THE TRADE OF RAGUSA
The whole basis of Ragusa’s prosperity, as we have seen in the first
chapter, was trade. The Republic’s territory was too small, and in
part too arid, to provide sufficient foodstuffs for the population and
three-quarters of the grain which it consumed annually were imported
from abroad. Consequently it was upon trade and industry that the
citizens had to depend for their means of livelihood. Manufactures,
however, save shipbuilding, never assumed great importance at Ragusa,
and it was not until the following century that any industries at
all were established. Trade, on the other hand, both sea-borne and
overland, received a great additional impetus from the extension of
Venetian traffic and from the increasing civilisation of the Slave
states. At Ragusa, as at Venice, Florence, Siena, and elsewhere
in Italy, the aristocracy as well as the middle classes were all
interested in trade. We find members of all the noble families in the
Ragusan settlements in Servia and Bosnia and Albania, and no nobleman
disdained to travel overseas with his own goods.
We have seen the division of Ragusan maritime trade into coastwise
traffic, navigation _intra Culfum_, and navigation _extra Culfum_. This
last now became of considerable importance, and Ragusan vessels were
found in every port of the Eastern Mediterranean. A special form of
trade which had now arisen is that described in the Statute-book as
_ultra marinis partibus_, _i.e._ up the courses of navigable rivers
like the Narenta and the Bojana.
The Levant trade became extremely active, and was no longer limited to
the tract of sea between the Capo Cumano on one side, and Apulia and
Durazzo on the other. From the commercial provisions contained in the
various treaties between Ragusa and Venice, we learn that the former
traded with all parts of the Eastern Empire. Syria, Tunis, Barbary,
Italy, Sicily, and probably Egypt. At Constantinople the privilege
granted by the Comneni were renewed by the Latin Emperors Baldwin
I. and Henry. The Ragusans traded especially with the Morea and the
feudal duchy of Chiarenza or Clarence,[196] whence they brought silk to
Ancona and other parts of Italy. At the same time they kept up their
connection with the Greek princes who held sway over the fragments of
the Greek Empire, namely, the Emperors of Nicæa and Trebizond[197]
and the despots of Epirus. After the capture of Constantinople by the
Latins, Epirus continued to hold out against their arms, and was ruled
by the despots Michael I. (who died in 1214), Manuel (1214-1241), and
Michael II. (1241-1271), all of whom granted valuable privileges to
the Ragusans.[198] When the Greek Empire was re-established in 1261
all the exemptions and privileges were reconfirmed, first by Michael
Palæologus, and later, in 1322, by Andronicus II.[199]
With regard to Egypt, if for the word _Rakuphia_ in Benjamin of Tudela
we should read Ragusa, the citizens of St. Blaize also frequented the
market of Alexandria. In 1224 Egypt was placed under interdict, and the
Venetians forbade the Ragusans to trade there; Ragusan merchants before
starting on a journey had to swear that they would not visit Egypt,
but in all probability the prohibition was often disregarded.[200]
Subsequent attempts to enforce the interdict were equally unsuccessful.
The object of the prohibition was above all to prevent the Egyptian
Sultans from obtaining timber and iron, which were rare in their own
country, for military purposes. Traders were attracted, however, by
the enormous profits of the venture, for which they were willing to
brave ecclesiastical thunders. In 1304 three Ragusans were captured
whilst engaged in illicit traffic with Alexandria; they were granted
absolution by the Pope on condition that they devoted part of their
profits to building the Dominican monastery in their native town.[201]
Another country with which Ragusa had commercial intercourse was
Bulgaria. In the early days of the second Bulgarian Empire (established
in 1186) the Venetians could not trade with it, as they were the
supporters of the Latin Empire at Constantinople in withstanding
Bulgarian inroads; the Genoese were equally cut off because the
Venetians excluded them from the Bosporus. The field therefore lay open
to the Ragusans alone, and they were very favourably received by the
Tsar John Asēn II. (1218-1241),[202] who called them “his well-beloved
and trusted guests.” The Bulgarian trade was partly carried on by sea
and partly overland through the Balkans.
