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.
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. Adamović, 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:—
C = ts in bits. Thus Cavtat is pronounced Tsavtat.
Č = ch in which. Thus Miljačka is pronounced Miljachka.
Ć is almost identical to the above, but is used only at the end of a word when preceded by an i. Thus Gundulić is pronounced Gundulich.
G is always pronounced hard, as in gig.
H is like the German ch in Buch.
J = y in yet. Thus Jajce is pronounced Yaytse. When at the end of a word and preceded by the letters l or n it softens them into something like the French l in mouillé and the French gne in signe. Thus Sandalj and Sinj.
The letter r is sometimes a semi-vowel, and is pronounced like eurre in French, but less definitely. Many syllables have no other vowel. Thus the name Hrvoje.
S = s in since (never like s in nose).
Š = sh in shave. Thus Dušan is pronounced Dushan.
U = oo in boot.
Z = z in blaze.
Ž is like the French j in jour.
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 Miklosić, and Tsar instead of Car. Dalmatians of Italian sympathies, but having Slavonic names, invariably use the ch in the place of č or ć.
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 word—the fact that slave in the sense of δοῦλος is simply the same word with the national name.”