Hungary that nineteen galleys had touched at Ragusa, viz. eight Papal ships, two Ragusans, five Venetians, and four Burgundians, and that they were now collected at Corfu, while some more Burgundian vessels, and seven from Aragon, were expected at Modone. The land war in the Balkans began badly for the Christians. On November 11 the Hungarians were utterly routed at Varna, in Bulgaria, and King Ladislas was killed. The young Ladislas Posthumus was then elected King of Hungary. One of the Sultan’s first acts after this fight was to raise the Ragusan tribute as a punishment for sending galleys to join the Christian fleet.[389] George, Despot of Servia, with characteristic treachery, had arrested and imprisoned Hunyadi after the Hungarian defeat. The Ragusan envoy, Damiano Giorgi, who had come to Belgrad to return the Despot’s treasure, made every effort to obtain Hunyadi’s release, but as George would not hear reason, he induced the Serbs to liberate him without the Despot’s consent. Giorgi and his family were afterwards taken into the Hungarian service by the new king, Matthew Corvinus, as a reward, and given high emoluments. But they never ceased to work in the interests of their native city by means of their influence at Court. The efforts of Ragusan citizens in foreign countries were among the chief causes by which the Republic attained to and maintained its international position.

In 1447 war between Hungary and the Turks broke out anew, and Hunyadi led an expedition across the Danube, but the following year he was defeated on the ill-omened field of Kossovo. On this, as on other occasions, Ragusa sent a number of boats to Albania to pick up the fugitives who had escaped across country from the fury of the invaders, and sent them back to Hungary or gave them asylum in the town. Peace was concluded, but fighting continued in Albania, and we now find the name of Skanderbeg, the great Albanian hero, mentioned for the first time in the Ragusan annals.

The Senate informed the Hungarian king that the Turks were besieging Kroia, Skanderbeg’s stronghold, with two large guns, one of which could throw balls weighing 400 lbs.; the town, however, was well defended by 1500 men, and Skanderbeg was not far off, ever ready to fall upon the Turks and cut off small detachments and convoys.[390] Ragusa had furnished him both with money and provisions, and he frequently came to the city to refit. He was now successful, raised the siege of Kroia, and expelled the Turks from a large part of the country.

We must now return to Stephen Kosača, Duke of St. Sava, and his relations with Ragusa. Like so many other Servian princes he was a Bogomil by religion, and when Stephen Thomas, King of Bosnia, abjured that heresy and became a Catholic, many of his Bogomil subjects fled into the Duchy to escape persecution, and others into Turkish territory, while his Orthodox subjects took refuge in Servia. This caused further discords between Bosnia and Servia, and John Hunyadi cannot be exempted from the blame of having induced Stephen Thomas to ill-treat the heretics;[391] in fact he actually quarrelled with the King because the latter relented from his persecutions. The King’s daughter had married Stephen Kosača, who nominally was a vassal of Bosnia, but he hardly recognised his allegiance at all, and styled himself “by the Grace of God Duke of St. Sava, Lord of Hlum and the Littoral, Grand Vojvod of the Bosnian kingdom, Count of the Drina,” &c.[392] Like his predecessor Sandalj Hranić, he was one of the fatal men of the Balkans; although he tried to resist them later, his attitude contributed not a little to the Turkish conquest of the South Slavonic lands. His aim was simply to consolidate and extend his own dominions at the expense of his neighbours, and he availed himself for this purpose of the assistance which the Turks were always only too ready to give. He also proved Ragusa’s most inveterate enemy. In July 1450 he was still on good terms with the Republic,[393] but in 1451 the first dispute arose. The cause, according to Chalcocondylas, and repeated by Razzi, Gondola, and others, was that he had taken to himself a Florentine mistress brought into the country by some Italian merchants, and drove his wife Helen from the Court. She repaired with her son to Ragusa, and the Duke demanded that they should be given up. The Republic refused, and Kosača, out of revenge, raised duties on Ragusan trade, opened salt-markets in the Narenta, reoccupied part of Canali, and laid waste the Republic’s territory. A more likely reason is probably to be found in Kosača’s overmastering ambition. The Republic at once demanded help of the Christian Powers, especially of Hungary, against the heretical Duke, and an envoy was sent to the Pope to complain that many Italians were in his service. His Holiness replied by forbidding all good Catholics from having anything to do with him. Fortunately for Ragusa the King of Bosnia was hostile to Kosača on account of the indignities to which the latter had subjected his wife (the King’s daughter). For the same reason his son Vladislav left Ragusa and raised a rebellion against his father, allying himself with the Republic, to whom he promised to give back Canali as soon as he was master of the Duchy.[394] In December 1451 Ragusa contracted an alliance with Stephen Thomas, who undertook “to declare war without delay and carry it on without interruption against the Duke Stephen Vukčić (Kosača), his government, his cities, and his servants, with all the glorious strength of Our kingdom, with Our servants, and Our friends in open warfare, as is suitable to Our lordship and Our kingdom, provided that no obstacle impede us and no Turkish army attack us.”[395] The Despot of Servia and other minor potentates joined the league against “this perfidious heretic and Patarene.”[396] Ragusa also sent an envoy to Hungary to urge the King to intervene, stating that Kosača was intriguing with the Venetians, the Turks, and the King of Aragon. It was suggested that this was a good moment for Hungarian action, as the Turks were in a state of anarchy in consequence of the death of the Sultan, and that a Hungarian army might now occupy Kodiviet and thus prevent them from ever entering Bosnia again.[397] Hostilities commenced in 1452, and at first Kosača was unlucky, for a number of his barons rose against him and joined Ragusa, and the commander of the league’s forces was his own son. But soon after a civil war broke out in Bosnia. The Herzegovinian nobles fought against the Duke while Kosača was devastating Ragusan territory. At Ragusa’s instance a legate was sent by Pope Nicholas V. to Kosača, who received him amiably, promising to make peace with the Republic and become a Catholic. But this was only to gain time, and as soon as the Turks once more appeared on the frontier and assisted him he again made war on Ragusa, and a Turkish force approached the city, which was now in grave danger. In July 1453 Vladislav expressed a wish to make peace with his father, and the Duke, thus strengthened, again invaded Canali, took Ragusavecchia, and captured a body of Ragusans under Marino Cerva near Bergato. Further details of these operations are wanting, but peace was made at last through the intervention of the Papal legate and of a Turkish Vizir, and signed at Novi, April 10, 1454, confirming the _status quo_. Kosača promised the Ragusans that he would never attack them again “save by order of the Grand Signior, the Sultan of Turkey, Mehmet Beg” (Mohammed II.).[398] It is thus clear that already the Sultan’s influence in this part of the world was predominant. In 1453 the whole of Europe was shaken to its foundations by the capture of Constantinople by the Turks. This event, however, did not have much direct effect on Bosnia and Hlum, as the Turkish conquest there had already begun. Every month some fresh raid was made, dealing death and destruction, and yet everywhere the invaders found Slavonic princes ready to help them against others who still held out.[399] The first consequence which the fall of Constantinople had on Ragusa was the raising of her tribute to the Sultan to 5000 ducats. The city again became a haven of refuge for fugitives from the territories invaded by the Turks, and many Greeks from Constantinople, including members of the most distinguished families, fled to Ragusa, and remained there for a while. Thus we find some of the Palæologi, Comneni, Lascaris, and Cantaconzeni, and learned men like John Lascaris, Chalcocondylas, Emmanuel Marulus, Theodore Spandukinos, author of a history of the Turks, Paul Tarchaniotes, father of the historian John, and many others. No doubt these men contributed to the revival of learning in Dalmatia, as they did in the Italian towns. The refugees were provided with food, shelter, and money, and were afterwards sent on board Ragusan galleys free of charge to Ancona.[400] The citizens would have been willing that they should settle permanently at Ragusa, but the Senate feared that as many of them were such distinguished men the Sultan might use this as a pretext for aggression. A certain number, however, did remain.