From Italy and Sicily the Ragusans obtained most of their breadstuffs,
and in exchange they brought Eastern and Slavonian goods to those
countries. Among the new treaties with Italian towns we may mention
those with Rimini (1235),[203] with Taddeo, Lord of Ravenna and Cervia
(1218-1238),[204] with Ancona in 1256 and 1292,[205] with Fermo in
1288;[206] with Trani, Bari, Molfetta, and Barletta the old treaties
were renewed at various times, and in the _Reformationes_ we find
numerous allusions to the special envoys sent to Apulia to collect
grain. A large storehouse was built in the city with fifteen large dry
wells to contain an adequate provision of grain in time of war.[207]
Constantinople, Smyrna, Durazzo, Antivari, the Bojana valley, and to
a lesser extent the Slavonic principalities, were resorted to for the
same purpose. With Florence, too, Ragusa traded, and although there was
no regular commercial treaty between the two cities, the Bardis and
other Florentine merchant princes sent agents to Ragusa from time to
time.
Shipping was regulated by a number of minute enactments to ensure
safety, to fix the relations between captain and crew, and to define
the obligations and risks of the owner. The amount of cargo which each
ship was to carry was established by statute and varied according
to the seasons of the year, and the vessels were examined before
starting on a voyage by special officers to see that these and other
regulations, such as those concerning the necessary coatings of pitch
and the proper amount of arms to be carried, were complied with. Piracy
being very prevalent in the Adriatic, it was decreed in 1336 that each
vessel employed for other than coastwise traffic should carry five
cuirasses, four spears, four bows, a suitable number of arrows, and a
sword, shield, and helmet for every person on board. The _personnel_
of these merchant ships consisted of the _nauclerius_ (captain or
master), the _scribanus_ (accountant), the _mercator_ (the owner of the
goods carried, or his representative), the _custodia_ (supercargo),
the _marinarius_ (mate), the _conductus_ (ship’s boy), and a crew
varying from eight to fourteen men for vessels up to a tonnage of
eighty _miara_; for larger ships the necessary number was fixed in each
particular case by the authorities. Members of noble families engaged
in trade were constantly making voyages on their own ships, and later
we find them even employed as _scribani_, and in fact a decree of 1462
in the _Liber Croceus_ established that no one could be a _scribanus_
unless he belonged to the Ragusan nobility.[208] At this time the
ships were still small as compared with the great argosies[209] of the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, but they were swift and suitable
for the purposes for which they were required. The war fleet and the
mercantile marine, as at Venice, were interchangeable, and ships which
in peace time served for commercial purposes were converted into
warships simply by increasing the number of armed men, strengthening
the bulwarks, and providing them with engines of war.
Shipbuilding from the earliest days of the Republic formed an important
industry. The timber was obtained from the forests of Monte Sergio,
now, alas, disappeared, and from those of Lagosta and Meleda, of
which traces still remain, as well as from Bosnia. The iron came from
the interior, and was manufactured at Venice or locally, the canvas
from Ancona and the Marche, pitch from Dalmatia, cordage from Ragusa
itself. So jealous was the Republic of the shipbuilding industry, that
no native builder (_calafato_ or _marangone_) might lend his services
to foreigners, under which heading the Slaves were included. In later
times an exception was made in favour of the Turks. The harbour of
Ragusa, which is too small for large modern steamers—these always
land passengers and goods at Gravosa—in the Middle Ages was ever busy
with arriving and departing ships, and the arsenal hands were always
engaged in building or repairing craft of all kinds. Other shipping
yards existed at the Isola di Mezzo, at Malfi, on Giuppana, and later
at Stagno, Slano, and Ragusavecchia. The Ragusan vessels were famed
throughout Illyria, and the Republic was frequently requested to lend
some to this or that Slave potentate, to the Hungarians, and sometimes
to the Venetians themselves.
