The Republic of Ragusa: An Episode of the Turkish Conquest

by Luigi Villari

The land trade was carried on entirely by means of caravans. There were no carriage roads since the decay of those built by the Romans, and all goods travelled by caravan and were carried on the backs of pack-animals, chiefly horses. Each caravan, which was formerly called a turma, a word still used in Montenegro, consisted of 200 to 300 pack-animals under the charge of Vlach drovers. These Vlachs or Rumans of Dalmatia were nearly all shepherds or horse- and cattle-drovers, and had markedly nomadic habits. At an early date they became identified with the Slaves, but, as I have said, they were probably of Latin origin.[221] In the Middle Ages they were usually the subjects of the feudal chiefs and monasteries. The leader of the caravan, also a Vlach, provided an adequate armed escort, and undertook to protect his charge against the brigands. Most of the traders were Ragusans or natives of the other coast towns, but Slavonic merchants also took part in this trade, especially those who were settled at Ragusa, where some of them became naturalised so as to enjoy the same exemptions and privileges as the citizens. Even noble feudatories and kings did not disdain this kind of traffic, and employed their own Vlachs for the purpose. The journey was by slow stages, as the paths were steep and rocky, and many precautions were necessary. In Bosnia and the Herzegovina, in spite of the roads and railways, much of the traffic is still carried on on pony-back, the more valuable goods in gaily painted green boxes, the rest packed up in canvas, secured to clumsy wooden saddles. Save for the proportions of the caravans, which are now much smaller than in the heyday of the Ragusan Republic, and for the fact that armed escorts, so far as Bosnia and Dalmatia are concerned, are no longer necessary, but little has changed. The importance of this traffic was very considerable, as it was then, as I have said, the chief link between the Western world and the Slavonic lands; Ragusa probably did far more to civilise the latter than was attempted by the Greeks, with whom the Slaves have always been in eternal conflict.

FAÇADE OF TTHE SPONZA (CUSTOM HOUSE), AND CLOCK TOWER

The principal route from the coast was that from Ragusa to Niš, in Servia, where it joined the great road from Hungary to Constantinople via Belgrad. The caravan left Ragusa by the Porta Ploce to the east, and ascended the slopes of the Monte Sergio to Bergato, the Ragusan frontier, situated on a ridge between the valleys of Breno and Gionchetto. A few minutes farther on the Slave customs station of Ledenici[222] was reached. Thence the path descends into the broad and fertile valley of Trebinjčica to the town of Trebinje in the land of Hlum, which was usually the first halting-place (five or six hours from Ragusa). The caravan encamped outside the town, and the merchants and part of the escort lodged in the inns. From Trebinje the march was resumed up the course of the Trebinjčica past Ljubomir to Bilek or Bileće; then along what is now the Montenegrin frontier through dense forests to Crnica, where in 1380 a Ragusan commercial colony was established; thence past the castle of Kljuć (= key), which was afterwards the stronghold of the Vojvod Sandalj Hranić into the basin of Gacko,[223] close to the watershed between the Adriatic and the Black Sea. The country about here is fertile, and offers good pasturage. The Sutieska or Sutiska gorge was next entered, one of the finest tracts of scenery in the Balkans, guarded by the two castles of Vratar; there was an important customs station here in the fifteenth century, at the time of Duke Stephen Kosača, who levied a toll on all caravans. The route is so narrow at this point that a small body of men could hold a whole army at bay. The French traveller Des Hayes de Courmenin, who wrote in 1621, mentions an iron chain by which the path could be closed in war time. On emerging from the gorge the swirling waters of the Drina are reached, on the banks of which were a number of castles and several trading stations; the most important of these was Chotča (now Foča), on the right bank, with a wooden bridge; under the Turks it was for a long time the residence of the Sandžakbeg of the Herzegovina, and is still a town of some consequence. Another station was Ustikolina, where there was a Ragusan colony, first mentioned in 1399. A day’s march farther on is the town of Goražda, guarded by the castle of Samobor, after which the route proceeds in a south-easterly direction over the finely wooded Metalka saddle, whence an extensive view of the mountains of Montenegro, Servia, Bosnia, and Albania is obtained, to Breznica.[224] This was an important centre in Roman times, and the remains of a large Roman settlement (name unknown) have been unearthed close by. In the Middle Ages it was the meeting point of three trade routes—one to Ragusa, one to Niš and Constantinople, and a third to Cattaro via the Tara gorge, the source of the Piva, the castle of Onogošt, Nikšić, and Grahovo. From Plevlje the route travelled through what is now the Sandžak of Novibazar to Priepolje on the Lim, a favourite halting-place of the Ragusan merchants in the fourteenth century. On the opposite side of the river are the ruins of a fine large castle guarding the road, a stronghold of King Stephen Vladislav, who also built the adjoining monastery of Mileševa.[225] A few miles farther on was the point which was afterwards the eastern frontier of Stephen Kosača’s duchy. Another day’s march brings us to Senica or Senice, which was often the residence of the Nemanjid rulers of Servia. Here the route from Ragusa joined the one from Northern and Eastern Bosnia;[226] at Raška the two routes again separate, one going southwards to Salonica, the other eastwards to Niš. Just beyond Raška, in the latter direction, was Trgovište (market-place), often mentioned between 1345 and 1459 where a Ragusan colony was established. Two-thirds of the way from Ragusa to Niš were now accomplished. Trgovište was the centre of the great Servian Empire, and the surroundings abound in ruins and memories of the Nemanjid Tsars. At the end of the fifteenth century the town is alluded to as Novibazar (New Bazar, Yeni Bazar in Turkish). Not far off, in the valley of the Raška, are the remains of some Roman baths, and here was probably the site of the ancient Ras (mentioned in the tenth and eleventh centuries), which gave its name to the whole country (Rascia). From Trgovište the route proceeded by the Ibar valley through the mining district of the Monte Argentaro to Toplica, Prokoplje, and Niš. The whole journey took fifteen days in favourable weather. From Niš onwards the Ragusan caravans followed the great road to Constantinople or went to Bulgaria, where they had considerable trade and at least one colony at Vidin, in consequence of the privileges obtained from the Bulgarian Tsars.[227]

