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EspañolREPUBLIC OF RAGUSA
(Redirected from Dubrovnik Republic)
:''For the city in Italy, see Ragusa, Italy.''
The 'Republic of Ragusa' (or 'Republic of Dubrovnik') was a maritime republic centred on the city of Ragusa (Dubrovnik, today in southernmost Croatia), in Dalmatia, from the 14th century AD until 1808.
It reached its peak in the 15th and 16th century before being conquered by Napoleon Bonaparte's French Empire in 1808. It had a population of about 30,000 people, of which 5,000 lived within the city walls.[1]
Originally named ''Communitas Ragusina'' (Latin for "Ragusan municipality" or "community"), in the 14th century was renamed ''Respublica Ragusina'' (Latin for "Ragusa Republic"). In Croatian it's called ''Dubrovačka Republika''. It is also known in English by that name; the latter name was rarely used in older English sources (because the city was internationally at that time known as Ragusa).
The Republic ruled a compact area of southern Dalmatia - its final borders were formed by 1426Peter F. Sugar (1983). ''Southeastern Europe Under Under Ottoman Rule, 1354-1804'', University of Washington Press, ISBN 0-295-96033-7. - comprising the mainland coast from Neum to the Prevlaka (Capo d'Ostro) peninsula as well as the Pelješac (Sabbioncello) peninsula and the islands of Lastovo (Lagosta) and Mljet (Meleda), as well as a number of smaller islands off Lastovo and Ragusa (Dubrovnik) such as Koločep (Calmotta), Lopud (Isola di Mezzo), and Šipan (Sipano).
:''See also Dubrovnik.''
The city was established in 7th centuryAndrew Archibald Paton (1861). ''Researches on the Danube and the Adriatic; Or Contributions to the Modern History of Hungary and Translvania, Dalmatia and Croatia, Servia and Bulgaria'', Brockhaus (circa 614) after Avar and Slav raiders destroyed the Roman city of Epidaurum (in Croatian: ''Cavtat''). Some of the survivors moved 25 kilometers north to the small island near the coast where they founded a new settlement, Lausa. It has been claimed that a second raid by Croats in 656, resulted in the total destruction of Epidaurum.
The new location offered more protection, but the native Roman population quickly established trade with the Slavic hinterland. According to another theory Epidaurum was destroyed a first time in 265AD by the Goths and probably "Rausium (or Ragusa) was founded long before Epidaurus was finally destroyed, and that the various irruptions of barbarians, in the third and succeeding centuries, had led to the original establishment of this place of refuge".John Gardner Wilkinson (1848). ''Dalmatia and Montenegro'', J. Murray
Ragusa derives its name from Lausa (from the Greek xau, "precipice"); it was later altered in 'Rausium' (Appendini says that till after 1.100 A.D, the sea passed over the site of modern Ragusa. If so, it could only have been over a small part of it) or Rausia (even Lavusa, Labusa, Raugia and Rachusa) and finally into Ragusa. The Croat name "Dubrovnik" is derived from the Croatian word ''dubrava'', "an oak wood";, by a strange perversion, the Turks have corrupted into Dobro-Venedik, Good-Venice. it came into use beside "Ragusa" as early as the 14th century.[2]
Epidaurum refugees built their new settlement on the small island (some sources say peninsula) Lausa off shore while other populations (primarily Croats) settled along the coast, directly across the narrow channel, and named their settlement Dubrovnik. Initially the populations were skeptical of each other. Over time they grew closer and finally in 12th century the two settlements merged. The channel that divided the city was filled creating the famous Stradun, the main street which became the city center.
The Saracens laid siege to Ragusa in from 866 and 867 which lasted for fifteen months and was raised after the intervention of the Byzantine Emperor, Basil the Macedonian, with his fleet.[3] With the weakening of Byzantium, Venice began to see Ragusa as a rival which needed to be brought under her control, but the attempt to conquer the city in 948 failed. The citizens of the city attributed this to Saint Blaise (in Croatian: Sveti Vlaho) whom they adopted as the patron saint.A Short History of the Yugoslav Peoples (1985). ''A Short History of the Yugoslav Peoples'', Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-27485-0 In 1050, the city acquired the harbor of Gruž and extended its boundaries to Zaton, 16km north of the original city by the grant of Stephen who claimed the title of ruler of Bosnia and Dalmatia.
In 1191, the city's merchants were granted the right to trade freely in Byzantium by Emperor Isaac II Angelos. Similar privileges were obtained several years earlier from Serbia (1186) and from Bosnia (1189). The treaty with Bosnian Ban Kulin is also the first official document where the city is referred to as Dubrovnik.
When in 1205 the Republic of Venice invaded Dalmatia with the forces of the Fourth Crusade, Ragusa was forced to pay a tribute and became a source of supplies for Venice (hides, wax, silver and other metals). Venice used the city as its naval base in the southern Adriatic Sea. Unlike with Zadar, there was not much friction between Ragusa and Venice as the city had not yet begun to compete with Venice as an alternate carrier in the trade between East and West, also the city did remain largely independent. The people, however, did resent the ever growing tribute and the almost epic hatred between Ragusa and Venice began to grow.[4]
In the middle of the thirteenth century the island of Lastovo was added to the original territory. In 1333, Pelješac Peninsula was purchased from Serbia. In 1345, the island Mljet was acquired. In January 1348, the outbreak of the Black Death was recognized in the city.[5]
In 1358, the city accepted the mild hegemony of King Louis I of Hungary after Venice was forced by the Treaty of Zadar to yield all claim to Dalmatia. On June 27 1358, the final agreement was reached at Visegrád between Louis and the Archbishop Giovanni Saraca. The city recognized Hungarian sovereignty, but the local nobility continued to rule with little interference from Buda. The Republic profited from the suzerainty of Louis of Hungary, whose kingdom was not a naval power, and with whom they would have little conflict of interest.[6]
In 1399 the city acquired the area between Ragusa and Pelješac, called the Primorje. Moreover, between 1419 and 1426, the Konavle region south of Astarea, including the city of Cavtat, were added to the territories in the possession of the city.
In 1458, the Republic signed a treaty with the Ottoman Empire which made it a tributary of the Sultan. Moreover, it was obliged to send an ambassador to the Sultan by the 1st of November of each year in order to deliver the tribute.[7]
When in 1481 the city passed under Ottoman protection, it was to pay a tribute of 12,500 ducats. For all other purposes, however, Ragusa was virtually independent. It could enter into relations with foreign powers and make treaties with them, and its ships sailed under its own flag. Ottoman vassalage also conferred special rights in trade that extended within the Empire. Ragusa also handled the Adriatic trade on behalf of the Ottoman Empire, and its traders received special tax exemptions and trading benefits from the Porte. It also operated colonies that enjoyed extraterritorial rights in major Ottoman cities.[8]
Merchants from Ragusa could also enter the Black Sea which was otherwise closed to non-Ottoman shipping. They also paid less in customs duties than other foreign merchants. The city-state also enjoyed diplomatic support from the Ottoman administration in trade disputes with the Venetians.Suraiya Faroqhi, Bruce McGowan, Donald Quataert, Sevket Pamuk (1997). ''An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire'', Vol. 2, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-57455-2
For their part, Ottomans regarded Ragusa as a port of major importance. After all, most of the traffic between Florence and Bursa (an Ottoman port in northwestern Anatolia) was carried out via Ragusa. Florentine cargoes would leave the Italian ports of Pesaro, Fano or Ancona to reach Ragusa. From that point on they would take the land route Bosnasaray (Sarajevo)-Novibazar-Skopje-Plovdiv-Edirne.[9]
When in the late sixteenth-century Ragusa placed its merchant marine at the disposal of the Spanish Empire, on condition that its participation in the Spanish military ventures would not affect the interest of the Ottoman Empire, the latter tolerated the situation as the trade of Ragusa permitted the importation of goods from states with which the Ottoman Empire was at war.
Along with England, Spain and Genoa, Ragusa was one of the Republic of Venice's most damaging competitors in the 15th century on all seas, even in the Adriatic. Thanks to its proximity to the inexhaustible oak forests of Gargano, it was able to bid cargoes away from the Venetians.[10]
With the great Portuguese explorations which opened up new ocean routes, the spice trade no longer went through the Mediterranean sea. Moreover, the discovery of America started a crisis of Mediterranean shipping. That was the beginning of the decline of both the Venetian and Ragusan Republic.
Charles VIII of France granted trading rights to the Ragusans in 1497. These rights were also granted by Louis XII in 1502. In the first decade of the 16th century, Ragusan consuls were in France with French consuls being in Ragusa. Prominent Ragusans were in France during this period and include such dignitaries as Simon Bonesa, Lovro Gigants, D. Bonda-Bondić, Ivan Cvletković, Captain John Florio, Petar Luccari-Lukarić, Seraphin Gozze-Gucetić, Luka Sorgo-Sorkočević. The Ragusan aristocracy was also well represented at the Sorbonne University in Paris at this time. Croatian Regiments were in French service in the 1600s and were called by Louis XIII's to be the Royal-Cravates. Because these soldiers wore a colorful scarf around their neck to distinguish themselves, this neck wear became known as cravats or ties.
