THE REPUBLIC OF RAGUSA _All rights reserved_ [Illustration: _Marino Caboga._] THE REPUBLIC OF RAGUSA AN EPISODE OF THE TURKISH CONQUEST BY LUIGI VILLARI [Illustration: BYZANTINE DOOR-KNOCKER, RECTOR’S 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 PREFATORY NOTE Various 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 Gelcich’s 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. Engel’s _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 Miklosich’s _Monumenta Serbica_, Marin Sanudo, the works of Theiner, Počić, 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 author’s pamphlets, _La Zedda_ and _I Conti di Tuhelj_; T. Graham Jackson’s _Dalmatia_ for the chapters on Ragusan architecture; Paul Pisani’s _Num Ragusini_, &c., for the Venetian period, and his large work _La Dalmatie de 1797 à 1815_ for the end of the Republic; Klaić’s _Geschichte Bosniens_ for the relations between Ragusa and Bosnia; Heyd’s _Histoire du Commerce du Lévant_ and Professor Jireček’s _Handelsstrassen und Bergwerke_ for Ragusa’s commercial development; Horatio Brown’s _Venice_ for Venetian history; and Puipin and Spasowicz’ history of Slavonic literature. A fuller list of authorities consulted is appended.