Another much frequented caravan route was that which started at the mouth of the Narenta and passed through Bosnia and Servia. Ragusan goods were transported either wholly by sea round Sabbioncello or via Stagno to the little island of Osinj in the river delta, where a trading depôt was opened. Close by were several other depôts, the most important of which was the Forum Narenti (called Driva by the Slaves), with a large customs station, salt stores, and a Ragusan colony. Later it was supplanted by the Venetian castle of Gabela or Gabella.[228] The caravans travelled from the mouth of the Narenta through the land of Hlum, following the course of the river to Blagaj, the residence of the lords of Hlum (afterwards Dukes of St. Saba or the Herzegovina), above the spot where the river Buna springs full-grown from the rocks.[229] The route continued up the Narenta valley, as the railway does to-day, past Konjica, which was to play an important part in later times, over the Ivan Pass to Visoko in the centre of Bosnia, the castle of the Bani. Below was the town of Podvisoko (Sotto-Visochi in Ragusan documents), on the banks of the river Bosna. Between 1348 and 1430 this was the commercial capital of the country and the seat of important trading communities. From Visoko the route proceeded to Olovo and Borač, near Vlasenica,[230] where it branched off into three. One led eastward to Srebrnica, the centre of the silver-mining district,[231] and Rudnik; another went northwards to Soli; the main route went to Kučlat, well known as a trading station in the fourteenth century, with a large Ragusan colony, to Zvornik and across the Drina to Sirmia and Belgrad. At Sirmia,[232] which was on the ruins of the Roman Syrmium, the Ragusans had a flourishing settlement protected by the Kings of Hungary, until the town was burnt by the Turks in 1396. Its importance was due to its position as a starting point for the Ragusan traders going to all parts of Hungary.[233]

These various routes were called collectively the Via de Bossina in the Ragusan documents. The routes which started from the coast at points south of Ragusa were denominated the Via de Zenta.[234] Ragusan vessels sailed down the coast, and either discharged their goods at the towns of Antivari and Dulcigno, or sailed for some distance up the various rivers—the Bojana, the Drim, the Mat, the Išmi, the Vrego, the Devol, and the Vojussa. This stretch of coast, which had formed part of the Byzantine theme of Dyrrhachium, was under Servian rule from 1180 to 1440.