On 6 April 1667, an earthquake struck, and killed over 5,000 citizens, including the Duke Simone Ghetaldi, and leveled most of the public buildings, leaving only the outer walls intact. Buildings in the Gothic and Renaissance styles - palaces, churches and monasteries - were in ruins, only the Sponza Palace and the front of the Rector's Palace at Luza Square survived. Gradually, the city was rebuilt in the more modest Baroque style. With great effort Ragusa recovered a bit, but still remained a shadow of the former Republic.
The fate of Ragusa was linked to that of the Ottoman Empire. Ragusa and Venice lent technical assistance to the Ottoman-Egyptian-Calicut-Gujarati alliance that was defeated by the Portuguese in the battle of Diu in the Indian Ocean (1509).
In 1684, the emissaries renewed an agreement contracted in Visegrad in the year 1358 and accepted the sovereignty of the Austrian Emperor over Ragusa as a Croatian-Hungarian King, with an annual tax of 500 ducats. At the same time Ragusa continued to recognize the sovereignty of Turkey; which was nothing unusual in those days. After this even greater opportunities opened up for Ragusa ships in ports all along the Dalmatian coast, in which they anchored frequently.
In 1683 the Turks were defeated in the Battle of Kahlenberg outside Vienna. The Field marshal of the Austrian army was Francesco Gondola (Frano Dzivo Gundulic). In the Treaty of Karlowitz of 1699, the Ottomans ceded all of Hungary, Transylvania, Slavonia, Dalmatia and Podolia to the victorious Habsburgs, Venetians, and Poles.
The Ottoman Empire was no longer a threat to Christian Europe. After this, Venice captured a part of Ragusa's inland area and approached its borders. They presented the threat of completely surrounding and cutting off Ragusa's trade inland. In view of this danger, expecting the defeat of the Turks by Vienna in 1684 and hoping that the Austrian Army would capture Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dubrovnik sent emissaries to the Austrian Emperor, Leopold, in Vienna.
With a 26 January 1699 peace agreement, the Republic of Ragusa ceded two patches of its coast to the Ottoman Empire so that the Republic of Venice would be unable to attack from land, only from the sea. One of them, the northwestern land border with the small town of Neum, is today the only outlet of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Adriatic Sea. The southeastern border village of Sutorina later became part of Montenegro, which has coastline to the south.Ragusa continued its policy of strict neutrality in the War of Austrian succession (1741-1748) and in the Seven Years' War (1756-1763).
In 1783 the Ragusan Government did not answer the proposition put forward by their diplomatic representative in Paris, Frano Favi, that they establish diplomatic relations with the USA, although the Americans agreed to allow Dubrovnik ships free passage in their ports.
Around 1800, the Republic had a highly organized network of consulates and consular offices in more than eighty cities and ports around the world. In 1806, the Republic surrendered to forces of the French Empire to end a months-long siege by the Russian-Montenegrin fleets (during which 3,000 cannonballs fell on the city). The French lifted the siege and saved Dubrovnik. The French army, led by Napoleon, entered Dubrovnik in 1806. In 1808, Marshal Marmont abolished the Republic of Dubrovnik and amalgamated its territory into the French Illyrian Provinces, himself becoming the Rector of Dubrovnik. Later, in the 1814 Battle of Paris, Marmont abandoned Napoleon and was named a traitor. The word ''"ragusade"'' was coined in French to signify treason and ''"raguser"'' meant a cheat.
The Dubrovnikan nobility were disunited in their ideas and political behavior. Article 44 of the 1811 Decree abolished the centuries-old institution of ''fideicommissum'' in inheritance law, by which the French enabled younger noblemen to participate in that part of the family inheritance, which the former law had deprived them of. The annulment of ''fideicommissum'' struck at the Antonnio Degl’Ivellio. According to a 1813 inventory of the Dubrovnik district, 451 land proprietors were registered, including ecclesiastical institutions and the commune.
Although there is no evidence of the size of the estates, the nobles, undoubtedly, were in possession of most of the land. Eleven members of the Sorkočević family, 8 of Gučetić, 6 of Getaldić, 6 of Pucić, 4 of Zamanjić (Džamanjić), and 3 members of the Saraka family were among the greatest landowners. Dubrovnikan citizens belonging to the confraternities St. Anthony and St. Lazarus owned considerable land outside the City. Dubrovnik under French Ruleties dreaded any conflict between the rebels and the Austrians, who were expected to arrive at any moment. Thus, due to their incapacity to act together,the Dubrovnikans missed the last chance of liberating the City themselves. Regardless of the events taking place in the City, Todor Milutinović and Montrichard settled the French surrender of the City under honorable terms. Their aim being to avoid greater conflicts, the Austrians agreed to the French conditions. General Todor Milutinović promised that the victorious army would not marchinto the city before the last Frenchman was evacuated from the City by ship. On 27 January, the French capitulation was signed in Gruž and ratified the same day. It was then that Biagio Phillips de Caboga openly sided with the Austrians, dismissing the rebel army in Konavle. Meanwhile, Giovanni de Natali and his men were still waiting outside the Ploče Gates. After almost eight years of occupation, the French troops marched out of Dubrovnik on 27 and 28 January 1814. On the afternoon of 28 January 1814, the Austrian and English troops made their way into the city through the Pile Gates, denying admission to the Dubrovnik rebels. Intoxicated by success,and with Biagio Phillip de Caboga’s support, Milutinović ignored the Gruž agreement he had made with the nobility in Gruž. The events which followed can be best epitomized in the so-called flag episode. The Flag of Saint Blaise were posted alongside the Austrian and British colors, but only for two days, because on 30 January, General Milutinović ordered Mayor Giorgi to lower it. Overwhelmed by a feeling of deep patriotic pride, Giorgi, the last rector of the Republic and a loyal Francophile, refused to do so “jer da ga je pripeo puk” (”for the masses had posted it”). The oncoming events proved that Austria took every possible chance of invading the entire coast of the eastern Adriatic, from Venice to Kotor. The allies did everything in their power to eliminate the Dubrovnik issue at the Vienna Congress of 1815. The Dubrovnikan representative, Miho Bona, was denied participation in the Congress, while Milutinović, prior to the final agreement of the allies, assumed complete control of the city. In his book "Pad Dubrovnika" ("The Fall of Dubrovnik", 1908), Lujo Vojnović makes every effort to justify the popular actions and prove the solidarity of all social groups in achieving their common goal to restore the Republic. The records, however, seem to indicate a different situation. There was in fact lit-tle understanding between the nobility, the bourgeoisie, and the peasantry, and slim chances of these groups of having any common basis for further activities. The three groups had different reasons to be dissatisfied with the French government, and the moment when they rejoiced together over their victory was not strong enough to unite all the segments of Dubrovnik society in a struggle to restore the Republic. After Dubrovnik suffered a political breakdown, was brought to the verge of economic ruin, and was foresakenby the international community, the City and its territories were handed over to the Habsburg Monarchy in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna In 1814, led by general Todor Milutinović, the Austrian army marched into Dubrovnik. With them came the British army and the local insurgents against the French occupation. At the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Dubrovnik was made a part of the crown land of the Kingdom of Dalmatia, ruled by Austria-Hungary, which it remained a part of until 1918.
In 1815, nobles of the former Dubrovnikan Government met for the last time with efforts to reestablish the Republic of Dubrovnika in vain. After the fall of the Republic most of the aristocracy died out or emigrated overseas, just about one fifth of the noble families were recognized by the Austrian empire. Some of the families that were recognized and survived were Getaldić-Gundulić, Gucić, Kabužić, Sorkočević, Zlatarić, Zamanjić (Džamanjić)/Zamagna, and Pucić.
The greater Council met for the last time the 29 of August of 1814 and the senators were the following ones, with their names written in Italian rendering:
Orsato Savino, conte di Ragnina; Niccolo Matteo di Gradi; Niccolo Niccolo di Pozza, Clemente, conte di Menze, Marino Domenico, conte di Zlatarich, Wladislao, conte di Sorgo; M. Conte di Cerva, Niccolo conte di Saracca; Pietro Ignazio di Sorgo-Cerva; Paolo Wladislao, conte di Gozze; Nicollo Gio, conte di Sorgo, Matteo Nicollo di Ghetaldi; Savino conte di Giorgi; Pietro Giovanni conte di Sorgo; Marino Nicollo conte di Sorgo, Sebastiano di Gradi; Matteo Niccolo di Pozza; Segismondo di Ghetaldi; Niccolo Luigi conte di Pozza; Wladislao Paolo conte di Gozze, Marino di Bona; Marco Niccolo conte di Pozza; Giovanni conti di Gozze, Francesco conte di Zamagna; Matteo Niccolo conte di Sorgo; Carlo conte di Natali, Orsato conte di Cerva, Matteo Conte di Cerva, , Niccolo conte di Giorgi; Segismondo conte di Sorgo; Biagio M. Di Caboga; Conte Giovani di Menze; Niccolo Matteo di Sorgo; B.D di Ghetaldi; Gio Biagio, conte di Caboga; Marino Matteo di Pozza, conte di Sagorio, Luca Antonio conte di Sorgo; conte di Giorgi Bona; Giovanni conte di Sorgo; Giovanni conte di Natali, Antonio Luca conte di Sorgo, Rafaelle Giovanni conte di Gozze; Natale Paolo conte di Saraca; natale Conte di Ghetaldi.
