THE ORLANDO COLUMN

In the north the King of Hungary was making desperate efforts to recover Bosnia, and in his operations he received help from Ragusa. A few months after the murder of Stephen Tomašević, Matthew Corvinus invaded Bosnia, and with the help of several of the magnates, including Kosača’s son, Vladislav Vukčić, reconquered Dolnji-Kralj and Usora, with about thirty towns and fortresses, including Jajce, Zvečaj, Banjaluka, Tešanji, and Srebrenik, only Upper Bosnia and Podrinje remaining under the Turks. The King rewarded Vladislav for his services by giving him the counties of Uskoplje and Rama. In the spring of 1464 Mohammed again invaded Bosnia with 30,000 men and besieged Jajce, but was forced to retire. The part of Bosnia now under Hungary was formed into two Banats—Jajce and Srebrenik—and the Governor, Nicholas of Ilok, Vojvod of Transsilvania, was entitled “King of Bosnia,” so as to uphold the Hungarian claims over the whole country. In the south another Hungarian expedition was made in 1465 from the Narenta. The Ragusan Senate ordered a bridge to be built across that river, at the Republic’s expense, near the castle of Počitelj, so as to facilitate the passage of the Hungarian army, and all the necessary materials and workmen were sent there for the purpose. Two Hungarian envoys came to Ragusa to arrange the plan of campaign. The Herzegovina was still ruled by Kosača, but Turkish raids from southern Bosnia were frequent, and it was important to keep the enemy from the Narenta’s mouth.[418] Počitelj, a quaint and picturesque hill town, came to be the centre of a series of operations against the Turks, which lasted until 1470. In 1466 we find the Ragusans giving “4 schopetos parvos, 4 tarassios de minoribus,” 200 lbs. of powder, 1000 beams, and 1000 “clavos” for the defence of Počitelj, and two carpenters, two marangoni, and some boats. Three bombards, building materials, ropes, bullets, provisions, and more firelocks and boats were added later, together with a staff of boat-builders and engineers.[419]

In 1466 Kosača died, having deposited his will at Ragusa. By its terms his estates were divided between his three sons, Stephen, Vladislav, and Vlatko. To the first he also left his crown, some plate and jewels, and 30,000 ducats, to the third 30,000 ducats, to his widow Cecilia 1000 ducats, some plate, brocades, and robes; the rest of his personalty was to be divided equally among his three sons, save 10,000 ducats for his soul.[420] But their possessions were constantly menaced by the Turks, and the youngest brother became a renegade and took the name of Achmed Beg. The other two soon quarrelled among themselves, and each asked for Turkish assistance. In 1469 Hamsa Beg raided Ragusan territory, and an attack on the town was momentarily expected. A second raid was made in 1470, and Postranja and Canali were laid waste, the castle of Soko alone holding out. The Ragusan merchants in Trebinje were also plundered. As Hamsa refused to hear reason, the garrison was increased, the galleys armed, and the moat before the Porta Pile dug.[421] At this time Počitelj was being besieged.

The Ragusans had been trying to induce the Sultan to reduce the tribute from 5000 to 3000 ducats, stating that the constant troubles in Slavonia and Servia had made them very poor. As Mohammed was engaged in the Persian war, his vizirs agreed to the reduction, but when he returned he not only insisted on the remaining 2000 being paid, but raised the sum to 8000.[422] There was nothing for it but to pay, as Turkish karaulas (block-houses) were only two miles from the gates, and an attack was feared at any moment. But it was not paid for nothing, for the Ragusans obtained many new privileges; moreover, the increase was in part due to the fact that the Turks were the successors to various native princes whom they had dispossessed, and to whom the Republic had formerly paid tribute. The Pope renewed the exemption to trade with the Infidel. The one danger was that the Turks should suddenly desire to capture the city, as on more than one occasion they had been on the point of doing. It required all the skilful diplomacy of the Senate to avoid this contingency.