[Illustration: COURTYARD OF THE SPONZA (CUSTOM-HOUSE)]
The dangers of navigation, even in the Adriatic, were by no means
trifling. The storms of that narrow sea, the sudden gusts of _bora_ or
scirocco which sweep down among the countless islands, channels, and
promontories of the east coast with terrific violence, are considered
dangerous for small ships even to-day. In the Middle Ages the light
sailing-craft ran much greater risks. But piracy was then the chief
source of anxiety. We have already spoken of the Narentan corsairs
in a previous chapter, but even after Venice had broken their power,
piratical communities still survived. Almissa, between Stagno and
the Narenta, was their chief centre, and its inhabitants were almost
exclusively devoted to piracy. The Ragusan statutes contain numerous
provisions forbidding all intercourse with them. A Ragusan who sold a
ship to the Almissans was fined 100 _ipperperi_ besides the price of
the vessel itself; nor could he buy one from them, as it was presumed
to be stolen property.[210] Occasionally some arrangement was made with
this community of freebooters, and in 1235 a treaty of perpetual peace
was signed with Koloman, Count of Almissa.[211] But it proved to be of
little avail, and the Ragusan annals are full of entries concerning the
depredations of the pirates. The Almissans were not finally subdued
by the Venetians until after they regained Dalmatia in 1409. Other
piratical communities were found in Northern Dalmatia and Croatia—the
district formerly known as the Kraina[212]—and from the ports of
Apulia,[213] Sicily, and even from Cattaro pirate vessels often issued
forth to ravage the Dalmatian coast or prey upon the Adriatic trade.
With Cattaro in particular Ragusa was very often at war on account of
the rivalry for the salt trade, and all intercourse with the Serbs
on the shores of the Bocche was forbidden. On various occasions the
Government issued decrees forbidding Ragusan merchantmen from setting
sail without an armed convoy, and whenever news was brought to the
city that corsairs had been sighted the armed galleys of the Republic
were instantly got ready and sent in pursuit of the freebooters. The
Venetians had undertaken the policing of the Adriatic, and the Ragusans
were bound by treaty to contribute one or more ships for the purpose.
Thus in 1326 they were thanked by the Venetian Senate for their past
services in this direction, and requested to send two of their best
galleys to the head of the Gulf.[214]
Another risk which Ragusan traders ran was that their ships and
goods might be seized and confiscated in foreign ports by the local
authorities. Antivari, Dulcigno, Durazzo, and Trani were the worst
offenders in this respect, but even at Venice and Alexandria the
citizens of St. Blaize were not always safe.
The sailor’s calling was consequently fraught with considerable
danger and responsibility, and the return of a merchant ship from a
long voyage was hailed as a great event, especially if it occurred at
Christmastide or Easter. Then, as Prof. Gelcich says, “more than an
occasion for domestic rejoicing, it was a national festival.... We can
see with our mind’s eye the large crowd lining the quays watching the
ships entering the harbour, each vessel trying to be the first to drop
anchor, so as to receive the small gift of one _ipperpero_ awarded by
the State for the achievement.”[215] On Christmas Eve all the sailors
of the ships which happened to be in port that night carried a block
of wood (_ceppum_)[216] to the castle, singing songs (_kolende_), and
placed it on the Count’s hearth. The Count in return gave them each a
cup of wine and two _ipperperi pro kolendis_. They also received two
_ipperperi_ from the Salt Commission, and two more from the Cathedral
treasury.[217] All ships, whether Ragusan or from cities with whom
the Republic had a commercial treaty, “qui navigant more Raguseorum,”
coming into port were exempt from the _stata_ or harbour dues, and
only paid a small tax to the Count, the Archbishop, and the Cathedral
treasury. With the proceeds of the latter the new Cathedral was built,
declared by De Diversis and other writers to have been the finest
church in all Illyria. Ships from countries with whom there were no
treaties paid the _arboraticum_ and the _stata_.
The weakening of Venice in consequence of the Hungarian wars, although
acceptable to the Ragusans for political reasons, produced a very
deleterious effect on their commerce, as piracy revived; Ragusan
unfriendliness was also punished on occasion by exclusion from the
Venetian ports. Shipbuilding had declined to such an extent that in
1329 the Venetian Senate ordered the Ragusans to construct an arsenal
where ships could be built or repaired.[218] A resolution added to the
Statute-book in 1358 declares that “marineriza Racusii erat amissa.”
