APOTHECARY’S GARDEN, FRANCISCAN MONASTERY
The year 1395 proved an unfortunate one for Ragusa. In the first place, one Constantine Balša, a relative of George II., who had obtained a trade monopoly in the Zedda and inland as far as Prizren and Novobrdo, laid heavy impositions on Ragusan trade so as to exclude it from the country.[331] At the same time heavy rains flooded the city and its immediate neighbourhood, destroying all the crops, and on May 19 a severe earthquake—the first great shock felt in Dalmatia for many centuries—wrought great havoc.[332] During this period the Adriatic was infested by the pirate barques of Gabriele da Parma. There was another quarrel with George Balša on account of a certain monk named Marino of Dulcigno, who intrigued with the Slaves near Ragusa. However, this was soon settled to the satisfaction of all parties, the Albanian markets were re-opened, Constantine Balša recovered Scutari from the Turks for his kinsman, and declared himself despot of the town. In 1395 George visited Ragusa, where he was splendidly received as Prince of Albania.
Although the Ragusans were usually on bad terms with their immediate neighbours, they had been for some time good friends with the Bosnian magnate Vlatko Vuković. On his death in 1392 his estates descended to his nephew Sandalj Hranić, to whom Ragusa sent an embassy of homage in 1395. He was a true type of South Slavonic lordling of that time. His one object was to consolidate and enlarge his territories, so as to carve out a principality for himself and be independent of the King of Bosnia or the Despot of Servia. Like all his colleagues, he completely failed to appreciate the terrible significance of the Turkish danger, and while he began by “proclaiming his misfortunes from the mountain tops, he ended by descending into the plain to declare himself the vassal of the powerful invader.”[333] He was certainly less cruel than most of his neighbours, and, unlike them, was guilty of no particularly heinous murders. The result of his ambitious schemes was the formation of the Duchy afterwards called of St. Sava or the Herzegovina.[334] In 1396 he meditated a descent on Cattaro in order to round off his dominions. This town was also coveted by Radić Crnoević, lord of what is now Montenegro. Radić got into trouble with Balša, by whom he was defeated and killed, while Sandalj, although he could not take Cattaro, took Budua, probably at the secret instigation of Venice, who did not wish Balša to advance further north. Sandalj was granted the honorary citizenship of Venice.
In the meanwhile, in spite of several set-backs, Turkish raids into Bosnia continued. Small bands were sent forward as feelers to ravage and plunder and prepare the way for their grand advance. We find the Ragusan Senate asking the King of Hungary to recommend them to Venice for protection against the Turks,[335] while they gave asylum in Stagno and Sabbioncello to many Slaves and Vlachs who were flying from the terrible enemy. On September 28, 1396, Sigismund, King of Hungary, at the head of a confederate force of 100,000 Christians, was totally defeated by the Sultan Bayazet at Nikopolis on the Danube. The King himself managed to escape down the river on a Venetian galley to the Black Sea to Constantinople, across the Ægean, and up the Adriatic to Ragusa, which he reached on December 21. He was honourably and hospitably received by the Rector and Councillors, who offered him the keys of the town. He spent nine days there, being entertained, together with his suite at the expense of the Republic, and he received in addition a present of 2000 ducats and two years’ tribute in advance. As a reward he granted the Republic the right to strike silver coinage.[336] On December 30 he departed on board a Ragusan galley for Spalato. He took the four sons of the ship’s chief officer into his service, and subsequently through his favour many Ragusans rose to high positions in Hungary.