The Republican Constitution of Ragusa was strictly aristocratic. The population was divided into three classes: nobility, citizens, and artisans or plebeians. All effective power was concentrated in the hands of aristocracy. The citizens were permitted to hold only minor offices, while plebeians had no voice in government. Marriage between members of different classes of the society was forbidden.
The organization of the government was based on the Venetian model: the administrative bodies were the ''Grand Council'' (supreme governing body) and the ''Small Council'' (executive power) (from 1238) and the Senate (from 1253). The head of the state was the Duke, elected for a term of office for one month.
Grand Council (Consilium Maior) consisted of exclusively members of the aristocracy; every noble took his seat at the age of 18. Every year, 11 members of the Small Council (Consilium minus) were elected. Together with a duke, the Small Council had both executive and representative functions. The main power was in the hands of the Senate (Consilium rogatorum) which had 45 members elected for one year. This organization prevented any single family, unlike the Medici in Florence, from prevailing. Nevertheless the historians agree that the Sorgo family was all the time among the most influential
''Small Council'' (Consilium Minor) consisted first of 11 members and after 1667 of 7. The Small Council was elected by the Rector. The Senate was added in 1235 as a consultative body. It consisted of 45 invited members (over 40 years of age). While the Republic was under the rule of Venice the Rector was Venetian, but after 1358 the Rector was always a person from the Republic or Ragusa. The length of the Rector's service was only one month and a person was eligible for reelection after two years. The rector lived and worked in Rector's Palace but his family remained living in their own house. The government of the Republic was liberal in character and early showed its concern for justice and humanitarian principles, e.g. slave trading was abolished since 1418.
The government of the Republic was liberal in character and early showed its concern for justice and humanitarian principles. The Republic's flag had the word ''Libertas'' (freedom) on it, and the entrance to the Saint Lorenz fortress (Lovrijenac) just outside the Ragusa city walls bears the inscription ''"Non bene pro toto libertas venditur auro'', meaning "liberty is not for sale for any amount of gold." The Republic imposed some restrictions on the slave trade in 1416. However, the Republic was a staunch opponent of the Eastern Orthodox Church and only Roman Catholics could acquire Ragusan citizenship.
The city was ruled by aristocracy, and marriage between members of three different social classes was strictly forbidden. The nominal head of state was the Duke, or during Venetian suzerainty the rector (''rettore''). Real power, however, was in the hands of three councils that were held by the nobility.
The Ragusan Archives document, ''"Speculum Maioris Consilii Rectores"'', lists all the persons that were involved in the Republic's government between September 1440 to June 1860. There were 4397 rectors elected; 2764 (63%) were from "old patrician" families: Gucić/Gozze, Bunić/Bona, Kabužić/Caboga, Crijević/Cerva, Gundulić/Gondola, Getaldić/Ghetaldi, Đorđić/Georgi, Gradić/Gradi, Pucić/Pozza, Saraka/Saraca, Sorkočrvić/Sorgo, and Zamanjić (Džamanjić)/Zamagna.
★ in 17th century, 50% of the dukes and senators were from the following families: Bunić/Bona, Gundulić/Gondola, Gucić/Goze, Menčetić/Menze, Sorkočević/Sorgo.
★ in 18th century, 56% of senators were from these families: Sorkočević/Sorgo, Gucić/Goze, Zamanjić (Džamanjić)/Zamagna, Kabužić/Caboga, Đorđić/Georgi.
★ in the last eight years of the Republic, 50% of dukes were from the Sorkočević/Sorgo, Gucić/Goze, Gradić/Gradi, Bunić/Bona, or Ranjina/Ragnina families.
A big problem of Ragusan noble families was also that because of the decrease of their numbers and lack of noble families in the neighborhood (the surroundings of Dubrovnik was under Turkish control) they were becoming more and more closely related, the marriages between relatives of the 3rd and 4th degree were frequent.
An 1802 list of Dubrovnik Republic's governing bodies showed that 6 of the 8 Small Council and 15 of the 20 Great Council members were from the same 11 families.
The Ragusan aristocracy[11] evolved in the 12th century through the 14th century. It was finally established by statute in 1332. New families were accepted only after the earthquake in 1667. In the Republic of Ragusa all political power was owned by noble males older than 18 years. They were formed the Great Council (Consilium majus) which had the legislative function. Every year, 11 members of the Small Council (Consilium minus) were elected. Together with the duke (who was elected for a period of one
month) it had both executive and representative functions. The main power was in the hands of the Senat (Consilium rogatorum) which had 45 members elected for one year. This organization prevented any single family, unlike the Medici in Florence, from prevailing. Nevertheless the historians agree that the Sorgo family was all the time among the most influential.
Original patriciate:
★ House of Basilio
★ House of Bobavljević/Bobali
★ House of Bunić/Bona
★ House of Bondić/Bonda
★ House of Kabužić/Caboga
★ House of Crijević/Cerva
★ House of Đorđić/Georgi
★ House of Getaldić/Ghetaldi
★ House of Gundulić/Gondola
★ House of Gučetić/Gozze
★ House of Gradić/Gradi
★ House of Menčetić/Menze
★ House of Lukarić/Lucari
★ House of Pucić/Pozza
★ House of Saraka/Saraca
★ House of Tudisi
★ House of Sorkočević/Sorgo
★ House of Zamanjić (Džamanjić)/Zamagna
Families that joined the patriciate after the earthquake of 1667:
★ House of Bosdari
★ House of Bučić/Bucchia
★ House of Natali
★ House of Pauli
★ House of Ranjina/Ragnina
★ House of Resti
★ House of Zlatarić/Slatarich
It is peculiar that the nobility survived even when the classes were divided by internal disputes. When Marmont arrived in Dubrovnik in 1808, the nobility was divided into two blocks, the “Salamanquinos” and the “Sorboneses”. These names alluded to certain controversy arisen from the wars between Charles V of Spain and Franz I of France, which happened some 250 years back. It was in the 1667 earthquake that a great part of the nobles were annihilated, it was necessary for him to retain the control and so he did with the inclusion of certain plebians into noble class. To these the "salamanquinos", those in favor of Spanish absolutism, did not treat like equals; but the inclined "sorboneses", sided with the French and to a certain liberalism accepted them without reserves. Another factor that could have taken part in this conduct is that the "sorboneses" had been very decreased by the great earthquake and they did not want to lose their wealth and status. In any case, both sides retained their status and they seated together in the Council, but they did not maintain social relations and were not even greeteing each other in the streets; an inconvenient marriage between members of both groups was of so serious consequences as if it occurred between members of different classes. This social split was also reflected in the inferior layers: “The plebians, as well, were divided in the brotherhoods of Saint Antony and Saint Lazarus, who were so unfriendly in their relations as "salamnaquinos" and "sorboneses". But the nobility was always the essence of the Republic that always had to be defended from the neighboring empires -- “first Hungary, soon Venice, later Turkey”-- and that was structured for a reduced number of people, around the 33 original noble families from 15th century.
★ House of Bošković (Boscovich)
Dealing with the Ragusa's history it is important to point out the difference between the official languages (used for written text) and the vernacular languages (used by the common people, in the every day life). In fact the problem of the 'real' language of Ragusa is often debated because of its political issues.
The official language until 1472 was Latin. Later, the Senate of the Republic decided that the official language of the Republic would be the Ragusan dialect of the romance Dalmatian language, and forbade the use of the Slavic language in Senatorial debate. There are several rather famous instances, though, in which, during discussion, the senators debated in Dalmatian and cursed and argued in Slavic. The gospari (the aristocracy) held on to their language for many a century, while it slowly disappeared around them.
The Ragusan literature in which Latin, Italian and Croatian languages coexisted blossomed in the 15th and 16th century.[12]
The Slavic works, written in the local Shtokavian dialect, are known as a part of the ''Illyric literature'' (the South Slavic vernacular literature, written before the development of the Croatian standard language). The Ragusan ''Illyric literature'' had a large role in the later development and standardization of the Croatian language as well as the modern Croatian literature.
The Ragusan works were written by the same people or writing circles, which wrote indifferently in Italian and Slavic (Croatian). As a consequence the choice of a specific language can not be presented as a sign of 'national identification' (Italian or Croatian), as often claimed.
Discussions about Ragusa often use the words "Croatian" or "Italian" to describe the old Ragusans. These discussions are mainly meaningless, because are based on concepts developed after the fall of the Republic, in the time of romantic nationalism, as a result of the French Revolution. Before this time, the different states were not based on the concepts of 'nation', 'language' or ethnicity.
The attribution of a definite ethnicity is impossible: after the Middle Ages the Republic had always a mixed population, Latin and Slavic.