After the capture of Constantinople it was hoped that Mohammed would content himself with being overlord of the remaining Balkan lands not under his direct sway. But he soon evinced more dangerous intentions, and proceeded to establish his complete ascendency, destroying all the independent or semi-independent States. Of these the first to be attacked was Servia, which the Sultan claimed through his stepmother, a Servian princess. The miserable remnant of the great Tsar Dušan’s Empire was reduced to a small part of the present kingdom of Servia. Mohammed’s object was to prepare for the struggle with Hungary, the only Power which he seriously feared, for Genoa was now weak, and Venice’s first thought was “not to recover the bulwark of Christendom from the hands of the Muslim, but to preserve her own commercial privileges under the Infidel ruler.”[401] In 1454 the Turks invaded Servia, captured Ostrovica, and besieged Smederevo (Semendria); but John Hunyadi led an army against them, relieved that stronghold, defeated them at Kruševac, and burnt the fortress of Vidin on the Danube. But the following year Mohammed advanced in person and captured Novobrdo,[402] with its valuable mines, “Totam religionem Christianam libidinoso ambiciosoque animo dicioni suæ ascripsit, flagratque cupidine mundi,” as the Ragusan reports informed the Hungarian king. The Republic suffered ill-effects from this capture, because the Ragusan merchants who had a flourishing trade there were driven out. In July 1456 Mohammed besieged Belgrad, but was defeated by the courage of the defenders aided by the brilliant strategy of Hunyadi. Unfortunately this great leader died soon afterwards, and Hungary was crippled by internal troubles. In 1457 Fra Marino da Siena travelled through Dalmatia to preach a crusade against the Turks and collect money for that purpose. He raised 4000 ducats at Ragusa alone,[403] and the King of Hungary requested the Senate to use its influence to induce him to devote the money to a land crusade, as the danger on that side was more pressing, rather than to a naval expedition. By the end of the year the whole of Servia was subjugated except Belgrad and the Danubian provinces. On the death of Ladislas, Matthew Corvinus, Hunyadi’s son, was elected by the Diet to succeed him (January 1458).