Every day fresh batches of refugees fled into Ragusan territory before the advancing Ottoman hordes, who even threatened the Bocche di Cattaro. George Balša himself began to fear for his own safety, and requested that Ragusa should give shelter to his wife and family. The Republic placed a palace at his disposal, and also allowed him to purchase arms and ammunition in the town and have his old weapons repaired there. But even this had to be done secretly, lest Sandalj, who was an enemy of the Balšas and a friend of the Turks, should retaliate on the Ragusans. We find an interesting entry in this connection by Andrea da Bologna, the Chancellor of the Republic, in the Reformationes for 1398: “Die ... (blank space) Januarii (1398) Filius Pasayt (Bayazet) cum magna quantitate Turchorum et Sclavorum intravit Bossinam, et fuit depredatus ipsam. In reversione major pars ipsorum propter immensum frigus decesserunt.”[337] This shows that even at that early date the Turks found allies in the renegade Slaves. The Ragusan Senate tried to mediate between Sandalj and George so as to strengthen Hungary, and arranged a meeting between the former and his rival’s wife, but the attempted conciliation failed. Apparently, too, some of the Slavonic lordlings tried to draw Ragusa into their intrigues with the Turks, and in 1399 Feris (?Ferid), Governor of Svečanj, visited the town as Turkish envoy, but nothing came of the negotiations.[338]
The kingdom of Bosnia was, as we have seen, subject to constant incursions on the part of the Turks, whom it was incapable of resisting, for under the reign of King Dabiša and Queen Helena Gruba the Vojvods had risen to power once more, and had become almost independent. Of these the most important were Sandalj Hranić, lord of Hlum, of whom we have already spoken; Hrvoje, Duke of Spalato; and Paul Radinović. Sandalj ruled over a great part of Hlum as far as the Drina. Hrvoje, who has been described as the “Bosnian Warwick,” owing to the number of princes he deposed and set up, ruled over middle Dalmatia, a large part of Bosnia, including the town of Jajce, and some districts of Hlum, including Livno. Paul Radinović was lord of Trebinje, part of Canali, and other lands as far as Prača. His sons, Peter and Radosav, took the name of Paulović. Queen Helena lost her throne owing to a rebellion in 1398 or 1399, and was succeeded by Stephen Ostoja, probably a natural son of Stephen Tvrtko.[339] Ostoja had to depend for his authority on the goodwill of his magnates, but his reign was at first successful. He defeated Sigismund of Hungary, who tried to enforce his claims on Bosnia, and had invaded it at two points. Also on the Turkish frontier things were more peaceful, and, according to Klaić, after the raid of 1398 Ostoja concluded a treaty with Bayazet to support the claims of Ladislas of Naples to the Hungarian throne against Sigismund.[340] Later, Bayazet became still less formidable, as he had to hurry off to Asia to defend his Empire against Timur.
For a few years after his accession Ostoja had been friendly to Ragusa, and in 1399 he granted them a further stretch of coast from Stagno to Klek, near the mouth of the Narenta. For this the citizens had given him a palace in the town and made him an honorary citizen; they granted the same favours to Hrvoje for his intercession.[341] But Ostoja, finding himself with no coastline save the bit between the rivers Četina and the Narenta, repented of his generosity, and tried to induce Ragusa to recognise Bosnian supremacy. When in 1400 the envoys brought him the tribute he suggested that the city should throw off the Hungarian yoke and come under his protection. But the Republic would not hear of the proposal, preferring to obey the distant and complaisant King of Hungary rather than the near and untrustworthy King of Bosnia. The latter did not yet feel strong enough to attack the city openly with any chance of success where Tvrtko had failed, so he resorted, if we are to believe the local historians, to intrigue, and secretly fomented a conspiracy of ambitious nobles. The circumstances of the plot are not very clear, and Ragnina’s account, detailed though it is, leaves much unexplained. In the early part of 1400 four nobles, Niccolò and Giacomo Zamagna, and Lorenzo and Simeone Bodazza, determined to become masters of the city with the help of the Count of Popovo (in the Herzegovina), the Vojvod of Trebinje, and other Bosnian barons. According to Ragnina the conspiracy was engineered by Ostoja, or by Stephen the Despot of Servia. It is more likely that the former was privy to it, as the Despot of Servia was now a person of no importance, and his territory did not even border with that of the Republic. The Bosnian king probably saw in this plot a means of possessing himself of the town and its valuable port; but he did not appear in the actual intrigue, which was carried on by the neighbouring vojvods. Ragusa at this time was almost deserted, a large part of its inhabitants having taken refuge in the neighbouring country on account of the plague. On the Feast of the Forty Martyrs (March 9) a number of the conspirators were to dine in the house of a certain artisan at Ragusa to mature their plans. The man not having enough table utensils for the company sent his wife to the house of a noble named Niccolò Gozze, in whose service she had been, to ask for a loan of the required articles. Gozze promised to lend them, but wanted to know for whom they were required. The woman told him the names of the nobles in question, and as they were men of somewhat shady antecedents Gozze became suspicious. He bribed the woman to take note of all that she should hear at supper, and to report it to him the following morning. This she did, and informed Gozze that a Morlach named Miloš and four companions had come with the nobles, and that it was agreed that Miloš should wait at the town gate for a Slave messenger who was expected with letters from the Bosnian magnates. They also discussed how to raise a band of followers from among the dregs of the people, and secretly to admit some Slaves from outside, with the object of overpowering the town guard, seizing the gates, and opening them to a large force of Bosnians. Gozze, although suffering from the gout, rose from his bed, had himself carried to the Government Palace, and summoned the Minor Council. The woman was secured and summoned to give evidence, and the chief conspirators were arrested. They confessed everything under torture. At the same time a trusty man was sent to await the arrival of the letters in the place of the Morlach; he gave all the requisite signs when the messenger arrived, and received the papers. The contents were as follows: “In the first place remember your promise and take care of yourself and yours, and we shall do what we have decided.” The conspirators were beheaded on March 10, and their property confiscated. A few who managed to escape were condemned in contumacy. This episode is interesting as being one of the only instances of an internal revolution in law-abiding Ragusa. There is not enough evidence to enable us to understand its character nor the actual complicity of Ostoja. It may also have been an early symptom of the disagreement between the Latin and Slavonic elements of the population.