★ Franco Sacchetti (c.1335–1400) - poet and novelist
★ Benedetto Cotrugli (Benedikt Kotruljević) (1416 - 1469) - merchant, humanist, scientist and diplomat
★ Džore Držić (Giorgio Darsa) (1461-1501) - poet and playwriter
★ Bonino De' Bonini (Dobrić Dobričević) (1454-1528) - printer, publisher
★ Mavro Vetranović (Mauro Vetrani) (1482/1483-1576) - Benedictine and writer
★ Šiško Menčetić (Sigismondo Menze) (1457-1527) - poet, nobleman
★ Elio Cerva (Ilija Crijević) (c. 1460 - 1520) - orator, lexicograph, poet
★ Savino de Bobali (Savko Bobaljević) (1530-1585) - writer
★ Nikola Nalješković(Nicolaus de Nale) (1505-1587) - poet, playwriter and scientist
★ Marin Držić (Marino Darsa) (1508-1567) - playwriter, poet
★ Cvijeta Zuzorić (Fiore Zuzori) (1555-c.1600) - poetess
★ Marin Getaldić (Marino Ghetaldi) (1568-1626), scientist, mathematician and physicist
★ Ivan Bunić Vučić (Giovanni Serafino Bona) (1591-1658) - politician and poet
★ Dominko (Dinko) Zlatarić (Domenico Slatarich) (1558-1613) - poet and translator
★ Maria Gondola Gozze (Marija Gundulić Gučetić), poetess
★ Nicolò Vito di Gozze (Nikola Vitov Gučetić) (1549-1610) - statesman, philosopher, scientist
★ Ivan Gundulić (Giovanni Gondola) (1589-1638) - writer, poet, nobleman, statesman
★ Dinko Ranjina (Domenico Ragnina) (1536–1607) - poet
★ Trojan Gundulić - merchant, printer
★ Mavro Orbini (Mauro Orbini) (mid-16th century -1614) - writer, ideologist and historian
★ Luciano Ghetaldi - writer
★ Natale Tudisi - writer
★ Marino Costa - writer
★ Niccolò Primi - writer
★ Luca Sorgo - writer
★ Giulia Bona - poetess
★ Michele Monadi - writer
★ Vladislav Menčetić (1600/1617- 1666) - poet
★ Giorgio Baglivi (Gjuro Baglivi) (1668-1707) - physician and researcher
★ Junije Palmotić (Giustino Palmotta) (1607-1657) - writer, nobleman and dramatist
★ Giovanni di Sigismondo Gondola (Ivan Šiškov Gundulić) (1677-1721),nobleman, poet
★ Segismondo Gondola (Šišmundo [Šiško] Gundulić) (1634-1682), politician (Rector) poet, nobleman
★ Bernardo Ghetaldi (Bernard Getaldic], clergyman, historian
★ Stjepan Gradić (Stefano Gradi) (1613-1683) - philosopher and scientist
★ Ignjat Đurđević (Ignazio Giorgi) (1675-1737) - poet and translator
★ Francesco Gondola (Frano Dživo Gundulić) (1630-1700) - nobleman, soldier, Austrian marshal
★ Serafino Cerva (Serafin Crijević) (1696-1759) - historian and encyclopedist
★ Bernhard Caboga (1785-1855) - nobleman and soldier (Austrian marshal)
★ Raimondo Cunich (1719-1794) - writer and humanist
★ Sebastiano Dolci (Sebastijan Slade) (1699-1777) - writer and Franciscan
★ Roger Joseph Boscovich (Ruggero Giuseppe Boscovich; Ruđer Josip Bošković) (1711-1787) - physicist, astronomer, mathematician, philosopher, diplomat, poet and Jesuit
★ Marco Faustino Gagliuffi (1765-1834), Latinist, Italian patriot. [2]
★ Giorgio Ferrich (Djuro Ferić) (1739-1820) Jesuit, general-bicar
★ Segismondo Ghetaldi-Gondola (Šiško Getaldić-Gundulić) (1795-1860) - politician, nobleman
★ Biagio Ghetaldi (Vlaho Getaldić) (1788-1872) - nobleman, politician, poet
★ Luca Stulli (1772-1828) scientist and physicians
★ Antun Kaznačić(Antonio Casnacich) (1784-1874)writer
★ Marc Bruère Desrivaux (Marko Bruerović) (1770-1823) - writer, diplomat, dramatist and nobleman
★ Hieronimus Liubibratich de Trebinia (Jeronim Bratoljubić) (1716-1779) - nobleman, soldier (Austrian marshal)
★ Giovanni Mane Giornovichi (Ivan Mane Jarnović) (1740-1804) - composer
★ Bernardo Zamagna (1735-1820) - theologist,predicator, Jesuit and Dominican (also known as Brno Džamanjić)
★ Giunio Resti (1755-1814) - politician, writer, nobleman
★ Elena Pucić-Sorkočević (Elena Pozza-Sorgo) (1786-1865) - composer
★ Giovanni Francesco Sorgo (1706-1771) - writer, poet
★ Pietro Ignazio Sorgo (Peter Ignaz Sorgo) (1749-1826) - nobleman, writer, poet
★ Antun Sorkočević (Antonio Sorgo) (1775-1841) - diplomat, witer, composer
★ Luka Sorkočević (Luca Sorgo) (1734-1789) - diplomat, composer
★ Benedetto Stay (1714-1801) - Jesuit and theologian
★ Joakim Stulli (Joakim Stulić) (1730-1817) - lexicographer and linguist
★ Benedetto Rogacci (Benedikt Rogačić) (1646-1719) - Jesuit and poet
★ Bernardin Pavlović - Franciscan, writer
★ Antonio Aglich (-1830)
★ Mato Vodopić (1816-1893) - bishop
★ Federico Seismit-Doda (1825-1893), Italian politician
★ Luigi Seismit-Doda (1817-1890), soldier, Italian marshall.
★ Francesco Ghetaldi-Gondola (Baron Frano Gondola) (1833-1899) - soldier, statesman, nobleman, Knight of Malta
★ Medo Pucić (Orsato Pozza) (1821-1882) - writer, politician and nobleman
★ Niko Pucić (Nicola Pozza) (1820-1883) - politician and nobleman
★ Ivan August Kaznačić(Giovanni Agostino Casnacich) (1817-1883)writer, artist.
★ Pero Budmani (1835-1914) - linguist
★ Vlaho Bukovac (Biagio Faggioni) (1855-1922) - painter.
★ Ivo Vojnović(Conte Iván de Vojnovich) (1857-1929) - writer,nobleman
★ Frano Supilo (1870-1917) - politician and journalist
★ Blagoje Bersa (Benito Bersa)(1873-1934), musician
★ Ottavio Missoni, (1921) fashion designer
★ Domenico Stoich (-1853)
★ Giorgio Sagrivi
★ Dubrovnik
★ Septinsular Republic
1. David Rheubottom (2000). ''Age, Marriage, and Politics in Fifteenth-Century Ragusa'', Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-823412-0
2. Croatia. (2006) In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved August 23, 2006, from Encyclopedia Britannica Premium Service: [1]
3. H.T. Norris (1994). ''Islam in the Balkans'', C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, ISBN 1-85065-167-1
4. Frederic Chapin Lane (1973). ''Venice, a Maritime Republic'', Johns Hopkins University Press, ISBN 0-8018-1460-X
5. OLE J Benedictow (1973). ''The Black Death, 1346-1353'', Boydell & Brewer, ISBN 0-85115-943-5
6. Kenneth Meyer Setton (1978). ''The Papacy and the Levant, 1204-1571 Vol. 2'', DIANE Publishing, ISBN 0-87169-127-2
7. Theoharis Stavrides (2001). ''The Sultan of Vezirs'', Brill Academic Publishers, ISBN 90-04-12106-4
8. Barbara Jelavich (1983). ''History of the Balkans'', Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-27458-3
9. Halil Inalcik, ''An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire'', Vol. 1, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-57455-2
10. Frederic Chapin Lane (1973). ''Venice, a Maritime Republic'', Johns Hopkins University Press, ISBN 0-8018-1460-X
11. http://vlado.fmf.uni-lj.si/pub/preprint/Joc00.pdf
12. Heinrich F. Plett (1993). ''Renaissance Rhetoric/Renaissance-Rhetorik'', Walter de Gruyter, ISBN 3-11-013567-1
★ Historical facts about Dubrovnik, from Dubrovnik Online
★ Flags of Ragusa
★ Storia e monetazione di Ragusa, oggi Dubrovnik (Dalmazia)
★ [3] Dalmatia and Montenegro, John Gardner Wilkinson
★ [4]Aus Dalmatien, Ida Reinsberg-Düringsfeld 1857
★ [5]Universal Geography: Republic of Ragusa
★ [6]Bibliografia della Dalmazia e del Montenegro Giuseppe Valentinelli
★ [7]Bibliografia hrvatska Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski
★ [8]Geschichte des Freystaates Ragusa Johann Christian von Engel
★ [9]The Ethnology of Europe: Robert Gordon Latham
★ [10]Austria in 1848-49:Dalmatia; William Henry Stiles
★ Ragusa, the American Revolution, and Diplomatic Relations, 1763-1783
★ Francesico Favi, the Treaty of Paris of 1783, and Ragusan Commercial Trade with the United States
:''For the city in Italy, see Ragusa, Italy.''
The 'Republic of Ragusa' (or 'Republic of Dubrovnik') was a maritime republic centred on the city of Ragusa (Dubrovnik, today in southernmost Croatia), in Dalmatia, from the 14th century AD until 1808.