Ragusa, which had been described by King Ladislas as the “scutum confiniorum regni nostri Dalmatiæ,” had been threatened by the Turks in 1455, but not seriously, as they were occupied elsewhere. In 1458 Mohammed again menaced the Republic, and sent Isak Beg into Bosnia to order the vassal princes to capture the city if she did not immediately make submission to him and increase her tribute.[404] Hungarian aid was solicited, and the citizens prepared to defend themselves; but once more the danger was averted, as the Turks had other more pressing matters to attend to.

In 1459 the final conquest of Bosnia was begun. King Stephen Thomas had paid tribute to the Sultan since 1449, and after the fall of Constantinople he had sent envoys to do homage to the victor,[405] but at the same time he was imploring the help of the Pope; this caused much discontent among his Bogomil subjects, who had already shown themselves not unfriendly to the Turks. But after Hunyadi’s victory at Belgrad Stephen was encouraged to further resistance; he refused to pay the tribute, and actually intended to lead a crusade in person.[406] The Pope ordered his legate in Dalmatia to raise funds for him, and enjoined Kosača to help him.[407] Stephen began to attack the Turkish garrisons in Servia, but after taking a few towns he came to terms with the Sultan early in 1458, and paid him a tribute of 9000 ducats. On the death of Lazar, the Despot of Servia, the King of Hungary conferred the despotate on Stephen the Younger, or Tomašević, the Bosnian king’s son, who had married Lazar’s daughter, Helena. Thus Bosnia acquired the Danubian region of Servia, including Semendria. But Mohammed determined to conquer even these districts once for all, and to punish Stephen Thomas for his audacity. The Servians themselves were dissatisfied with their new ruler, because he was a devout Catholic, and they regarded him simply as a Hungarian viceroy. When in June 1459 Mohammed approached Semendria the inhabitants opened their gates to him. Owing to its position at the confluence of the Morava and the Danube it was the key to the whole country, and its fall, which spelt the end of Bosnian rule in Servia, caused consternation throughout Europe. It was attributed by Matthew Corvinus to Stephen Thomas and his son. While this quarrel was going on and the Hungarian king was at war with Germany, the Turkish general, Hassan Pasha, had obliged the King of Bosnia to let him pass through the country with a large army. The next year hostilities broke out between Paul Sperančić, Banus of Croatia, and Stephen Thomas, in the course of which the latter was killed. His son, Stephen Tomašević, succeeded to him, and was the last King of Bosnia (1461).

The country was indeed in a most terrible condition—the Turks threatened it from the south, the Banus of Croatia from the west, and internally the Bogomils were in open revolt and protected by the Duke of St. Sava. The Papal legate managed, however, to bring about a reconciliation between the latter and Stephen Tomašević, who now retired to Jajce. There he collected his magnates around him, and was solemnly crowned, being the first and last Bosnian king who was crowned with the favour of the Catholic Church,[408] styling himself “King of Servia, Hlum, the Littoral, Dalmatia, Croatia, Dolnji-Kralj, the Western Land, Usora, Soli, Prodrinje,” &c. He granted many privileges to the Ragusans, confirmed the Republic in possession of all its territories, and promised to pay his father’s debts towards it.[409] By the end of 1461 he managed to make peace with the Banus of Croatia and his own rebels, and obtained help against the Turks from Venice, Ragusa, and elsewhere. Kosača himself was in danger from the Turks, who only supported him as long as he was of any use to them; he too applied to Ragusa for money and ammunition. Pius II. succeeded after long negotiations in reconciling the King of Hungary and Stephen Tomašević, the latter paying the former a sum of money and giving up a fortress. But in spite of this slightly improved outlook the final ruin was fast approaching. The Bosnian king’s Catholicism had alienated his Bogomil subjects, many of whom had taken refuge among the Turks, while several of the magnates were holding treasonable intercourse with the enemy.

