The situation of Ragusa towards Hungary was thus considerably altered, as the Hungarians were no longer on her borders. The Republic from this date assumes a still greater degree of independence than before, but from the despatches to the King of Hungary it appears that it still recognised his suzerainty to a certain extent. Hungary was, however, no longer able to afford it valid protection, and the Venetians it did not trust; this explains its subsequent attitude towards the Turks, whom it was now obliged to conciliate, lest it should suffer the fate that was soon to befall its neighbours. But its dependence on the Sultan amounted to little more than the payment of a tribute.
As we have seen, the one important alteration brought about by the exchange of Hungarian in the place of Venetian overlordship was the establishment of the Rector, elected by the city council. This form of government lasted unchanged until the fall of the Republic. Its character tended to become more and more oligarchic, and although the “Specchio,” or Golden Book, was not compiled until 1440, all save the nobles were practically excluded from any share in the government. A new high court of justice was formed, consisting of five judges, who remained in office for one year. Beyond this there is no important constitutional or administrative change to record.
Various measures were taken to improve the general conditions of the city. Lepers were confined to a spot outside Ragusa called San Michele alla Cresta, which they were not allowed to leave. As elsewhere, they were regarded with feelings of horror mixed with superstitious awe. The earliest mention of them is in a small legacy in their favour dated 1295.[356] They probably made their first appearance at Ragusa at the time of the Crusades. We have already alluded to the great plague of 1348, and after that there were several outbreaks of the dread malady in Ragusa; they are recorded in Gradi’s history of the plagues at Ragusa, written “ad memoriam et terrorem cunctorum gentium.” In 1363 a second outbreak took place, a third in 1371, and a fourth in 1374. According to Gradi, the total number of victims in these four visitations amounted to 250 nobles and 25,000 commoners. Quarantine stations for persons coming from infected spots were established at Ragusavecchia and on the island rock of Mercana, but in spite of these precautions there was a fifth outbreak in 1391, which lasted six months, nearly all the nobles taking refuge at Gravosa. In 1397 a still more rigorous quarantine was established, but in 1400 the plague broke out afresh and carried off 2500 victims, and in 1401 it returned. The city then remained free from the scourge until 1416, when two months of plague caused the death of 3800 persons. It was imported from the East, it is said, by Paolo Gondola. In 1410 one Giacomo Godoaldo of Ferrara had been appointed official physician to the Republic, and seeing that his remedies were of little avail, he suggested in 1416 that plague patients should be isolated. The Senate agreed, and two houses in the suburb of Danče were set apart for them. When another outbreak occurred in 1422, the number of victims was very small, owing to these precautions.
Ragusan trade continued to increase considerably, and followed much the same lines as in the preceding period; but, owing to the Turkish invasion and the constant wars in the Slave lands, it tended more and more towards the sea. Italy, the Greek Empire, Asia Minor, and Egypt were always the chief markets for Ragusan merchants, and special exemptions were granted to them to trade with the Infidel,[357] although they were forbidden to sell timber, iron, or arms in those countries. Their relations with the Turks were satisfactory, and they often sent envoys to the Emirs and Sultans. At the same time, this did not interfere with their good understanding with the Christian Powers, and they did much business with Constantinople and the rest of the Greek Empire, both by sea and by land. The land trade with the Slavonic hinterland, although subject to frequent interruptions, was still very active, and new and flourishing commercial colonies arose in Bosnia, Hlum, Servia, Albania, and Bulgaria. With Hungary there was a very active trade, both by way of Bosnia, Servia, and the Danube, and by sea via Croatia. Embassies were frequently sent to the Hungarian court and to the Banus of Croatia and Dalmatia, who resided at Zara as the King of Hungary’s viceroy. The envoys in question frequently acted as commercial travellers for Ragusan goods, of which they brought samples to sell. An enactment, which is greatly to the credit of the little Republic is the prohibition of the slave trade, “perchè turpe scellerato ed abominevole” (1417).[358] In this the Ragusans were ahead of most of the other Christian States at the time, and later, as we shall see, the city became an important ransoming agency for liberating slaves captured by the Turks.