It reached its peak in the 15th and 16th century before being conquered by Napoleon Bonaparte's French Empire in 1808. It had a population of about 30,000 people, of which 5,000 lived within the city walls.[1]
Names
Originally named ''Communitas Ragusina'' (Latin for "Ragusan municipality" or "community"), in the 14th century was renamed ''Respublica Ragusina'' (Latin for "Ragusa Republic"). In Croatian it's called ''Dubrovačka Republika''. It is also known in English by that name; the latter name was rarely used in older English sources (because the city was internationally at that time known as Ragusa).
Territory
The Republic ruled a compact area of southern Dalmatia - its final borders were formed by 1426Peter F. Sugar (1983). ''Southeastern Europe Under Under Ottoman Rule, 1354-1804'', University of Washington Press, ISBN 0-295-96033-7. - comprising the mainland coast from Neum to the Prevlaka (Capo d'Ostro) peninsula as well as the Pelješac (Sabbioncello) peninsula and the islands of Lastovo (Lagosta) and Mljet (Meleda), as well as a number of smaller islands off Lastovo and Ragusa (Dubrovnik) such as Koločep (Calmotta), Lopud (Isola di Mezzo), and Šipan (Sipano).
History
:''See also Dubrovnik.''
Origins
The city was established in 7th centuryAndrew Archibald Paton (1861). ''Researches on the Danube and the Adriatic; Or Contributions to the Modern History of Hungary and Translvania, Dalmatia and Croatia, Servia and Bulgaria'', Brockhaus (circa 614) after Avar and Slav raiders destroyed the Roman city of Epidaurum (in Croatian: ''Cavtat''). Some of the survivors moved 25 kilometers north to the small island near the coast where they founded a new settlement, Lausa. It has been claimed that a second raid by Croats in 656, resulted in the total destruction of Epidaurum.
The new location offered more protection, but the native Roman population quickly established trade with the Slavic hinterland. According to another theory Epidaurum was destroyed a first time in 265AD by the Goths and probably "Rausium (or Ragusa) was founded long before Epidaurus was finally destroyed, and that the various irruptions of barbarians, in the third and succeeding centuries, had led to the original establishment of this place of refuge".John Gardner Wilkinson (1848). ''Dalmatia and Montenegro'', J. Murray
Ragusa derives its name from Lausa (from the Greek xau, "precipice"); it was later altered in 'Rausium' (Appendini says that till after 1.100 A.D, the sea passed over the site of modern Ragusa. If so, it could only have been over a small part of it) or Rausia (even Lavusa, Labusa, Raugia and Rachusa) and finally into Ragusa. The Croat name "Dubrovnik" is derived from the Croatian word ''dubrava'', "an oak wood";, by a strange perversion, the Turks have corrupted into Dobro-Venedik, Good-Venice. it came into use beside "Ragusa" as early as the 14th century.[2]
Merging of two settlements
Epidaurum refugees built their new settlement on the small island (some sources say peninsula) Lausa off shore while other populations (primarily Croats) settled along the coast, directly across the narrow channel, and named their settlement Dubrovnik. Initially the populations were skeptical of each other. Over time they grew closer and finally in 12th century the two settlements merged. The channel that divided the city was filled creating the famous Stradun, the main street which became the city center.
Early centuries
The Saracens laid siege to Ragusa in from 866 and 867 which lasted for fifteen months and was raised after the intervention of the Byzantine Emperor, Basil the Macedonian, with his fleet.[3] With the weakening of Byzantium, Venice began to see Ragusa as a rival which needed to be brought under her control, but the attempt to conquer the city in 948 failed. The citizens of the city attributed this to Saint Blaise (in Croatian: Sveti Vlaho) whom they adopted as the patron saint.A Short History of the Yugoslav Peoples (1985). ''A Short History of the Yugoslav Peoples'', Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-27485-0 In 1050, the city acquired the harbor of Gruž and extended its boundaries to Zaton, 16km north of the original city by the grant of Stephen who claimed the title of ruler of Bosnia and Dalmatia.
In 1191, the city's merchants were granted the right to trade freely in Byzantium by Emperor Isaac II Angelos. Similar privileges were obtained several years earlier from Serbia (1186) and from Bosnia (1189). The treaty with Bosnian Ban Kulin is also the first official document where the city is referred to as Dubrovnik.
The period of Venetian suzerainty (1205 - 1358)
When in 1205 the Republic of Venice invaded Dalmatia with the forces of the Fourth Crusade, Ragusa was forced to pay a tribute and became a source of supplies for Venice (hides, wax, silver and other metals). Venice used the city as its naval base in the southern Adriatic Sea. Unlike with Zadar, there was not much friction between Ragusa and Venice as the city had not yet begun to compete with Venice as an alternate carrier in the trade between East and West, also the city did remain largely independent. The people, however, did resent the ever growing tribute and the almost epic hatred between Ragusa and Venice began to grow.[4]
In the middle of the thirteenth century the island of Lastovo was added to the original territory. In 1333, Pelješac Peninsula was purchased from Serbia. In 1345, the island Mljet was acquired. In January 1348, the outbreak of the Black Death was recognized in the city.[5]
Independence from Venice (1358)
In 1358, the city accepted the mild hegemony of King Louis I of Hungary after Venice was forced by the Treaty of Zadar to yield all claim to Dalmatia. On June 27 1358, the final agreement was reached at Visegrád between Louis and the Archbishop Giovanni Saraca. The city recognized Hungarian sovereignty, but the local nobility continued to rule with little interference from Buda. The Republic profited from the suzerainty of Louis of Hungary, whose kingdom was not a naval power, and with whom they would have little conflict of interest.[6]
In 1399 the city acquired the area between Ragusa and Pelješac, called the Primorje. Moreover, between 1419 and 1426, the Konavle region south of Astarea, including the city of Cavtat, were added to the territories in the possession of the city.
Ottoman suzerainty
The Rector's Palace and behind it the Sponza Palace
In 1458, the Republic signed a treaty with the Ottoman Empire which made it a tributary of the Sultan. Moreover, it was obliged to send an ambassador to the Sultan by the 1st of November of each year in order to deliver the tribute.[7]
When in 1481 the city passed under Ottoman protection, it was to pay a tribute of 12,500 ducats. For all other purposes, however, Ragusa was virtually independent. It could enter into relations with foreign powers and make treaties with them, and its ships sailed under its own flag. Ottoman vassalage also conferred special rights in trade that extended within the Empire. Ragusa also handled the Adriatic trade on behalf of the Ottoman Empire, and its traders received special tax exemptions and trading benefits from the Porte. It also operated colonies that enjoyed extraterritorial rights in major Ottoman cities.[8]
Merchants from Ragusa could also enter the Black Sea which was otherwise closed to non-Ottoman shipping. They also paid less in customs duties than other foreign merchants. The city-state also enjoyed diplomatic support from the Ottoman administration in trade disputes with the Venetians.Suraiya Faroqhi, Bruce McGowan, Donald Quataert, Sevket Pamuk (1997). ''An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire'', Vol. 2, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-57455-2
For their part, Ottomans regarded Ragusa as a port of major importance. After all, most of the traffic between Florence and Bursa (an Ottoman port in northwestern Anatolia) was carried out via Ragusa. Florentine cargoes would leave the Italian ports of Pesaro, Fano or Ancona to reach Ragusa. From that point on they would take the land route Bosnasaray (Sarajevo)-Novibazar-Skopje-Plovdiv-Edirne.[9]
When in the late sixteenth-century Ragusa placed its merchant marine at the disposal of the Spanish Empire, on condition that its participation in the Spanish military ventures would not affect the interest of the Ottoman Empire, the latter tolerated the situation as the trade of Ragusa permitted the importation of goods from states with which the Ottoman Empire was at war.
Along with England, Spain and Genoa, Ragusa was one of the Republic of Venice's most damaging competitors in the 15th century on all seas, even in the Adriatic. Thanks to its proximity to the inexhaustible oak forests of Gargano, it was able to bid cargoes away from the Venetians.[10]
Ragusan Soldier
Decline of the Republic
With the great Portuguese explorations which opened up new ocean routes, the spice trade no longer went through the Mediterranean sea. Moreover, the discovery of America started a crisis of Mediterranean shipping. That was the beginning of the decline of both the Venetian and Ragusan Republic.
Charles VIII of France granted trading rights to the Ragusans in 1497. These rights were also granted by Louis XII in 1502. In the first decade of the 16th century, Ragusan consuls were in France with French consuls being in Ragusa. Prominent Ragusans were in France during this period and include such dignitaries as Simon Bonesa, Lovro Gigants, D. Bonda-Bondić, Ivan Cvletković, Captain John Florio, Petar Luccari-Lukarić, Seraphin Gozze-Gucetić, Luka Sorgo-Sorkočević. The Ragusan aristocracy was also well represented at the Sorbonne University in Paris at this time. Croatian Regiments were in French service in the 1600s and were called by Louis XIII's to be the Royal-Cravates. Because these soldiers wore a colorful scarf around their neck to distinguish themselves, this neck wear became known as cravats or ties.
Image of Ragusa, printed in the early years of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Old map of Ragusan Republic
On 6 April 1667, an earthquake struck, and killed over 5,000 citizens, including the Duke Simone Ghetaldi, and leveled most of the public buildings, leaving only the outer walls intact. Buildings in the Gothic and Renaissance styles - palaces, churches and monasteries - were in ruins, only the Sponza Palace and the front of the Rector's Palace at Luza Square survived. Gradually, the city was rebuilt in the more modest Baroque style. With great effort Ragusa recovered a bit, but still remained a shadow of the former Republic.