The Sultan on hearing of Stephen’s alliance with Hungary sent to demand the tribute, and this being refused he vowed vengeance, but stayed his hand for a short while to attend to other affairs. The despairing King implored help of all his neighbours, and prepared for a last stand. More troops were levied in Bosnia, and envoys were sent to Italy and Croatia to enlist mercenaries.[410] But the support of his people was lacking, and resistance hopeless. Ragusa could not give men, being herself hard pressed, but gave arms and ammunition.[411] Finding himself in desperate straits he sent envoys to Constantinople to offer to pay the tribute once more and ask for a fifteen years’ truce. Mohammed granted this request, fully intending to attack Bosnia at once. The Servian Michael of Ostrovica, who heard the Sultan discussing this treachery, warned the Bosnian ambassadors, but they laughed at him and returned home with the good news. Mohammed then began his northward march with 15,000 horse and countless foot, and let out that he intended to attack Hungary itself, so that Matthew Corvinus should not send help to Bosnia. The army marched through Üsküb to Senice, and an advanced guard under Mohammed Pasha captured Podrinje in Bosnia. The great fortress of Bobovac, which had hitherto resisted all Turkish sieges, was next attacked. It might easily have held out for many months, but the Governor, Knez Radak, a Bogomil who had been converted to Catholicism by force, surrendered it without a struggle. The traitor, however, was beheaded by the Turks, and a large part of the inhabitants made prisoners, including the very envoys who had brought the charter of the truce from Constantinople. The news of the fall of Bobovac caused the most widespread dismay throughout the land, and the Turkish advance was almost unopposed, many of the Bogomil nobles going over to the enemy. In eight days about eighty towns had surrendered. The King fled from Jajce to Kljuć, where he was pursued by Mohammed Pasha and besieged. On a promise that his life would be spared if he surrendered, he gave himself up, and was brought as a prisoner before the Sultan at Jajce, which had also opened its gates to him on the understanding that its inhabitants should be unmolested. The craven King helped to make the conquest all the easier by authorising his governors and officers to surrender (June 1463). The Sultan now wished to complete his conquests by annexing the Herzegovina. Stephen Kosača at first meditated flight to Ragusa, but then determined to hold out for a time, and sent his son, Vladislav, to levy troops on the coast. The Turkish advance through the bare and rocky Karst mountains of the Duchy proved more difficult than was anticipated. Mohammed besieged Blagaj, the Duke’s residence, in vain, captured Kljuć (not the Bosnian town of that name) and Ljubuski, but soon lost them again.[412] A few weeks later he abandoned the scheme and returned to Constantinople. The Bosnian kingdom had collapsed entirely; 100,000 prisoners had been taken, and 30,000 youths enrolled in the corps of Janissaries. The Sultan was in doubt as to what to do with Stephen Tomašević. It was his invariable practice to put the rulers of the lands which he conquered to death, but in this case his lieutenant had pledged the Imperial word that the King should be spared. A learned Persian mufti helped him out of the difficulty by declaring that a safe-conduct given without the Sultan’s direct assent to be invalid, and he himself cut off Stephen’s head. The King’s widow, Mary Helena, fled to Croatia and afterwards to Spalato, accompanied by many magnates, including the Vojvod Ivaniš Vlatković, and eventually died in Hungary. The Queen-mother, Catherine, lingered for a while in the convent of Sutjeska (Herzegovina), until the advance of the Turks forced her to escape by way of Stagno to Ragusa, where she received hospitality and was given a pension of 500 ducats a year. She remained there until 1475, when she retired to a convent in Rome; she died in the Eternal City three years later, and was buried in the church of Ara Cœli.

Countless fugitives from Bosnia now fled to the Dalmatian towns, especially to the ever-hospitable Ragusa, until at last Mohammed’s attention was called by a Franciscan monk to the depopulation of the country, and he was induced to modify his policy of persecution and grant privileges to that Order, which thenceforth ministered to the spiritual needs of the Bosnian Catholics.[413] Religious differences had thus brought about the final ruin of the land, and subjected it to the awful blight of Turkish misrule for over four centuries; but they survived the conquest. The Bogomils gradually dropped into Muhamedanism, which from its purely monotheistic character was less repugnant to them than Catholicism; but a few adhered to their old tenets for a long time, and there were Bogomils in Bosnia and the Herzegovina until sixty or seventy years ago; indeed it is asserted that Bogomil rites are still practised by the Muhamedans of certain villages near Konjica and elsewhere. The Orthodox Church, however, gained large numbers of adherents, and is to-day the most numerous of the three communities in Bosnia and the Herzegovina.

Meanwhile the Ragusans were cowering behind their walls, expecting every moment to hear the tramp of the Turkish legions advancing to overwhelm them. The outworks on the Monte Sergio were strengthened, the churches outside the city and the houses in the suburbs of Pille and Ploće were pulled down, the wells at Ombla, Gravosa, and the neighbourhood poisoned, and the Government was authorised to destroy the aqueduct if necessary. The fortifications of Stagno were improved, and the Count entrusted with the defence of the frontier. All the Ragusan galleys in Dalmatia and elsewhere were recalled to defend the home waters, crossbowmen and rowers were levied in all the islands, a corps of infantry and lances raised in Apulia and placed under the command of Spirito d’Altamura, and a Herzegovinian contingent under Ivaniš Vlatković was formed. A loan of 15,000 ducats was raised to provide for war expenses.[414] During his raid through the Duchy the Sultan came very near to Ragusa, which he had determined to attack in person and occupy, as it would be a most useful port on the Adriatic and a basis for operations against Venice and Italy. While processions and prayers of intercession were being held in the town, a messenger arrived from the Beglerbeg of Rumelia ordering the Republic to do homage to Mohammed. This was done; but the Sultan demanded that the citizens should give up all their territory to him, and that the ambassadors should follow him to Thrace as hostages. The Senate was filled with consternation, as the surrender of the territory would be but a preliminary to the capture of the city itself. But one of the Senators, Serafino Bona, proposed that a reply should be drafted to the effect that while the Republic was ready to give up its territory to the Turks, it would place the city itself under the direct protection of Hungary and admit a Hungarian garrison. This diplomatic answer saved the situation, for the Sultan, who had heard of the great preparations which were being made in Hungary, had no mind to be attacked by the enemy from the south-west as well as from the north. Moreover, his troops were being severely handled in the rocky gorges of the Herzegovina by Kosača and his mountaineers; so he abandoned the enterprise for the time being.[415]