Ragusan ships were now very few, and seaborne commerce was carried
chiefly on foreign bottoms and in partnership with foreigners. With
the separation from Venice, Ragusan trade came to be almost wholly in
foreign hands. A series of statutes were enacted forbidding Ragusans
from associating with foreigners, and various other measures were taken
to revive national shipping; the results were very successful, and by
the end of the fifteenth century the city had more than regained its
old position.
The overland trade of the Balkans attained a remarkable development
in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and regular trade routes
were established from the Adriatic coast through the interior to
Constantinople and the Black Sea. Of these routes which, together with
that from Hungary, formed the connecting link between Western and
Eastern Europe, there were several. One was from Spalato, one from
the Narenta mouth, one from Ragusa, one from Cattaro, and one from
the mouth of the Bojana. They all joined the Belgrad-Constantinople
route at different points, and all had branch routes to the various
mining and commercial centres of Servia, Bosnia, Hlum, Albania, and
Bulgaria. Ragusa, owing to her geographical position, was always the
chief market on the Adriatic for the hinterland, and Ragusan caravans
were constantly travelling along the various routes. The chief exports
from the Slavonic lands were cattle, cheese, dried fish from the lake
of Scutari, skins, wool, honey, wax, timber, silver, and iron. Ragusa
imported salt, manufactured cloths, clothes, brocades, arms, axes,
horse-trappings, glass-ware, perfumes, sweetmeats, southern fruits,
fish, oil, wine, and gold- and silversmiths’ wares.[219] The salt trade
formed one of the Republic’s chief sources of income, as the interior,
although rich in other minerals, was absolutely wanting in this
necessary commodity. Salt-pans were established at four points along
the Illyrian coast—the Narenta, Ragusa, the Bocche di Cattaro, and
San Sergio on the Bojana. The Ragusans, by means of old treaties with
the Slaves, had almost acquired a monopoly of the traffic, and they
were often able to punish the depredations to which their territory
was subjected by cutting off the supply. The largest salt-pans were
in the neighbourhood of Ragusa itself, but after 1333 they were
removed to Stagno, where the industry is carried on to this day, and
continues to supply the saltless interior.[220] The Narenta salt-pans
were monopolised by the Ragusans, who established a customs station
at the river’s mouth, and those of the Bojana, although outside their
territory, were also in their hands; their only rival was Cattaro,
whence the innumerable quarrels with that city. Cloth was imported from
Venice, Florence, Mantua, and later from the looms of Ragusa herself.
The presents which the Ragusans gave to the Slave princes and nobles
out of friendship or as blackmail and bribery often took the form of
rich gold brocades, silks, and satins, which greatly delighted the
splendour-loving barbarians. We can well imagine the semi-civilised
and proud vojvods and župans gloating over a consignment of the
choicest products of Florentine industry, and being thereby induced to
concede almost any commercial or political privilege to the patient
and cunning envoys from the Republic of St. Blaize. To this day the
Slaves of Servia, Dalmatia, and Bosnia, even the very poorest, love to
deck themselves out in the most gorgeous costumes and the brightest
ornaments, which adds not a little to the picturesqueness of that
country.
A large part of Ragusan territory, both on the mainland and on the
islands, was covered with vineyards; wine was, in fact, the chief
agricultural product of the country. No wine could be imported from
abroad save by a special licence, occasionally granted to the Count,
foreign ambassadors, or eminent ecclesiastics.