The citizens were now extremely wealthy, and addicted to luxury and splendour. They took much pleasure in picturesque popular festivals, of which that of San Biagio (February 3), and the anniversary of bringing of the Saint’s arm to Ragusa (July 5) were the most important. On both days races were run for a banner (palio), which attracted large crowds of peasants from the neighbourhood.[359] A third feast was that of the Forty Martyrs (March 9), established in 1400 to commemorate the city’s escape from tyranny.[360] The procession is thus described in the Ceremonial of the Rector:—
“On the 8th day of March his Excellency the Rector issues forth under the arcades (of the Palace), whence he is invited by the parish priest of St. Blaize to enter the church. The following morning he again comes forth and seats himself on the upper seat, opposite the magistrates, as is customary in such festivals, with the rest of the Senators; the bells of the Senate and of the Council are then rung. After the third tucket of the pipers the Secretary begins, with his Excellency’s permission, to read out in order the names of all the magistrates and of the remaining members of the Senate and of the Council; all must be present, save in case of illness or other legitimate impediment—absentees are fined 25 ipperperi. This done, his Excellency proceeds along the street of the Palace, with all the aforesaid nobles, marching two and two, carrying lighted torches given them by the people. They enter the church of San Biagio, our Standard-bearer, and then come out again in procession, carrying the three relics which are wont to be thus carried, viz. the Head, the Arm, and the Foot of the Saint, and they march across the Piazza, round the Loggia, and return by the Palace street. They again repair to the said church, and High Mass begins. When it is finished the Archbishop leads the way, followed by his Excellency, to the Loggia, where the guard is. Then the Preaching Father of the Cathedral delivers a political discourse. This ended, the procession returns to the church in the same order. There the Archbishop and the Rector make obeisance to each other before the choir; the former enters the choir, the latter returns to the Palace; the torches remain in the church.”[361]
Another more secular festival was that of the Tree on May 3. There existed a society of patrician youths, from ten to eighteen years of age, and therefore too young to take part in the affairs of the State. The society elected some of its members managers of the festival, and “on the last day of April they plant a maypole, artificially covered with fir branches, to be burnt on May 3. They choose a page, and three or four attendants for him, from among the patrician boys under ten, to read out the prayers suitable for the occasion On May 1 and on each of the following days the members of the society repair daily to do homage to the Rector and the chief authorities, who encourage them, and give them sweetmeats as a reward for the trouble they are taking. The ceremonies round the maypole are accompanied by fireworks and discharges of small cannon, and on the evening of the third day the maypole is set on fire. While it is burning splendid fireworks are set going. The whole company then repair to the house of the page, whose father receives formal thanks.”[362]
A symbol of Hungarian suzerainty, possibly connected with the May festival, is the so-called statue of Orlando. In many mediæval towns a pillar was erected in the chief square, from the summit of which the public crier proclaimed the enactments of the Government. Here, too, the people were wont to gather when their consent was required, and near this spot capital sentences were sometimes executed. The pillar also served as a support for the city standard. It was usually adorned with a statue of a warrior, whence it was called in German towns the Rolandssäule or Rolandsbild, Roland being the symbol of Imperial authority. Such a monument did not exist at Ragusa until the fifteenth century, when Sigismund, King of Hungary, the city’s protector, was elected Emperor of Germany. The Roland column at Ragusa is a square pier in the piazza opposite the church of the Patron Saint, with a statue of a knight in full armour on one side and a flagstaff on top, from which the banner of the Republic floated on grand occasions. The right arm of the figure, from the elbow downwards, served as a standard of measurement for the cloth merchants.[363] From the platform on the summit political orations and funeral discourses were held and public announcements proclaimed. In 1825 the monument was upset by a terrific hurricane, and among its foundations a brass plate was discovered with the following inscription:—
MCCC....III . DE . MAGGIO . FATTO . NEL . TEMPO . DI . PAPA . MAR TINO . V . E . NEL . TEMPO . DEL . SIGNOR . NOSTRO . SIGISMONDO . IMPERA TOR . ROMANORVM . ET. SEM(per Augustus) . ET . RE . D’ONGARIA . E . DALMATIA . E . CROATIA . ET . CETERA . FO . MESSA . QVESTA . PIE TRA . ET . STENDARDO . QVI . IN . HONOR . DI . DIO . ET . DI . SANTO . BLA SIO . NOSTRO . GONFALON . LI . OFFICIALI....