In the south a vigorous resistance was maintained by Skanderbeg,[416] the only Christian leader worthy of the name since the death of Hunyadi. Captured by the Turks when a child and brought up as a Muhamedan in the corps of Janissaries, he distinguished himself by his prowess in the Turkish service. But during the Servian campaign of 1442 he was suddenly inspired with a feeling of duty towards his native country and the faith of his ancestors. He abandoned the Turkish host with 300 followers, obtained possession of the fortress of Kroia by stratagem, and from that day forth maintained in the wild fastnesses of Albania a desperate and successful struggle against the Turks. Only once was he defeated (in 1456); but on countless other occasions he inflicted overwhelming defeats on the enemy, and he came to be regarded as the chief bulwark of Christianity in the Balkans, assuming the title of “Athleta Christianitatis.” In 1444 he summoned a council of Albanian leaders at the Venetian town of Alessio to concert defensive measures. Army after army was hurled against him, only to be repulsed and cut to pieces. After the capture of Constantinople Mohammed sent Hamsa Pasha with 50,000 men into Albania, but he was defeated by Skanderbeg with only 11,000. A few months later the Albanian hero passed through Ragusa on his way to Apulia to obtain help from Alfonso V., King of Naples, and having received promises of a contingent of Neapolitan troops, he returned in disguise to Ragusa, when he was given a ship to go to Redoni in Albania. According to Razzi,[417] the Sultan heard of this visit and raised the Ragusan tribute in consequence. The Neapolitan historian Summonte, on the other hand, states that Skanderbeg himself did not come to Naples on this occasion, but sent three ambassadors. He adds that Albania was then placed under Neapolitan protection. What is certain, however, is that 1000 men and 18 guns were sent from Naples to the Athlete of Christendom. In 1458 Alfonso died, and his son Ferdinand found his succession disputed by John of Anjou, who had the support of most of the barons. He then appealed to Skanderbeg for help, and the chivalrous Albanian, who was not forgetful of past services, being at the time undisturbed by the Turks, crossed over to Apulia in 1459, defeated Ferdinand’s enemies, established the King securely on the throne, and returned to Albania the following year. Ragusa again furnished him with money and arms, recommended his cause to the Pope, and gave him ships for service along the coast and between Albania and Italy. It is probable that all his sea journeys as well as those of his ambassadors were performed on Ragusan ships. He also deposited sums of money in the treasury of the Republic. Between 1460 and 1461 he defeated four Turkish armies of 300,000 or 400,000 men each, and obliged Mohammed to make peace with him. Early in 1462 he again visited Ragusa, where he was greatly honoured by the citizens, and furnished with further supplies of grain, wine, sheep, &c. When, in 1463, Pope Pius II. proclaimed a crusade, Skanderbeg was induced to violate the truce—as indeed Mohammed would have done had it suited him—and joined the expedition. On August 4, 1464, he gained a splendid victory at Ochrida, but twelve days later Pius II. died, and the crusade collapsed, and Skanderbeg found himself alone, exposed to the full fury of the Turks. But he again routed them, and sent envoys to Italy to ask for assistance. Mohammed in person led a large army into Albania and laid siege to Kroia. Skanderbeg remained outside the town, as he had done in the previous siege, with a few thousand warriors, and repeatedly fell upon the enemy, inflicting heavy losses on them. Mohammed, hearing that his northern frontiers were threatened by the King of Hungary, and his Asiatic provinces by the Prince of Caramania, departed from Albania, leaving Balaban Pasha to continue the siege with 19,000 men (he had lost 30,000 already). Skanderbeg himself went to Rome to obtain further help from the Powers. But although he was received with great splendour, he obtained no material assistance save a little money. Venice, however, sent him some troops, and on the death of Balaban Pasha the siege of Kroia was raised. In 1466 the Sultan returned in person with 130,000 men to attack Durazzo and Kroia, but failed in both attempts, and returned discomfited to Constantinople. Further contingents arrived from Venice and Naples, and Skanderbeg summoned another conference of chiefs at Alessio to discuss defensive measures. But on January 17, 1467, the Athlete of Christendom died of fever. The Persian war continued to give the Albanians a short respite, but the end of their independence was not far off. Skanderbeg had not had time to consolidate his country so that it would remain united after his death, and his disappearance was followed by complete anarchy.

In the north the King of Hungary was making desperate efforts to recover Bosnia, and in his operations he received help from Ragusa. A few months after the murder of Stephen Tomašević, Matthew Corvinus invaded Bosnia, and with the help of several of the magnates, including Kosača’s son, Vladislav Vukčić, reconquered Dolnji-Kralj and Usora, with about thirty towns and fortresses, including Jajce, Zvečaj, Banjaluka, Tešanji, and Srebrenik, only Upper Bosnia and Podrinje remaining under the Turks. The King rewarded Vladislav for his services by giving him the counties of Uskoplje and Rama. In the spring of 1464 Mohammed again invaded Bosnia with 30,000 men and besieged Jajce, but was forced to retire. The part of Bosnia now under Hungary was formed into two Banats—Jajce and Srebrenik—and the Governor, Nicholas of Ilok, Vojvod of Transsilvania, was entitled “King of Bosnia,” so as to uphold the Hungarian claims over the whole country. In the south another Hungarian expedition was made in 1465 from the Narenta. The Ragusan Senate ordered a bridge to be built across that river, at the Republic’s expense, near the castle of Počitelj, so as to facilitate the passage of the Hungarian army, and all the necessary materials and workmen were sent there for the purpose. Two Hungarian envoys came to Ragusa to arrange the plan of campaign. The Herzegovina was still ruled by Kosača, but Turkish raids from southern Bosnia were frequent, and it was important to keep the enemy from the Narenta’s mouth.[418] Počitelj, a quaint and picturesque hill town, came to be the centre of a series of operations against the Turks, which lasted until 1470. In 1466 we find the Ragusans giving “4 schopetos parvos, 4 tarassios de minoribus,” 200 lbs. of powder, 1000 beams, and 1000 “clavos” for the defence of Počitelj, and two carpenters, two _marangoni_, and some boats. Three bombards, building materials, ropes, bullets, provisions, and more firelocks and boats were added later, together with a staff of boat-builders and engineers.[419]

