The Republic of Ragusa: An Episode of the Turkish ConquestVillari, Luigi
History
The Republic of Ragusa: An Episode of the Turkish Conquest
Villari, Luigi
Dubrovnik (Croatia) -- History
The inhabitants of these cities in the themes of Dalmatia and
Dyrrhachium were the remains of the Roman provincials from all parts
of Illyria. Porphyrogenitus calls them Romans, as distinguished from
the Ῥωμαῖοι or Byzantine Greeks. In spite of all subsequent Slavonic
incursions Latin, and later Italian, always remained the official
language; it was also the common language of the people all down the
coast, save at Ragusa, where Slavonic was also spoken at an early
date.[8] Other fragments of the Roman population were to be found
perhaps among the shepherds of the mountains, who were either Latins
or Latinised descendants of the native Illyrians. The Slaves speak of
them as together with the town-dwellers as Vlachs, which word signifies
Italians or Rumanians to this day. The townsmen described these
shepherds as Maurovlachs, _i.e._ “Sea Vlachs” or “Black Vlachs.”[9]
The other Dalmatian towns and all the country outside the towns were
occupied, as we have said, by the Southern Slaves. Of these the two
principal tribes were the Serblii or Serbs and the Chrobatians or
Croatians. The latter settled in the northern part of the country;
their frontiers were the Save, the Kulpa, the Arsia, and the Četina.
Their settlement seems to have preceded that of the Serbs. They came
from the land beyond the Carpathians, with the name of which theirs
may have been connected. Croatia was divided into fourteen _Župe_
or counties, each governed by a _Župan_. The various _Župans_ owed
a somewhat shadowy allegiance to a Grand Župan, whose title was
afterwards changed to that of king. The Serbs, who issued forth from
what is now Galicia, settled in the land to the south and east of that
of the Croatians, _i.e._ the modern kingdom of Servia, Old Servia,
Montenegro, Northern Albania, and Dalmatia south of the Četina. For
many centuries they recognised no central authority, but were divided
into tribes, of which the most important were the Diocletiani or
Docletiani, who occupied what is now Montenegro and part of Albania;
the Terbuniotae, whose country, called Terbunia or Tribunia or
Travunia, centres round the modern Trebinje, with the semi-independent
southern district of Canale or Canali;[10] the coast north of Ragusa
up to the Narenta was occupied by the Zachloumoi of Constantine
Porphyrogenitus, and was called Zachlumje, Zachulmia, Hlum, or Chelmo.
It corresponds to the Herzegovina.[11] About the Narenta was the
land of the Narentani (the Ἀρεντάνοι or Παγάνοι of Porphyrogenitus),
notorious for their piratical exploits. This tribe was converted to
Christianity much later than the other Serbs, whence their name of
Pagani. Inland was Bosnia, inhabited by various tribes. Still deeper in
the interior was the territory of the Serbs proper.[12]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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