The land trade was carried on entirely by means of caravans. There
were no carriage roads since the decay of those built by the Romans,
and all goods travelled by caravan and were carried on the backs of
pack-animals, chiefly horses. Each caravan, which was formerly called
a _turma_, a word still used in Montenegro, consisted of 200 to 300
pack-animals under the charge of Vlach drovers. These Vlachs or Rumans
of Dalmatia were nearly all shepherds or horse- and cattle-drovers, and
had markedly nomadic habits. At an early date they became identified
with the Slaves, but, as I have said, they were probably of Latin
origin.[221] In the Middle Ages they were usually the subjects of the
feudal chiefs and monasteries. The leader of the caravan, also a Vlach,
provided an adequate armed escort, and undertook to protect his charge
against the brigands. Most of the traders were Ragusans or natives of
the other coast towns, but Slavonic merchants also took part in this
trade, especially those who were settled at Ragusa, where some of them
became naturalised so as to enjoy the same exemptions and privileges
as the citizens. Even noble feudatories and kings did not disdain this
kind of traffic, and employed their own Vlachs for the purpose. The
journey was by slow stages, as the paths were steep and rocky, and many
precautions were necessary. In Bosnia and the Herzegovina, in spite
of the roads and railways, much of the traffic is still carried on on
pony-back, the more valuable goods in gaily painted green boxes, the
rest packed up in canvas, secured to clumsy wooden saddles. Save for
the proportions of the caravans, which are now much smaller than in the
heyday of the Ragusan Republic, and for the fact that armed escorts,
so far as Bosnia and Dalmatia are concerned, are no longer necessary,
but little has changed. The importance of this traffic was very
considerable, as it was then, as I have said, the chief link between
the Western world and the Slavonic lands; Ragusa probably did far more
to civilise the latter than was attempted by the Greeks, with whom the
Slaves have always been in eternal conflict.
[Illustration: FAÇADE OF THE SPONZA (CUSTOM HOUSE), AND CLOCK TOWER]
The principal route from the coast was that from Ragusa to Niš, in
Servia, where it joined the great road from Hungary to Constantinople
_via_ Belgrad. The caravan left Ragusa by the Porta Ploce to the
east, and ascended the slopes of the Monte Sergio to Bergato, the
Ragusan frontier, situated on a ridge between the valleys of Breno
and Gionchetto. A few minutes farther on the Slave customs station of
Ledenici[222] was reached. Thence the path descends into the broad
and fertile valley of Trebinjčica to the town of Trebinje in the
land of Hlum, which was usually the first halting-place (five or six
hours from Ragusa). The caravan encamped outside the town, and the
merchants and part of the escort lodged in the inns. From Trebinje
the march was resumed up the course of the Trebinjčica past Ljubomir
to Bilek or Bileće; then along what is now the Montenegrin frontier
through dense forests to Crnica, where in 1380 a Ragusan commercial
colony was established; thence past the castle of Kljuć (= key), which
was afterwards the stronghold of the Vojvod Sandalj Hranić into the
basin of Gacko,[223] close to the watershed between the Adriatic and
the Black Sea. The country about here is fertile, and offers good
pasturage. The Sutieska or Sutiska gorge was next entered, one of the
finest tracts of scenery in the Balkans, guarded by the two castles of
Vratar; there was an important customs station here in the fifteenth
century, at the time of Duke Stephen Kosača, who levied a toll on all
caravans. The route is so narrow at this point that a small body of
men could hold a whole army at bay. The French traveller Des Hayes de
Courmenin, who wrote in 1621, mentions an iron chain by which the path
could be closed in war time. On emerging from the gorge the swirling
waters of the Drina are reached, on the banks of which were a number
of castles and several trading stations; the most important of these
was Chotča (now Foča), on the right bank, with a wooden bridge; under
the Turks it was for a long time the residence of the Sandžakbeg of the
Herzegovina, and is still a town of some consequence. Another station
was Ustikolina, where there was a Ragusan colony, first mentioned in
1399. A day’s march farther on is the town of Goražda, guarded by the
castle of Samobor, after which the route proceeds in a south-easterly
direction over the finely wooded Metalka saddle, whence an extensive
view of the mountains of Montenegro, Servia, Bosnia, and Albania is
obtained, to Breznica.[224] This was an important centre in Roman
times, and the remains of a large Roman settlement (name unknown) have
been unearthed close by. In the Middle Ages it was the meeting point
of three trade routes—one to Ragusa, one to Niš and Constantinople,
and a third to Cattaro _via_ the Tara gorge, the source of the Piva,
the castle of Onogošt, Nikšić, and Grahovo. From Plevlje the route
travelled through what is now the Sandžak of Novibazar to Priepolje
on the Lim, a favourite halting-place of the Ragusan merchants in the
fourteenth century. On the opposite side of the river are the ruins
of a fine large castle guarding the road, a stronghold of King Stephen
Vladislav, who also built the adjoining monastery of Mileševa.[225] A
few miles farther on was the point which was afterwards the eastern
frontier of Stephen Kosača’s duchy. Another day’s march brings us to
Senica or Senice, which was often the residence of the Nemanjid rulers
of Servia. Here the route from Ragusa joined the one from Northern
and Eastern Bosnia;[226] at Raška the two routes again separate, one
going southwards to Salonica, the other eastwards to Niš. Just beyond
Raška, in the latter direction, was Trgovište (market-place), often
mentioned between 1345 and 1459 where a Ragusan colony was established.