In 1466 Kosača died, having deposited his will at Ragusa. By its terms his estates were divided between his three sons, Stephen, Vladislav, and Vlatko. To the first he also left his crown, some plate and jewels, and 30,000 ducats, to the third 30,000 ducats, to his widow Cecilia 1000 ducats, some plate, brocades, and robes; the rest of his personalty was to be divided equally among his three sons, save 10,000 ducats for his soul.[420] But their possessions were constantly menaced by the Turks, and the youngest brother became a renegade and took the name of Achmed Beg. The other two soon quarrelled among themselves, and each asked for Turkish assistance. In 1469 Hamsa Beg raided Ragusan territory, and an attack on the town was momentarily expected. A second raid was made in 1470, and Postranja and Canali were laid waste, the castle of Soko alone holding out. The Ragusan merchants in Trebinje were also plundered. As Hamsa refused to hear reason, the garrison was increased, the galleys armed, and the moat before the Porta Pile dug.[421] At this time Počitelj was being besieged.

The Ragusans had been trying to induce the Sultan to reduce the tribute from 5000 to 3000 ducats, stating that the constant troubles in Slavonia and Servia had made them very poor. As Mohammed was engaged in the Persian war, his vizirs agreed to the reduction, but when he returned he not only insisted on the remaining 2000 being paid, but raised the sum to 8000.[422] There was nothing for it but to pay, as Turkish karaulas (block-houses) were only two miles from the gates, and an attack was feared at any moment. But it was not paid for nothing, for the Ragusans obtained many new privileges; moreover, the increase was in part due to the fact that the Turks were the successors to various native princes whom they had dispossessed, and to whom the Republic had formerly paid tribute. The Pope renewed the exemption to trade with the Infidel. The one danger was that the Turks should suddenly desire to capture the city, as on more than one occasion they had been on the point of doing. It required all the skilful diplomacy of the Senate to avoid this contingency.

In January 1474 the Turks renewed their incursions into Albania. Skanderbeg on his deathbed had entrusted the task of defending his country to the Venetians, which they, with the help of the Montenegrins and some Albanian tribes, attempted to do. They themselves held various towns on or near the coast, including Scutari, which was now besieged by an immense Turkish army. Among the defenders were several Ragusans, and the Republic was throughout the siege well supplied with news of all the operations. The Turkish leader was Suleiman Beg, a Bosnian renegade, while the Venetians were led by Andrea Loredano, and their allies by Ivan Crnojevnić, a Montenegrin. Hostilities began with the defeat of the Turkish fleet at the mouth of the Boiana by Gritti, but by May the enemy had invested the town. The garrison consisted of only 1300 men, while it contained 700 non-combatants, but it was well provided with arms, ammunition, and food. The besiegers brought up much heavy artillery drawn by camels. The Ragusan Senate was convinced that if Scutari fell it was all up with Albania and Dalmatia, and that even Italy would be in danger. The Turks delivered an attack and effected a breach in the walls; the garrison not wishing to exhaust themselves, waited until the enemy had entered, and then fell upon them with such fury that they drove them back, killing 2000 and wounding an immense number. Suleiman Beg announced this disaster to the Sultan, and then abandoned the siege, having lost 7000 men killed and 14,000 wounded in all. As some Ragusans had taken part in the defence, the Sultan again raised the Republic’s tribute to 10,000 ducats.[423] In 1477 the Turks attacked Kroia, Skanderbeg’s old stronghold, and as the Venetians could not relieve it, it fell, while numerous bodies of Turkish cavalry made inroads into Friuli from Bosnia. The Venetians finally made peace, giving up Scutari and Kroia, and agreeing to pay 10,000 ducats a year for trading rights in the Turkish dominions. They now held only Durazzo, Antivari, and Butrinto, all the rest of Albania being occupied by the enemy.

During these operations Ragusa was more than once in serious danger, and Pope Sixtus V. granted full indulgence to all those who contributed to the defence of the city, whether natives or foreigners. He said of it: “In oculis Turchorum quasi propugnaculum sita existit, maribus satis munita, florenti populo decorata ac armis et aliis instrumentis bellicis abundans, et hominum suorum virilitate parata adversus prædictorum incursus semper existit.” The Sultan, he adds, was planning to attack it with an immense army, and it could not hold out unless other Christians came to its assistance.[424] The city, however, was saved once more by the crushing defeat of the Turkish army by the Hungarians in Transsilvania.

