[453] Gelcich, Ragusa, 70.
[454] This is the case at Ragusa to this day. In other Dalmatian towns, where the men are bilingual, the women often speak only Italian.
[455] This characteristic is alluded to by Pouqueville (Voyage de la Grèce), who wrote 250 years later (see infra, chap. xii.).
[456] This last statement is probably an instance of the wish being father to the thought, for there is no doubt that in the sixteenth century Ragusa was a first-class fortress, almost impregnable for those times. But Rambuti, being a Venetian, hoped to see the city one day fall under the power of the Lion of St. Mark.
[457] I., 1884, pp. 131 sqq.
[458] The Archbishopric of Ragusa was usually conferred on an Italian by the Pope, while the canons of the Cathedral were Ragusan nobles.
[459] France was at this time (1538) allied to the Turks.
[460] Razzi, Engel.
[461] Razzi, lib. ii. cap. xiv.
[462] Razzi, lib. ii. cap. xv.