Two-thirds of the way from Ragusa to Niš were now accomplished.
Trgovište was the centre of the great Servian Empire, and the
surroundings abound in ruins and memories of the Nemanjid Tsars. At the
end of the fifteenth century the town is alluded to as Novibazar (New
Bazar, Yeni Bazar in Turkish). Not far off, in the valley of the Raška,
are the remains of some Roman baths, and here was probably the site
of the ancient Ras (mentioned in the tenth and eleventh centuries),
which gave its name to the whole country (Rascia). From Trgovište the
route proceeded by the Ibar valley through the mining district of
the Monte Argentaro to Toplica, Prokoplje, and Niš. The whole journey
took fifteen days in favourable weather. From Niš onwards the Ragusan
caravans followed the great road to Constantinople or went to Bulgaria,
where they had considerable trade and at least one colony at Vidin, in
consequence of the privileges obtained from the Bulgarian Tsars.[227]
Another much frequented caravan route was that which started at the
mouth of the Narenta and passed through Bosnia and Servia. Ragusan
goods were transported either wholly by sea round Sabbioncello or
_via_ Stagno to the little island of Osinj in the river delta, where
a trading depôt was opened. Close by were several other depôts, the
most important of which was the _Forum Narenti_ (called Driva by the
Slaves), with a large customs station, salt stores, and a Ragusan
colony. Later it was supplanted by the Venetian castle of Gabela or
Gabella.[228] The caravans travelled from the mouth of the Narenta
through the land of Hlum, following the course of the river to Blagaj,
the residence of the lords of Hlum (afterwards Dukes of St. Saba or the
Herzegovina), above the spot where the river Buna springs full-grown
from the rocks.[229] The route continued up the Narenta valley, as the
railway does to-day, past Konjica, which was to play an important part
in later times, over the Ivan Pass to Visoko in the centre of Bosnia,
the castle of the Bani. Below was the town of Podvisoko (Sotto-Visochi
in Ragusan documents), on the banks of the river Bosna. Between 1348
and 1430 this was the commercial capital of the country and the seat
of important trading communities. From Visoko the route proceeded
to Olovo and Borač, near Vlasenica,[230] where it branched off into
three. One led eastward to Srebrnica, the centre of the silver-mining
district,[231] and Rudnik; another went northwards to Soli; the main
route went to Kučlat, well known as a trading station in the fourteenth
century, with a large Ragusan colony, to Zvornik and across the Drina
to Sirmia and Belgrad. At Sirmia,[232] which was on the ruins of the
Roman Syrmium, the Ragusans had a flourishing settlement protected by
the Kings of Hungary, until the town was burnt by the Turks in 1396.
Its importance was due to its position as a starting point for the
Ragusan traders going to all parts of Hungary.[233]
These various routes were called collectively the _Via de Bossina_
in the Ragusan documents. The routes which started from the coast
at points south of Ragusa were denominated the _Via de Zenta_.[234]
Ragusan vessels sailed down the coast, and either discharged their
goods at the towns of Antivari and Dulcigno, or sailed for some
distance up the various rivers—the Bojana, the Drim, the Mat, the Išmi,
the Vrego, the Devol, and the Vojussa. This stretch of coast, which had
formed part of the Byzantine theme of Dyrrhachium, was under Servian
rule from 1180 to 1440.