In 1481 Mohammed II. died, and was succeeded by his son Bayazet. Iskender Pasha, Beglerbeg of Servia, then ravaged Dalmatia, with the excuse that on the death of the Sultan all the treaties made by him were invalid unless renewed by his successor. Venice at once sent ambassadors to obtain their renewal, but the negotiations proved difficult, and lasted over a year. Ragusa was more fortunate; all her privileges were confirmed, and the tribute reduced to 3000 ducats.[424] In 1483 Bayazet determined to complete the conquest of the Herzegovina, and sent a large force to invade it under one Gjursević Beg, a Bosnian renegade. This time the task proved easier, as the succession of raids had broken the back of the Herzegovinians’ resistance. Vlatko fled from Castelnuovo to Ragusa, and thence to Hungary. This so incensed the Turks that they again threatened to seize the city, but the Republic appeased them by a gift of 12,500 ducats to the Sultan and 500 to his Ministers as a bribe, while it agreed to pay an additional 100 a year to Aliza, the newly-appointed Sandjakbeg of the Herzegovina. It is said that Aliza had already come to an understanding with the commander of the Hungarian guard in Ragusa to enter the town, but the Senate discovered the plot in time, and had the traitor strangled, together with two accomplices.[425] A Ragusan citizen named G. Niccolò Palmotta was put to death for intriguing with the Turks at Castelnuovo.

With the conquest of the Herzegovina Ragusa’s relations with the Turks became more intimate. The whole of Bosnia, save Jajce and the surrounding district, the Herzegovina, all Albania excepting a few Venetian towns, parts of Croatia, Slavonia, and Hungary were in Turkish hands. Dalmatia as far as the Narenta’s mouth was still Venetian, and so was Cattaro, although a strip of the coast of the Bocche, including Castelnuovo, was held by the Turks. Ragusa’s land frontier was thus encompassed on all sides by the Infidel save in the north, where the marshy delta of the Narenta divided it from Venetian territory. Hungary was weak on her southern border, and much occupied with the German wars in the north; but although Ragusa could hope for little help in that quarter, she kept on good terms with the King, and continued to furnish him with information as to the movements of the enemy, and to pay him the tribute of 500 ducats at irregular intervals. This she did partly for commercial reasons, the Hungarian trade being still important, and partly because she hoped that the cause of Christendom in the Western Balkans might yet triumph under Hungarian auspices.

On the other hand, the old jealousy of Venice was by no means dead, and the Ragusans were suspicious of her every movement, fearing that by a _coup de main_ she might capture the city, and thus unite her Dalmatian possessions with Cattaro and gain an unbroken line of posts all down the Adriatic. That Ragusa’s fears of Venetian hostility were not groundless became manifest the following year. Venice was then at war with Alfonso of Ferrara; the causes of that war offer a curious parallel with those of Venetian hostility towards Ragusa. Like Ragusa, Ferrara was an independent State placed between the main Venetian possessions and an outpost—in this case Ravenna. In addition there were disagreements on account of the salt monopoly and the navigation dues, as in the case of Ragusa. A Venetian flotilla was blockading the entrance to the Po and besieging the city. Some Ragusan galleys happened to be up the river, and were detained by Ippolito d’Este, who utilised them and their crews for the defence. When the Venetian fleet under Angelo Trevisan attempted to sail in it was repulsed by the shore batteries, with the help, it is said, of the Ragusan gunners. The Venetian Government out of revenge issued a decree which greatly hampered Ragusan trade with Venice and her possessions (September 21, 1484). Ragusan residents and merchants were expelled from Venice, and all Ragusan ships forced to pay 100 ducats as anchorage dues, while some of them were seized as compensation for the damage suffered at Ferrara.[426] Other impositions were also levied, and although the dispute was settled soon after, mutual distrust continued as before.

In 1490 Matthew Corvinus died, and the disappearance of that able and warlike monarch caused a recrudescence of Turkish activity in all directions. In 1492 the Republic suffered from the raids of Kosača’s renegade son Achmet. Kosača had left large sums of money at Ragusa in trust for his sons, and Achmet, who had already received his share, now demanded that it should be paid over again, and accused the Republic before the Sultan of having robbed him. Although the Ragusan ambassadors showed Bayazet Achmet’s receipt, the Sultan ordered the Republic to pay 100,000 ducats at once. The new King of Hungary, Ladislas II., promised help, but as it was not forthcoming the Republic had to pay.