The fate of Ragusa was linked to that of the Ottoman Empire. Ragusa and Venice lent technical assistance to the Ottoman-Egyptian-Calicut-Gujarati alliance that was defeated by the Portuguese in the battle of Diu in the Indian Ocean (1509).
In 1684, the emissaries renewed an agreement contracted in Visegrad in the year 1358 and accepted the sovereignty of the Austrian Emperor over Ragusa as a Croatian-Hungarian King, with an annual tax of 500 ducats. At the same time Ragusa continued to recognize the sovereignty of Turkey; which was nothing unusual in those days. After this even greater opportunities opened up for Ragusa ships in ports all along the Dalmatian coast, in which they anchored frequently.
In 1683 the Turks were defeated in the Battle of Kahlenberg outside Vienna. The Field marshal of the Austrian army was Francesco Gondola (Frano Dzivo Gundulic). In the Treaty of Karlowitz of 1699, the Ottomans ceded all of Hungary, Transylvania, Slavonia, Dalmatia and Podolia to the victorious Habsburgs, Venetians, and Poles.
The Ottoman Empire was no longer a threat to Christian Europe. After this, Venice captured a part of Ragusa's inland area and approached its borders. They presented the threat of completely surrounding and cutting off Ragusa's trade inland. In view of this danger, expecting the defeat of the Turks by Vienna in 1684 and hoping that the Austrian Army would capture Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dubrovnik sent emissaries to the Austrian Emperor, Leopold, in Vienna.
With a 26 January 1699 peace agreement, the Republic of Ragusa ceded two patches of its coast to the Ottoman Empire so that the Republic of Venice would be unable to attack from land, only from the sea. One of them, the northwestern land border with the small town of Neum, is today the only outlet of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Adriatic Sea. The southeastern border village of Sutorina later became part of Montenegro, which has coastline to the south.Ragusa continued its policy of strict neutrality in the War of Austrian succession (1741-1748) and in the Seven Years' War (1756-1763).
In 1783 the Ragusan Government did not answer the proposition put forward by their diplomatic representative in Paris, Frano Favi, that they establish diplomatic relations with the USA, although the Americans agreed to allow Dubrovnik ships free passage in their ports.
Ragusan Ducats
End of the Republic
Around 1800, the Republic had a highly organized network of consulates and consular offices in more than eighty cities and ports around the world. In 1806, the Republic surrendered to forces of the French Empire to end a months-long siege by the Russian-Montenegrin fleets (during which 3,000 cannonballs fell on the city). The French lifted the siege and saved Dubrovnik. The French army, led by Napoleon, entered Dubrovnik in 1806. In 1808, Marshal Marmont abolished the Republic of Dubrovnik and amalgamated its territory into the French Illyrian Provinces, himself becoming the Rector of Dubrovnik. Later, in the 1814 Battle of Paris, Marmont abandoned Napoleon and was named a traitor. The word ''"ragusade"'' was coined in French to signify treason and ''"raguser"'' meant a cheat.
The Dubrovnikan nobility were disunited in their ideas and political behavior. Article 44 of the 1811 Decree abolished the centuries-old institution of ''fideicommissum'' in inheritance law, by which the French enabled younger noblemen to participate in that part of the family inheritance, which the former law had deprived them of. The annulment of ''fideicommissum'' struck at the Antonnio Degl’Ivellio. According to a 1813 inventory of the Dubrovnik district, 451 land proprietors were registered, including ecclesiastical institutions and the commune.
Although there is no evidence of the size of the estates, the nobles, undoubtedly, were in possession of most of the land. Eleven members of the Sorkočević family, 8 of Gučetić, 6 of Getaldić, 6 of Pucić, 4 of Zamanjić (Džamanjić), and 3 members of the Saraka family were among the greatest landowners. Dubrovnikan citizens belonging to the confraternities St. Anthony and St. Lazarus owned considerable land outside the City. Dubrovnik under French Ruleties dreaded any conflict between the rebels and the Austrians, who were expected to arrive at any moment. Thus, due to their incapacity to act together,the Dubrovnikans missed the last chance of liberating the City themselves. Regardless of the events taking place in the City, Todor Milutinović and Montrichard settled the French surrender of the City under honorable terms. Their aim being to avoid greater conflicts, the Austrians agreed to the French conditions. General Todor Milutinović promised that the victorious army would not marchinto the city before the last Frenchman was evacuated from the City by ship. On 27 January, the French capitulation was signed in Gruž and ratified the same day. It was then that Biagio Phillips de Caboga openly sided with the Austrians, dismissing the rebel army in Konavle. Meanwhile, Giovanni de Natali and his men were still waiting outside the Ploče Gates. After almost eight years of occupation, the French troops marched out of Dubrovnik on 27 and 28 January 1814. On the afternoon of 28 January 1814, the Austrian and English troops made their way into the city through the Pile Gates, denying admission to the Dubrovnik rebels. Intoxicated by success,and with Biagio Phillip de Caboga’s support, Milutinović ignored the Gruž agreement he had made with the nobility in Gruž. The events which followed can be best epitomized in the so-called flag episode. The Flag of Saint Blaise were posted alongside the Austrian and British colors, but only for two days, because on 30 January, General Milutinović ordered Mayor Giorgi to lower it. Overwhelmed by a feeling of deep patriotic pride, Giorgi, the last rector of the Republic and a loyal Francophile, refused to do so “jer da ga je pripeo puk” (”for the masses had posted it”). The oncoming events proved that Austria took every possible chance of invading the entire coast of the eastern Adriatic, from Venice to Kotor. The allies did everything in their power to eliminate the Dubrovnik issue at the Vienna Congress of 1815. The Dubrovnikan representative, Miho Bona, was denied participation in the Congress, while Milutinović, prior to the final agreement of the allies, assumed complete control of the city. In his book "Pad Dubrovnika" ("The Fall of Dubrovnik", 1908), Lujo Vojnović makes every effort to justify the popular actions and prove the solidarity of all social groups in achieving their common goal to restore the Republic. The records, however, seem to indicate a different situation. There was in fact lit-tle understanding between the nobility, the bourgeoisie, and the peasantry, and slim chances of these groups of having any common basis for further activities. The three groups had different reasons to be dissatisfied with the French government, and the moment when they rejoiced together over their victory was not strong enough to unite all the segments of Dubrovnik society in a struggle to restore the Republic. After Dubrovnik suffered a political breakdown, was brought to the verge of economic ruin, and was foresakenby the international community, the City and its territories were handed over to the Habsburg Monarchy in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna In 1814, led by general Todor Milutinović, the Austrian army marched into Dubrovnik. With them came the British army and the local insurgents against the French occupation. At the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Dubrovnik was made a part of the crown land of the Kingdom of Dalmatia, ruled by Austria-Hungary, which it remained a part of until 1918.
In 1815, nobles of the former Dubrovnikan Government met for the last time with efforts to reestablish the Republic of Dubrovnika in vain. After the fall of the Republic most of the aristocracy died out or emigrated overseas, just about one fifth of the noble families were recognized by the Austrian empire. Some of the families that were recognized and survived were Getaldić-Gundulić, Gucić, Kabužić, Sorkočević, Zlatarić, Zamanjić (Džamanjić)/Zamagna, and Pucić.
The greater Council met for the last time the 29 of August of 1814 and the senators were the following ones, with their names written in Italian rendering:
Location of the Republic of Dubrovnika compared to the boundaries of present day Croatia.
Orsato Savino, conte di Ragnina; Niccolo Matteo di Gradi; Niccolo Niccolo di Pozza, Clemente, conte di Menze, Marino Domenico, conte di Zlatarich, Wladislao, conte di Sorgo; M. Conte di Cerva, Niccolo conte di Saracca; Pietro Ignazio di Sorgo-Cerva; Paolo Wladislao, conte di Gozze; Nicollo Gio, conte di Sorgo, Matteo Nicollo di Ghetaldi; Savino conte di Giorgi; Pietro Giovanni conte di Sorgo; Marino Nicollo conte di Sorgo, Sebastiano di Gradi; Matteo Niccolo di Pozza; Segismondo di Ghetaldi; Niccolo Luigi conte di Pozza; Wladislao Paolo conte di Gozze, Marino di Bona; Marco Niccolo conte di Pozza; Giovanni conti di Gozze, Francesco conte di Zamagna; Matteo Niccolo conte di Sorgo; Carlo conte di Natali, Orsato conte di Cerva, Matteo Conte di Cerva, , Niccolo conte di Giorgi; Segismondo conte di Sorgo; Biagio M. Di Caboga; Conte Giovani di Menze; Niccolo Matteo di Sorgo; B.D di Ghetaldi; Gio Biagio, conte di Caboga; Marino Matteo di Pozza, conte di Sagorio, Luca Antonio conte di Sorgo; conte di Giorgi Bona; Giovanni conte di Sorgo; Giovanni conte di Natali, Antonio Luca conte di Sorgo, Rafaelle Giovanni conte di Gozze; Natale Paolo conte di Saraca; natale Conte di Ghetaldi.