In January 1474 the Turks renewed their incursions into Albania. Skanderbeg on his deathbed had entrusted the task of defending his country to the Venetians, which they, with the help of the Montenegrins and some Albanian tribes, attempted to do. They themselves held various towns on or near the coast, including Scutari, which was now besieged by an immense Turkish army. Among the defenders were several Ragusans, and the Republic was throughout the siege well supplied with news of all the operations. The Turkish leader was Suleiman Beg, a Bosnian renegade, while the Venetians were led by Andrea Loredano, and their allies by Ivan Crnojevnić, a Montenegrin. Hostilities began with the defeat of the Turkish fleet at the mouth of the Boiana by Gritti, but by May the enemy had invested the town. The garrison consisted of only 1300 men, while it contained 700 non-combatants, but it was well provided with arms, ammunition, and food. The besiegers brought up much heavy artillery drawn by camels. The Ragusan Senate was convinced that if Scutari fell it was all up with Albania and Dalmatia, and that even Italy would be in danger. The Turks delivered an attack and effected a breach in the walls; the garrison not wishing to exhaust themselves, waited until the enemy had entered, and then fell upon them with such fury that they drove them back, killing 2000 and wounding an immense number. Suleiman Beg announced this disaster to the Sultan, and then abandoned the siege, having lost 7000 men killed and 14,000 wounded in all. As some Ragusans had taken part in the defence, the Sultan again raised the Republic’s tribute to 10,000 ducats.[423] In 1477 the Turks attacked Kroia, Skanderbeg’s old stronghold, and as the Venetians could not relieve it, it fell, while numerous bodies of Turkish cavalry made inroads into Friuli from Bosnia. The Venetians finally made peace, giving up Scutari and Kroia, and agreeing to pay 10,000 ducats a year for trading rights in the Turkish dominions. They now held only Durazzo, Antivari, and Butrinto, all the rest of Albania being occupied by the enemy.

During these operations Ragusa was more than once in serious danger, and Pope Sixtus V. granted full indulgence to all those who contributed to the defence of the city, whether natives or foreigners. He said of it: “In oculis Turchorum quasi propugnaculum sita existit, maribus satis munita, florenti populo decorata ac armis et aliis instrumentis bellicis abundans, et hominum suorum virilitate parata adversus prædictorum incursus semper existit.” The Sultan, he adds, was planning to attack it with an immense army, and it could not hold out unless other Christians came to its assistance.[424] The city, however, was saved once more by the crushing defeat of the Turkish army by the Hungarians in Transsilvania.

In 1481 Mohammed II. died, and was succeeded by his son Bayazet. Iskender Pasha, Beglerbeg of Servia, then ravaged Dalmatia, with the excuse that on the death of the Sultan all the treaties made by him were invalid unless renewed by his successor. Venice at once sent ambassadors to obtain their renewal, but the negotiations proved difficult, and lasted over a year. Ragusa was more fortunate; all her privileges were confirmed, and the tribute reduced to 3000 ducats.[424] In 1483 Bayazet determined to complete the conquest of the Herzegovina, and sent a large force to invade it under one Gjursević Beg, a Bosnian renegade. This time the task proved easier, as the succession of raids had broken the back of the Herzegovinians’ resistance. Vlatko fled from Castelnuovo to Ragusa, and thence to Hungary. This so incensed the Turks that they again threatened to seize the city, but the Republic appeased them by a gift of 12,500 ducats to the Sultan and 500 to his Ministers as a bribe, while it agreed to pay an additional 100 a year to Aliza, the newly-appointed Sandjakbeg of the Herzegovina. It is said that Aliza had already come to an understanding with the commander of the Hungarian guard in Ragusa to enter the town, but the Senate discovered the plot in time, and had the traitor strangled, together with two accomplices.[425] A Ragusan citizen named G. Niccolò Palmotta was put to death for intriguing with the Turks at Castelnuovo.

With the conquest of the Herzegovina Ragusa’s relations with the Turks became more intimate. The whole of Bosnia, save Jajce and the surrounding district, the Herzegovina, all Albania excepting a few Venetian towns, parts of Croatia, Slavonia, and Hungary were in Turkish hands. Dalmatia as far as the Narenta’s mouth was still Venetian, and so was Cattaro, although a strip of the coast of the Bocche, including Castelnuovo, was held by the Turks. Ragusa’s land frontier was thus encompassed on all sides by the Infidel save in the north, where the marshy delta of the Narenta divided it from Venetian territory. Hungary was weak on her southern border, and much occupied with the German wars in the north; but although Ragusa could hope for little help in that quarter, she kept on good terms with the King, and continued to furnish him with information as to the movements of the enemy, and to pay him the tribute of 500 ducats at irregular intervals. This she did partly for commercial reasons, the Hungarian trade being still important, and partly because she hoped that the cause of Christendom in the Western Balkans might yet triumph under Hungarian auspices.