In 1499 the city was again in danger of a Turkish attack, and envoys were sent to Hungary to raise a force of mercenaries. The reasons for this hostility, besides the usual desire on the part of the Turks to occupy so excellent a port, were due to the fact that many of the Bosnian and Herzegovinian nobles who had taken refuge at Ragusa frequently made raids into the conquered territory, doing much damage to its new occupants. The Turks also believed that the Ragusans sometimes helped even the Venetians. In fact, the reports of the Ragusan “exploratores” (spies) and traders in all parts of the Ottoman dominions were often transmitted to other Christian potentates besides the King of Hungary. On this occasion the Venetians were informed that the Turkish fleet was to be ready in May, and that bridges were being built across all the rivers in Albania.[427] But apparently the Sultan put off his expedition, and decided to send only four ships to Apulia to fetch the body of Djem.[428] He altered his plans again in June, got ready a large fleet, and concentrated the army at Üsküb. In July the land force had advanced northward to Pirot; by August it had crossed into Albania, and was encamped on the coast opposite Corfu. The fleet left Gallipoli, and artillery was sent to Albania and the Morea.[429]

The last years of the fifteenth century and the first of the sixteenth were marked by plagues and earthquakes at Ragusa. Razzi mentions epidemics of various kinds in 1500, 1503, and 1505, when 1600 persons died; and earthquakes in 1496 and 1504. The Republic’s trade was also harried by the numerous corsairs which infested the Adriatic and the Mediterranean. In 1510 seven Candiot pirate barques captured two Ragusan galleys laden with Ragusan goods worth 30,000 ducats, as well as valuable property belonging to some Florentines; but the stolen goods were recovered through the action of the Venetian Senate. The Sultan of Egypt, who, like other Muhamedan potentates, did not always distinguish between one Christian race and another, detained five Ragusan vessels at Alexandria as a reprisal for the capture of some Moorish ships by the Knights of Rhodes. But the Sultan was pacified, and he returned the ships and granted the Ragusans permission to trade with the East Indies through Egypt and Syria. In 1509 the Republic had availed itself of Venice’s difficulties consequent on the League of Cambrai to obtain the removal of trade restrictions, and it provided Venice with grain and war stores in return.[430] The following year it informed the Venetian Government that the Sultan had made a truce with Hungary in order to wrest Dalmatia from them. In 1512 the Sultan once more raised the tribute from 3000 to 5000 ducats, and threatened the city with an expedition of 500 sail, probably in consequence of the assistance given to Venice; but again the danger passed off.

In 1520 an earthquake, far more severe than any shock hitherto experienced, occurred, and did damage valued at 100,000 ducats in the town, and 50,000 in the neighbourhood. The Monte Bergato seemed about to fall and overwhelm Ragusa, “but the city was saved through the intervention of the San Biagio and of the Blessed Virgin.”[431] Twenty persons were killed and many injured. The little chapel of San Salvatore was erected as a votive offering to express the gratitude of the citizens at the salvation of the town. Six years later a terrible pestilence broke out, and wrought fearful havoc in spite of the precautions taken to isolate the sick. The death-rate was about 100 a day,[432] and in all 164 nobles, 184 monks and nuns, and 20,000 other citizens died. The city was abandoned by all save a guard of soldiers and the crews of two galleys remaining in the port. The Senate held its sittings at Gravosa, and the population only returned after twenty months.[433] Shortly after a pirate fleet of twenty-four sail appeared off Molonta threatening the town. But in spite of the disorganisation caused by the plague the Government was able to fit out a fleet of ten large ships, two galleys, one barque, and eighteen brigantines, under the command of Marino Zamagna, who, with the help of two Venetian ships, drove the pirates out of the Adriatic.

The year 1526 was a momentous one for Christendom. The Turkish wars with Hungary had been going on intermittently for many years, now one side gaining the advantage now the other, but no decisive operations had taken place recently. In Bosnia, the fortress of Jajce became the centre of the fighting, and was again and again besieged by the Turks, who were again and again repulsed with heavy loss. Besides Jajce, the Hungarians held a strip of territory south of the Save, including the fortresses of Zvornik, Szabács, and Belgrad. When Suleiman the Magnificent ascended the throne of Othman in 1520, he determined to seize these strongholds so as to open the way into Hungary. He collected a powerful army, and led it in person into the Banate. Szabács was the first to fall, in 1521; Semlin, Slankamen, Mitrović, Zvornik, Tešanj, and Sokol were next captured, and after a long siege Belgrad was taken by treachery. But the attack on Jajce, which was defended by the gallant Peter Keglević, failed completely. A second attack on Jajce was equally unsuccessful, owing to the arrival of a Croatian force under Frangipani. In 1526 Suleiman again invaded Hungary, and on August 29 the great battle of Mohács was fought, in which the Hungarians were totally defeated and 20,000 of them, including their King, killed. This disaster marks the end of Hungary for the time being. The Sultan conquered all that remained of Bosnia, including Jajce, in 1528, as well as a large part of Croatia and southern Hungary.

Ragusan dependence on Hungary now ceased, and the Republic refused to recognise any claim to allegiance on the part of either John Zapolya, who succeeded to what remained of the kingdom, or of Ferdinand of Austria, the German Emperor. In 1527 Ferdinand wrote to the Senate, requesting them to remain faithful to him as overlord of Hungary, as they had been to his predecessors. But no attention was paid to this demand, and the Republic remained more or less under Turkish protection until its fall.[434] But it obtained from the Turks all the commercial privileges granted by the King of Hungary, and its trade in the latter country flourished under the Crescent as well as under the Cross. After the capture of Buda some Ragusans actually farmed the taxes of the city.[435]