Government of the Republic of Ragusa
Coat of Arms of Ragusa during the rule of the Austrian Empire
The Republican Constitution of Ragusa was strictly aristocratic. The population was divided into three classes: nobility, citizens, and artisans or plebeians. All effective power was concentrated in the hands of aristocracy. The citizens were permitted to hold only minor offices, while plebeians had no voice in government. Marriage between members of different classes of the society was forbidden.
The organization of the government was based on the Venetian model: the administrative bodies were the ''Grand Council'' (supreme governing body) and the ''Small Council'' (executive power) (from 1238) and the Senate (from 1253). The head of the state was the Duke, elected for a term of office for one month.
A portrait of the Rector of Ragusa, Count Pucić (Pozza)
Grand Council (Consilium Maior) consisted of exclusively members of the aristocracy; every noble took his seat at the age of 18. Every year, 11 members of the Small Council (Consilium minus) were elected. Together with a duke, the Small Council had both executive and representative functions. The main power was in the hands of the Senate (Consilium rogatorum) which had 45 members elected for one year. This organization prevented any single family, unlike the Medici in Florence, from prevailing. Nevertheless the historians agree that the Sorgo family was all the time among the most influential
''Small Council'' (Consilium Minor) consisted first of 11 members and after 1667 of 7. The Small Council was elected by the Rector. The Senate was added in 1235 as a consultative body. It consisted of 45 invited members (over 40 years of age). While the Republic was under the rule of Venice the Rector was Venetian, but after 1358 the Rector was always a person from the Republic or Ragusa. The length of the Rector's service was only one month and a person was eligible for reelection after two years. The rector lived and worked in Rector's Palace but his family remained living in their own house. The government of the Republic was liberal in character and early showed its concern for justice and humanitarian principles, e.g. slave trading was abolished since 1418.
The government of the Republic was liberal in character and early showed its concern for justice and humanitarian principles. The Republic's flag had the word ''Libertas'' (freedom) on it, and the entrance to the Saint Lorenz fortress (Lovrijenac) just outside the Ragusa city walls bears the inscription ''"Non bene pro toto libertas venditur auro'', meaning "liberty is not for sale for any amount of gold." The Republic imposed some restrictions on the slave trade in 1416. However, the Republic was a staunch opponent of the Eastern Orthodox Church and only Roman Catholics could acquire Ragusan citizenship.
Patrician families
Coat-of-arms of the Ragusan Families
The city was ruled by aristocracy, and marriage between members of three different social classes was strictly forbidden. The nominal head of state was the Duke, or during Venetian suzerainty the rector (''rettore''). Real power, however, was in the hands of three councils that were held by the nobility.
The Ragusan Archives document, ''"Speculum Maioris Consilii Rectores"'', lists all the persons that were involved in the Republic's government between September 1440 to June 1860. There were 4397 rectors elected; 2764 (63%) were from "old patrician" families: Gucić/Gozze, Bunić/Bona, Kabužić/Caboga, Crijević/Cerva, Gundulić/Gondola, Getaldić/Ghetaldi, Đorđić/Georgi, Gradić/Gradi, Pucić/Pozza, Saraka/Saraca, Sorkočrvić/Sorgo, and Zamanjić (Džamanjić)/Zamagna.
★ in 17th century, 50% of the dukes and senators were from the following families: Bunić/Bona, Gundulić/Gondola, Gucić/Goze, Menčetić/Menze, Sorkočević/Sorgo.
★ in 18th century, 56% of senators were from these families: Sorkočević/Sorgo, Gucić/Goze, Zamanjić (Džamanjić)/Zamagna, Kabužić/Caboga, Đorđić/Georgi.
★ in the last eight years of the Republic, 50% of dukes were from the Sorkočević/Sorgo, Gucić/Goze, Gradić/Gradi, Bunić/Bona, or Ranjina/Ragnina families.
A big problem of Ragusan noble families was also that because of the decrease of their numbers and lack of noble families in the neighborhood (the surroundings of Dubrovnik was under Turkish control) they were becoming more and more closely related, the marriages between relatives of the 3rd and 4th degree were frequent.
An 1802 list of Dubrovnik Republic's governing bodies showed that 6 of the 8 Small Council and 15 of the 20 Great Council members were from the same 11 families.
The Ragusan aristocracy[11] evolved in the 12th century through the 14th century. It was finally established by statute in 1332. New families were accepted only after the earthquake in 1667. In the Republic of Ragusa all political power was owned by noble males older than 18 years. They were formed the Great Council (Consilium majus) which had the legislative function. Every year, 11 members of the Small Council (Consilium minus) were elected. Together with the duke (who was elected for a period of one
month) it had both executive and representative functions. The main power was in the hands of the Senat (Consilium rogatorum) which had 45 members elected for one year. This organization prevented any single family, unlike the Medici in Florence, from prevailing. Nevertheless the historians agree that the Sorgo family was all the time among the most influential.
Original patriciate:
★ House of Basilio
★ House of Bobavljević/Bobali
★ House of Bunić/Bona
★ House of Bondić/Bonda
★ House of Kabužić/Caboga
★ House of Crijević/Cerva
★ House of Đorđić/Georgi
★ House of Getaldić/Ghetaldi
★ House of Gundulić/Gondola
★ House of Gučetić/Gozze
★ House of Gradić/Gradi
★ House of Menčetić/Menze
★ House of Lukarić/Lucari
★ House of Pucić/Pozza
★ House of Saraka/Saraca
★ House of Tudisi
★ House of Sorkočević/Sorgo
★ House of Zamanjić (Džamanjić)/Zamagna
Families that joined the patriciate after the earthquake of 1667:
★ House of Bosdari
★ House of Bučić/Bucchia
★ House of Natali
★ House of Pauli
★ House of Ranjina/Ragnina
★ House of Resti
★ House of Zlatarić/Slatarich
Relation between Nobility
Ragusan People
It is peculiar that the nobility survived even when the classes were divided by internal disputes. When Marmont arrived in Dubrovnik in 1808, the nobility was divided into two blocks, the “Salamanquinos” and the “Sorboneses”. These names alluded to certain controversy arisen from the wars between Charles V of Spain and Franz I of France, which happened some 250 years back. It was in the 1667 earthquake that a great part of the nobles were annihilated, it was necessary for him to retain the control and so he did with the inclusion of certain plebians into noble class. To these the "salamanquinos", those in favor of Spanish absolutism, did not treat like equals; but the inclined "sorboneses", sided with the French and to a certain liberalism accepted them without reserves. Another factor that could have taken part in this conduct is that the "sorboneses" had been very decreased by the great earthquake and they did not want to lose their wealth and status. In any case, both sides retained their status and they seated together in the Council, but they did not maintain social relations and were not even greeteing each other in the streets; an inconvenient marriage between members of both groups was of so serious consequences as if it occurred between members of different classes. This social split was also reflected in the inferior layers: “The plebians, as well, were divided in the brotherhoods of Saint Antony and Saint Lazarus, who were so unfriendly in their relations as "salamnaquinos" and "sorboneses". But the nobility was always the essence of the Republic that always had to be defended from the neighboring empires -- “first Hungary, soon Venice, later Turkey”-- and that was structured for a reduced number of people, around the 33 original noble families from 15th century.
Other non patrician families
★ House of Bošković (Boscovich)
Languages of the Ragusans
Dealing with the Ragusa's history it is important to point out the difference between the official languages (used for written text) and the vernacular languages (used by the common people, in the every day life). In fact the problem of the 'real' language of Ragusa is often debated because of its political issues.
Official languages
The official language until 1472 was Latin. Later, the Senate of the Republic decided that the official language of the Republic would be the Ragusan dialect of the romance Dalmatian language, and forbade the use of the Slavic language in Senatorial debate. There are several rather famous instances, though, in which, during discussion, the senators debated in Dalmatian and cursed and argued in Slavic. The gospari (the aristocracy) held on to their language for many a century, while it slowly disappeared around them.
Ragusan literature
The Ragusan literature in which Latin, Italian and Croatian languages coexisted blossomed in the 15th and 16th century.[12]
The Slavic works, written in the local Shtokavian dialect, are known as a part of the ''Illyric literature'' (the South Slavic vernacular literature, written before the development of the Croatian standard language). The Ragusan ''Illyric literature'' had a large role in the later development and standardization of the Croatian language as well as the modern Croatian literature.
The Ragusan works were written by the same people or writing circles, which wrote indifferently in Italian and Slavic (Croatian). As a consequence the choice of a specific language can not be presented as a sign of 'national identification' (Italian or Croatian), as often claimed.
Ethnicity
Women from Herzegovina with a view on Ragusa
Discussions about Ragusa often use the words "Croatian" or "Italian" to describe the old Ragusans. These discussions are mainly meaningless, because are based on concepts developed after the fall of the Republic, in the time of romantic nationalism, as a result of the French Revolution. Before this time, the different states were not based on the concepts of 'nation', 'language' or ethnicity.
The attribution of a definite ethnicity is impossible: after the Middle Ages the Republic had always a mixed population, Latin and Slavic.
