BY the treaty of 1358 the whole eastern shore of the Adriatic as far as Durazzo was ceded to Hungary, but as a matter of fact that Power only extended its occupation as far as Ragusa. Not having a strong fleet, King Louis feared that the more southern cities would be difficult to hold, and he therefore never exercised his treaty rights over them. Venice, having lost with Dalmatia her chief naval base, turned her attention towards Albania and the adjoining Slavonic countries. She had at one time occupied Durazzo (1205-1208), and through her colonies in Dalmatia had come into contact with the Albanians. Now that her influence in the former country was destroyed, and that she had lost a large part of her mainland possessions, the population devoted itself to “the bee-like task of accumulating wealth and extending its commerce.”[274] Relations were once more established with Albania, trade with that country was encouraged, and the foundations were laid for the revival of Venetian influence in the Adriatic.[275]
The conditions of the Slavonic states behind Dalmatia were at this time extremely disturbed. During the brilliant reign of Stephen Dušan, the Servian people were at the height of their greatness and power. Macedonia, Albania, and other parts of the Greek Empire, and a part of Bosnia, as well as Servia proper, acknowledged the rule of the Servian Tsar, and even Bulgaria paid him tribute. The great position of Servia under this ruler is not usually appreciated by historians of the Eastern Empire. Dušan, as Professor Bury observes,[276] was not only a great warrior, but a great legislator, and drew up the Zakonik or code of laws, comparable with that of Jaroslav for Russia. Had he lived a few years longer, and been able to crush the turbulence of his feudal vassals and consolidate his possessions, Kossovo might never have taken place, and the Balkans never have been subjected to the horrors of the Turkish conquest. But on his death in 1355 the whole fabric of his Empire split up into a number of separate principalities. He was succeeded by his son, Uroš IV. (1355-1367), who was not strong enough to carry on his father’s work, and the Magnates and governors soon began to show signs of insubordination. Not only had he to deal with internal discontent, but he was also attacked by foreign neighbours. In 1358 Louis of Hungary made war upon him with such success that he conquered the erstwhile Hungarian district of Mačva,[277] south of the Save, and placed Nicholas of Gara to rule over it.[278]
The most powerful Servian Magnates were the brothers Vukašin and Ulješa Mrnjavčić, Knez[279] Lazar Grebljanović, who was afterwards to achieve immortal fame on the field of Kossovo, Vuk Branković, the brothers Balša, and Knez Vojslav Voinović. This last and the Balšas obtained their independence during the lifetime of Uroš. In 1367 the last of the Nemanjas died, murdered, it is said, by Vukašin’s followers while out hunting. Vukašin himself, who had been greatly favoured by Dušan and appointed, by the terms of the Tsar’s will, chief State Councillor to Uroš, succeeded to the throne. But this only hastened the disruption of the Empire, for Knez Lazar, Vuk Branković, and Nicholas Altomanovic (the Governor of the Danubian provinces) rose against him, and not only proclaimed their own independence, but occupied part of his immediate possessions.[280]
Of the various states into which the Servian Empire split up the first to be formed was the Zedda, ruled by the Balša family. These were, according to some authorities, of French origin, and according to others were descended from the Nemanjas.[281] A Balša had served in Dušan’s armies, and was afterwards made governor of the Zedda. In a privilege of 1360, in which Stephen Uroš IV. grants trading rights in his states to the Ragusans, the “Zedda of Balša” is mentioned, showing that the province was still under Servian suzerainty. It consisted of the region round the lake of Scutari, i.e. of part of Montenegro and Northern Albania; it is, in fact, another name for the ancient Doclea.[282] It was always regarded with especial affection by the Nemanjas as their original home, and in 1195 they made it into a Grand County. The first Balša died in 1361, leaving three sons, Stračimir, George, and Balša II., and a daughter. The sons reigned jointly, the eldest being merely “primus inter pares.”[283] They at once began to aspire to become independent of Servian authority and to expand their own territories. Their first move was an alliance with Ragusa, who made them honorary citizens of the Republic. Between 1362 and 1370 they conquered Scutari and threw off all allegiance to Dušan’s successor.