Entrance to the Franciscan Monastery
Ostoja, after having received the homage of Sebenico and Traù, renewed his request that Ragusa should recognise his supremacy; but again the citizens refused, and renewed their oath of fealty to Sigismund, merely promising to take no part in the hostilities between Bosnia and Hungary, and to refuse to admit Bosnian rebels into the town. The following year a number of Sigismund’s opponents in Hungary, Croatia, and Dalmatia collected at Zara, and Ladislas crossed over from Italy and was crowned by the Hungarian Primate King of Hungary, Croatia, and Dalmatia. Ostoja himself, however, was not altogether satisfied, for although he had favoured Ladislas’s cause as long as the pretender was in Italy, the moment he landed in Dalmatia, the Bosnian king felt that his own interests along the seaboard were menaced. Hrvoje, Duke of Spalato, maintained an ambiguous attitude, and Ostoja determined to make use of this confusion to declare war on Ragusa. He found a pretext in the fact that two Bosnian rebels had been given hospitality in the town; he began by demanding back the Primorije which he himself had ceded, as well as other territory given by his predecessors, and he also insisted that the Ragusans should recognise his full suzerainty. His demands being rejected he sent a force of 8000 men under the Vojvods Radić Sanković, Sandalj Hranić, and Paul Radinović into Ragusan territory. Hostilities lasted from August 1403 to the spring of 1404.[342] We have but meagre details of this campaign besides those given in the untrustworthy chronicle of Resti, and some information in the Diplomatarium. According to Resti, the Ragusans at first drove back the Bosnians, but the latter were soon reinforced and again invaded the Republic’s territory. Encounters took place at Bergato and Gionchetto, and 4000 well-armed Ragusans commanded by Giacomo Gondola tried to induce the enemy to give battle, but without success, as the latter retired to Trebinje. Probably the Ragusans were defeated, as we find the Senate asking for the mediation of the Hungarian king shortly after. But the difficulty was, which king, as Ladislas was now in Dalmatia. The tortuous nature of Ragusan diplomacy is well illustrated by the contemporaneous embassies to Ladislas, Sigismund, and Hrvoje. They did not wish to commit themselves by sending regular ambassadors to Ladislas, as Sigismund might still gain the upper hand, so they merely sent a monk, Marino Bodazza, ostensibly to obtain compensation for the property taken by the pretender’s followers. But a request for mediation in the Bosnian quarrel was also hinted at. Ladislas replied that he would consider the matter if a proper embassy were sent to him. This the Senate refused to do, upon which Ladislas declared Ragusa to be his enemy. But, fortunately for the Republic, Sigismund regained his freedom, and collected a large army in northern Hungary, while Ladislas returned to Italy. An embassy was then sent to Sigismund, the envoys being instructed to go first to Hrvoje, the Duke of Spalato, to complain of Ostoja’s conduct, and suggest that he himself might become King of Bosnia; but if he did not care to go so far, he might help some other member of the Kotromanić family, or Paul Radissić, who had been living at Ragusa for the past two years, to acquire the crown. Ragusa had always been friendly to the old Bosnian dynasty, and had given refuge to many of its exiled princes. At the same time they were to inform him that Ostoja, on seeing the retreat of Ladislas, had sent envoys to Sigismund to intrigue against him (Hrvoje). If the latter broached the subject of Ragusa’s relations with Ladislas they were to say: “We are the subjects of the Crown of Hungary, and whoever is actually King of Hungary is our suzerain.” They were to proceed to Sigismund’s court only if Hrvoje advised them to do so. If they did go on to Hungary they were instructed to try to obtain for Ragusa the suzerainty over the three large islands of Lesina, Curzola, and Brazza, to discover what were the provisions of the treaty which was being negotiated between Ostoja and Sigismund, and to warn the latter against the Bosnian king’s fickleness, and induce him to insist that that potentate should give up the territory he had filched from the Republic in the last war, and pay compensation for the damages, calculated at 200,000 ducats, for which he was responsible. They were also to suggest that he should come to terms with Hrvoje, who might help him to reduce Bosnia to obedience, and to advise him to sow dissension among the Bosnian magnates, who were always ready to rebel.[343]