Notable Ragusans
14th century
★ Franco Sacchetti (c.1335–1400) - poet and novelist
15th century
★ Benedetto Cotrugli (Benedikt Kotruljević) (1416 - 1469) - merchant, humanist, scientist and diplomat
★ Džore Držić (Giorgio Darsa) (1461-1501) - poet and playwriter
★ Bonino De' Bonini (Dobrić Dobričević) (1454-1528) - printer, publisher
★ Mavro Vetranović (Mauro Vetrani) (1482/1483-1576) - Benedictine and writer
★ Šiško Menčetić (Sigismondo Menze) (1457-1527) - poet, nobleman
★ Elio Cerva (Ilija Crijević) (c. 1460 - 1520) - orator, lexicograph, poet
16th century
★ Savino de Bobali (Savko Bobaljević) (1530-1585) - writer
★ Nikola Nalješković(Nicolaus de Nale) (1505-1587) - poet, playwriter and scientist
★ Marin Držić (Marino Darsa) (1508-1567) - playwriter, poet
★ Cvijeta Zuzorić (Fiore Zuzori) (1555-c.1600) - poetess
★ Marin Getaldić (Marino Ghetaldi) (1568-1626), scientist, mathematician and physicist
★ Ivan Bunić Vučić (Giovanni Serafino Bona) (1591-1658) - politician and poet
★ Dominko (Dinko) Zlatarić (Domenico Slatarich) (1558-1613) - poet and translator
★ Maria Gondola Gozze (Marija Gundulić Gučetić), poetess
★ Nicolò Vito di Gozze (Nikola Vitov Gučetić) (1549-1610) - statesman, philosopher, scientist
★ Ivan Gundulić (Giovanni Gondola) (1589-1638) - writer, poet, nobleman, statesman
★ Dinko Ranjina (Domenico Ragnina) (1536–1607) - poet
★ Trojan Gundulić - merchant, printer
★ Mavro Orbini (Mauro Orbini) (mid-16th century -1614) - writer, ideologist and historian
★ Luciano Ghetaldi - writer
★ Natale Tudisi - writer
★ Marino Costa - writer
★ Niccolò Primi - writer
★ Luca Sorgo - writer
★ Giulia Bona - poetess
★ Michele Monadi - writer
17th century
★ Vladislav Menčetić (1600/1617- 1666) - poet
★ Giorgio Baglivi (Gjuro Baglivi) (1668-1707) - physician and researcher
★ Junije Palmotić (Giustino Palmotta) (1607-1657) - writer, nobleman and dramatist
★ Giovanni di Sigismondo Gondola (Ivan Šiškov Gundulić) (1677-1721),nobleman, poet
★ Segismondo Gondola (Šišmundo [Šiško] Gundulić) (1634-1682), politician (Rector) poet, nobleman
★ Bernardo Ghetaldi (Bernard Getaldic], clergyman, historian
★ Stjepan Gradić (Stefano Gradi) (1613-1683) - philosopher and scientist
★ Ignjat Đurđević (Ignazio Giorgi) (1675-1737) - poet and translator
★ Francesco Gondola (Frano Dživo Gundulić) (1630-1700) - nobleman, soldier, Austrian marshal
★ Serafino Cerva (Serafin Crijević) (1696-1759) - historian and encyclopedist
18th century
★ Bernhard Caboga (1785-1855) - nobleman and soldier (Austrian marshal)
★ Raimondo Cunich (1719-1794) - writer and humanist
★ Sebastiano Dolci (Sebastijan Slade) (1699-1777) - writer and Franciscan
★ Roger Joseph Boscovich (Ruggero Giuseppe Boscovich; Ruđer Josip Bošković) (1711-1787) - physicist, astronomer, mathematician, philosopher, diplomat, poet and Jesuit
★ Marco Faustino Gagliuffi (1765-1834), Latinist, Italian patriot. [2]
★ Giorgio Ferrich (Djuro Ferić) (1739-1820) Jesuit, general-bicar
★ Segismondo Ghetaldi-Gondola (Šiško Getaldić-Gundulić) (1795-1860) - politician, nobleman
★ Biagio Ghetaldi (Vlaho Getaldić) (1788-1872) - nobleman, politician, poet
★ Luca Stulli (1772-1828) scientist and physicians
★ Antun Kaznačić(Antonio Casnacich) (1784-1874)writer
★ Marc Bruère Desrivaux (Marko Bruerović) (1770-1823) - writer, diplomat, dramatist and nobleman
★ Hieronimus Liubibratich de Trebinia (Jeronim Bratoljubić) (1716-1779) - nobleman, soldier (Austrian marshal)
★ Giovanni Mane Giornovichi (Ivan Mane Jarnović) (1740-1804) - composer
★ Bernardo Zamagna (1735-1820) - theologist,predicator, Jesuit and Dominican (also known as Brno Džamanjić)
★ Giunio Resti (1755-1814) - politician, writer, nobleman
★ Elena Pucić-Sorkočević (Elena Pozza-Sorgo) (1786-1865) - composer
★ Giovanni Francesco Sorgo (1706-1771) - writer, poet
★ Pietro Ignazio Sorgo (Peter Ignaz Sorgo) (1749-1826) - nobleman, writer, poet
★ Antun Sorkočević (Antonio Sorgo) (1775-1841) - diplomat, witer, composer
★ Luka Sorkočević (Luca Sorgo) (1734-1789) - diplomat, composer
★ Benedetto Stay (1714-1801) - Jesuit and theologian
★ Joakim Stulli (Joakim Stulić) (1730-1817) - lexicographer and linguist
★ Benedetto Rogacci (Benedikt Rogačić) (1646-1719) - Jesuit and poet
★ Bernardin Pavlović - Franciscan, writer
★ Antonio Aglich (-1830)
After the fall of the Republic
★ Mato Vodopić (1816-1893) - bishop
★ Federico Seismit-Doda (1825-1893), Italian politician
★ Luigi Seismit-Doda (1817-1890), soldier, Italian marshall.
★ Francesco Ghetaldi-Gondola (Baron Frano Gondola) (1833-1899) - soldier, statesman, nobleman, Knight of Malta
★ Medo Pucić (Orsato Pozza) (1821-1882) - writer, politician and nobleman
★ Niko Pucić (Nicola Pozza) (1820-1883) - politician and nobleman
★ Ivan August Kaznačić(Giovanni Agostino Casnacich) (1817-1883)writer, artist.
★ Pero Budmani (1835-1914) - linguist
★ Vlaho Bukovac (Biagio Faggioni) (1855-1922) - painter.
★ Ivo Vojnović(Conte Iván de Vojnovich) (1857-1929) - writer,nobleman
★ Frano Supilo (1870-1917) - politician and journalist
★ Blagoje Bersa (Benito Bersa)(1873-1934), musician
★ Ottavio Missoni, (1921) fashion designer
★ Domenico Stoich (-1853)
★ Giorgio Sagrivi
See also
★ Dubrovnik
★ Septinsular Republic
References
1. David Rheubottom (2000). ''Age, Marriage, and Politics in Fifteenth-Century Ragusa'', Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-823412-0
2. Croatia. (2006) In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved August 23, 2006, from Encyclopedia Britannica Premium Service: [1]
3. H.T. Norris (1994). ''Islam in the Balkans'', C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, ISBN 1-85065-167-1
4. Frederic Chapin Lane (1973). ''Venice, a Maritime Republic'', Johns Hopkins University Press, ISBN 0-8018-1460-X
5. OLE J Benedictow (1973). ''The Black Death, 1346-1353'', Boydell & Brewer, ISBN 0-85115-943-5
6. Kenneth Meyer Setton (1978). ''The Papacy and the Levant, 1204-1571 Vol. 2'', DIANE Publishing, ISBN 0-87169-127-2
7. Theoharis Stavrides (2001). ''The Sultan of Vezirs'', Brill Academic Publishers, ISBN 90-04-12106-4
8. Barbara Jelavich (1983). ''History of the Balkans'', Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-27458-3
9. Halil Inalcik, ''An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire'', Vol. 1, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-57455-2
10. Frederic Chapin Lane (1973). ''Venice, a Maritime Republic'', Johns Hopkins University Press, ISBN 0-8018-1460-X
11. http://vlado.fmf.uni-lj.si/pub/preprint/Joc00.pdf
12. Heinrich F. Plett (1993). ''Renaissance Rhetoric/Renaissance-Rhetorik'', Walter de Gruyter, ISBN 3-11-013567-1
External links
★ Historical facts about Dubrovnik, from Dubrovnik Online
★ Flags of Ragusa
★ Storia e monetazione di Ragusa, oggi Dubrovnik (Dalmazia)
★ [3] Dalmatia and Montenegro, John Gardner Wilkinson
★ [4]Aus Dalmatien, Ida Reinsberg-Düringsfeld 1857
★ [5]Universal Geography: Republic of Ragusa
★ [6]Bibliografia della Dalmazia e del Montenegro Giuseppe Valentinelli
★ [7]Bibliografia hrvatska Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski
★ [8]Geschichte des Freystaates Ragusa Johann Christian von Engel
★ [9]The Ethnology of Europe: Robert Gordon Latham
★ [10]Austria in 1848-49:Dalmatia; William Henry Stiles
★ Ragusa, the American Revolution, and Diplomatic Relations, 1763-1783
★ Francesico Favi, the Treaty of Paris of 1783, and Ragusan Commercial Trade with the United States
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