South of the Zedda lies Albania proper. Formerly a province of the Eastern Empire, it had first been conquered by Charles of Anjou (1266), then by Stephen Uroš II. Milutin, and then again by Philip of Taranto for the Angevins. Finally, after many vicissitudes, it came under the rule of the native prince Charles Topia, who, after he had captured Durazzo from the Neapolitans in 1364, made himself master of the whole of Middle Albania and independent of Servia. In Southern Albania and Macedonia other vassal nobles, such as the Gropa of Ochrida, Radoslav Hlapa in the Verria district, and Alexander at Avlona, rose to power.
In the immediate hinterland of Ragusa was the land of Hlum, ruled by Knez Vojslav Voinović, who owed allegiance both to the Servian Tsar and to the Banus of Bosnia. He too after Dušan’s death made himself independent of his successor, and with Hungarian help also of the Banus. His territory extended from the Servian Morava by Senice and Gacko to Cattaro and Ragusa, and included the coast between those two towns. He was the bitterest enemy of the Ragusans, and never ceased from molesting them. He is described in their chronicles and documents as a “homo perfidus,” who “tamquam infidelis male servat fidem.”[284] On his death in 1363 he was succeeded by his nephew Nicholas Altomanović, who fixed his headquarters at the important commercial town of Rudnik.
Stephen Tvrtko, Banus of Bosnia, profited by the break-up of Servia to consolidate his own possessions. He had come to the throne in 1353, and sided with Hungary in the war against Venice and the Serbs. Apparently some of his Magnates were inclined to rebellion and encouraged in their disloyalty by the Tsar Dušan, who thus hoped to annex the whole Banate; in this he might have succeeded had he not been cut off by death while on the march to Constantinople (Dec. 20, 1355). But as soon as the power of Servia was broken, Louis of Hungary changed his policy towards Bosnia, and obliged Tvrtko to agree to very onerous conditions. His possession of the Banate was recognised, but he had to give up his rights over Hlum to Elizabeth, Louis’s wife.[285] At the same time he was reduced to the position of a vassal of Hungary, and various feudal lords on the frontier were encouraged to shake off their allegiance to him. A general rising of the Bosnian barons ensued, and the sect of the Bogomils, taking advantage of this state of anarchy, became so influential that Pope Innocent VI. proclaimed a crusade against them early in 1360. This was more than Louis had bargained for, and he sent an army into Bosnia (June 1360) which put down the revolt and restored Tvrtko’s authority. Another rebellion broke out in 1365, and Tvrtko was driven from the country and forced to apply once more for Hungarian help; a small contingent was granted to him, and after severe fighting he managed to regain the throne in 1366; his brother Vuk, a Bogomil, who had been among the rebels, fled to Ragusa. Shortly after Tvrtko visited that city in full state, accompanied by a train of nobles, confirmed all the privileges granted to it by his uncle Stephen, and contracted a treaty of perpetual alliance with the Republic, “save for what shall do injury to the honour of the King of Hungary.”[286] But he failed to achieve the main object of his visit, viz. the surrender of Vuk. The Ragusans refused to give him up, and on becoming a Catholic he enlisted the sympathy of the Pope (Urban V.) for his claims to the Bosnian throne. But Louis of Hungary would not support him, having turned his attention to Poland, of which country he hoped to become king. Tvrtko was thus able to enjoy a period of peace, and to consolidate his somewhat disturbed Banate.
Façade of the Rector’s Palace
(From a photograph by Messrs. Stengel & Co., Dresden)
The Republic of Cattaro continued to remain in a state of semi-independence. It was usually on good terms with Venice, and the town contained a flourishing commercial colony of Venetians. Ensconced in the deep and well-sheltered inlet known as the Bocche di Cattaro, its trade was active and its mercantile fleet large. Its relations with Ragusa were characterised by mutual jealousy, owing partly to commercial rivalry (especially on account of the disputed salt monopoly), and partly to the intrigues of Venice, who wished to prevent all possible coalitions of the Dalmatian townships against her own supremacy.[287]