“In Servian times,” writes Prof. Jireček,[235] “this region, now so desolate, was in the most flourishing condition, and had a large population and numerous beautifully situated towns. Even in the sixteenth century Italian travellers who ascended the course of the Bojana compared this green land with its many villages to their own fair country. Large Latin and Oriental monasteries stood peacefully side by side. Servian, Albanian, and Italian were the principal languages spoken. The cities enjoyed important privileges, granted by the Servian Kings, Tsars, and Despots (later by the Balšići), and their citizens occupied important positions in the Government service; the ruling princes themselves often visited these districts. The ports plied a busy trade, for from hence goods were transported to the Byzantine districts of Macedonia and Thrace, as far as Bulgaria and the Mare Majus (Mar Maggiore) as the Italians in the Middle Ages called the Black Sea.”

The chief city off the coast of Zedda was Antivari, situated about four miles from the sea, where the open bay of Volovica served as a harbour. Its government, like that of Ragusa and Cattaro, was an oligarchical constitution, in the hands of a numerous and active aristocracy, under privileges granted by the Servian Tsars. The citizens were of Latin origin, and Latin and Italian were the official languages, but the inhabitants of the surrounding country were Serbs. It was the centre of the archiepiscopal see of Northern Albania. After the Turkish conquest its importance was reduced to nil, and nearly all the noble families either died out or emigrated to Ragusa. It is not easy to realise that the actual Montenegrin village was once a busy commercial city. Nothing but a few escutcheons on some of the houses bear witness to its past magnificence.

A few miles farther south is Dulcigno,[236] which was also an autonomous oligarchical Republic, albeit less important than Antivari. Here the Roman element was always mixed with the Albanian. After the Turkish conquest it became a nest of pirates. Close by was the Golfo dello Drino, into which the two rivers Bojana and Drim (Drino) flowed. Eighteen miles up the course of the former was the great Benedictine monastery of San Serge and St. Bacchus, round which stood warehouses, customs offices, salt stores, shops, and booths, forming a centre called San Sergio by the Italians, Sveti Srgj by the Serbs; it retained its importance until the sixteenth century.[237] At the time of Queen Helena, the widow of Stephen Uroš I., the settlement was under a “Bajulus Regine at Portum Sancti Sergii.”[238] Here the ships unloaded their cargoes, which were forwarded to all parts of the interior by caravan; goods designed for Scutari, however, were sometimes transhipped into smaller boats and thus carried up to the lake and town. The caravan route went past Scutari to the castle of Danj (now Daino) on the Drim, where the Servian kings sometimes resided, and where the route joined that from Alessio (Lissos, Alexium, Slav- and Alb-Lješ[239]) at the mouth of the Drim. Thence the caravans proceeded to Prizren, which they reached in thirty-three hours by a road reputed to be one of the most difficult in the Albanian mountains.[240] The chief halting-places were Pilot and Spas, where there was a custom house. Prizren, which is on the Bistrica, some distance east of the junction of that river with the White Drim, is still a large town, on the site of the Roman Therenda.[241] Nemanja conquered it from the Eastern Empire; in 1204 it was in Bulgarian hands; in the course of the century it came once more into Servian possession, and was one of the chief cities of the kingdom. King Milutin and the Tsars Dušan and Uroš frequently made it their residence, and many ruined castles are found in the vicinity. Here was the chief commercial factory of the Ragusans for Albania, and they erected two Latin churches. From Prizren the routes crossed a fertile and well-populated plain, over the watershed between the Adriatic and the Black Sea, and into the plain of Kossovo. At Lipljan (Ulpiana and Justiniana Secunda in Roman times) it crossed the route from Bosnia to Salonica, reached Novobrdo, and finally Sofia, one of the Bulgarian capitals. The first mention of a Ragusan merchant in this city is in 1376; the Ragusan colony became very important at the end of the century in Turkish times, when Sofia was the residence of the Beglerbeg of Rumelia.[242]