[MR] Wikipedia: Republic of Ragusa

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

Today in 1358, the Republic of Ragusa was founded, a country that you've
probably never heard of, but one that for several hundred years punched far
above its own weight (so to speak).

Ragusa was a maritime country along the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea
in what is today Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its capital was the City of
Ragusa, also known in Croation as Dubrovnik (and still is).

For many years Ragusa endured foreign domination by the Byzantines, the
Normans and the Venetians. Ragusa gained its independence via the treaty of
Zadar which ended a war between the Hungarians and the Venetians. The
Venetians lost most of their holdings in the eastern Adriatic coast. Ragusa
soon became a major trading city, and a rival to Venice.

Through trade Ragusa drew much closer to the Ottoman Empire. In 1458 they
signed a treaty which made them a tributary to the Ottomans, but granted
the Ragusans access to Ottoman markets under very favorable tax and customs
breaks, free access to the otherwise-closed Black Sea, and military
protection by the Ottomans. Ragusan traders became wealthy acting as
middle-men between Europe and the Ottoman Empire. Rugusa was allowed to
have its own independent government and remained Christian. A pretty neat
deal for such a tiny country.

The good times couldn't last though. By the late 1500s Mediterranean trade
fell off as the Portuguese, the Spanish, the Dutch and the English
developed sea routes to the far east in preference to overland trade
through the Levant. Things came crashing down, literally, in 1677 when a
major earthquake destroyed much of Dubrovnik (and Venice as well). Add to
that, the Ottoman Empire slid into a decline when their attempts at
European conquest flopped.

Ragusan independence finally ended in 1808 when it was occupied by the
Napoleonic French, and was annexed to the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. Once
Napoleon was defeated, Ragusa was grabbed by Austria and became part of
their empire. But let's stop there, as it is way out for our period of
interest.

You can find more details at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ragusa .

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