Luigi Villari - The Republic of Ragusa

THE REPUBLIC OF RAGUSA

All rights reserved

Marino Caboga

AN EPISODE OF THE
TURKISH CONQUEST
By LUIGI VILLARI

BYZANTINE DOOR-KNOCKER, RECTORS PALACE

WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS
By WILLIAM HULTON
LONDON: J. M. DENT & CO.
29 & 30 BEDFORD STREET, W.C.
MCMIV

Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co.
At the Ballantyne Press

V ARIOUS accounts of Dalmatia have been written in English, many of which include a historical survey of Ragusa; but the only special histories of the town itself are in German or Italian, and even those are not by any means complete. The best is undoubtedly Professor Gelcichs little book, Dello Sviluppo Civile di Ragusa, a perfect mine of valuable information, of which I have availed myself largely in the present volume. But it deals principally with the internal development, the archeology, and the architecture of the town, and does not dwell on its international position, which for foreign readers is its most important aspect. Engels Geschichte des Freystaates Ragusa is useful and fairly accurate, but it is somewhat dry, and more in the nature of a chronicle of events than a real history. The works of the local historians and chroniclers, such as Resti, Ragnina, Luccari, Gondola, and others, although they contain some interesting details and picturesque descriptions, traditions, &c., are written without a notion of historical accuracy, and are inspired by a strong bias which admits no facts unfavourable to Ragusa. That of the Tuscan, Razzi, is more reliable, but by no means wholly to be depended on, and it only brings us down to the end of the sixteenth century. The safest guide to the subject is to be found in the original records of the town, a large portion of which have been published by the South-Slavonic Academy of Agram, by the Hungarian Academy, and various other collections of documents on the history of the Southern Slaves, such as Miklosichs Monumenta Serbica, Marin Sanudo, the works of Theiner, Poi, Farlati, &c. The modern works on the history of Ragusa of which I have made the most use, besides the above-mentioned work of Professor Gelcich, are the same authors pamphlets, La Zedda and I Conti di Tuhelj; T. Graham Jacksons Dalmatia for the chapters on Ragusan architecture; Paul Pisanis Num Ragusini, &c., for the Venetian period, and his large work La Dalmatie de 1797 1815 for the end of the Republic; Klais Geschichte Bosniens for the relations between Ragusa and Bosnia; Heyds Histoire du Commerce du Lvant and Professor Jireeks Handelsstrassen und Bergwerke for Ragusas commercial development; Horatio Browns Venice for Venetian history; and Puipin and Spasowicz history of Slavonic literature. A fuller list of authorities consulted is appended.

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

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

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

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

For the spelling Slave, instead of the more common Slav, my authority is Professor Freeman, who in a note on p. 386 of the Third Series of his Essays gives the following reasons for it: First, no English word ends in v. Secondly, we form the names of other nations in another way; we say a Swede, a Dane, and a Pole, not a Swed, a Dan, or a Pol. Thirdly, it is important to bear in mind the history of the wordthe fact that slave in the sense of is simply the same word with the national name.