“In Servian times,” writes Prof. Jireček,[235] “this region, now so
desolate, was in the most flourishing condition, and had a large
population and numerous beautifully situated towns. Even in the
sixteenth century Italian travellers who ascended the course of the
Bojana compared this green land with its many villages to their own
fair country. Large Latin and Oriental monasteries stood peacefully
side by side. Servian, Albanian, and Italian were the principal
languages spoken. The cities enjoyed important privileges, granted
by the Servian Kings, Tsars, and Despots (later by the Balšići), and
their citizens occupied important positions in the Government service;
the ruling princes themselves often visited these districts. The ports
plied a busy trade, for from hence goods were transported to the
Byzantine districts of Macedonia and Thrace, as far as Bulgaria and the
Mare Majus (_Mar Maggiore_) as the Italians in the Middle Ages called
the Black Sea.”
The chief city off the coast of Zedda was Antivari, situated about four
miles from the sea, where the open bay of Volovica served as a harbour.
Its government, like that of Ragusa and Cattaro, was an oligarchical
constitution, in the hands of a numerous and active aristocracy, under
privileges granted by the Servian Tsars. The citizens were of Latin
origin, and Latin and Italian were the official languages, but the
inhabitants of the surrounding country were Serbs. It was the centre of
the archiepiscopal see of Northern Albania. After the Turkish conquest
its importance was reduced to _nil_, and nearly all the noble families
either died out or emigrated to Ragusa. It is not easy to realise that
the actual Montenegrin village was once a busy commercial city. Nothing
but a few escutcheons on some of the houses bear witness to its past
magnificence.
A few miles farther south is Dulcigno,[236] which was also an
autonomous oligarchical Republic, albeit less important than Antivari.
Here the Roman element was always mixed with the Albanian. After the
Turkish conquest it became a nest of pirates. Close by was the Golfo
dello Drino, into which the two rivers Bojana and Drim (Drino) flowed.
Eighteen miles up the course of the former was the great Benedictine
monastery of San Serge and St. Bacchus, round which stood warehouses,
customs offices, salt stores, shops, and booths, forming a centre
called San Sergio by the Italians, Sveti Srgj by the Serbs; it retained
its importance until the sixteenth century.[237] At the time of Queen
Helena, the widow of Stephen Uroš I., the settlement was under a
“Bajulus Regine at Portum Sancti Sergii.”[238] Here the ships unloaded
their cargoes, which were forwarded to all parts of the interior
by caravan; goods designed for Scutari, however, were sometimes
transhipped into smaller boats and thus carried up to the lake and
town. The caravan route went past Scutari to the castle of Danj (now
Daino) on the Drim, where the Servian kings sometimes resided, and
where the route joined that from Alessio (Lissos, Alexium, Slav- and
Alb-Lješ[239]) at the mouth of the Drim. Thence the caravans proceeded
to Prizren, which they reached in thirty-three hours by a road reputed
to be one of the most difficult in the Albanian mountains.[240] The
chief halting-places were Pilot and Spas, where there was a custom
house. Prizren, which is on the Bistrica, some distance east of the
junction of that river with the White Drim, is still a large town, on
the site of the Roman Therenda.[241] Nemanja conquered it from the
Eastern Empire; in 1204 it was in Bulgarian hands; in the course of the
century it came once more into Servian possession, and was one of the
chief cities of the kingdom. King Milutin and the Tsars Dušan and Uroš
frequently made it their residence, and many ruined castles are found
in the vicinity. Here was the chief commercial factory of the Ragusans
for Albania, and they erected two Latin churches. From Prizren the
routes crossed a fertile and well-populated plain, over the watershed
between the Adriatic and the Black Sea, and into the plain of Kossovo.
At Lipljan (Ulpiana and Justiniana Secunda in Roman times) it crossed
the route from Bosnia to Salonica, reached Novobrdo, and finally Sofia,
one of the Bulgarian capitals. The first mention of a Ragusan merchant
in this city is in 1376; the Ragusan colony became very important at
the end of the century in Turkish times, when Sofia was the residence
of the Beglerbeg of Rumelia.[242]
The second _Via de Zenta_ started from the three harbours of Antivari
_via_ the Sutorman Pass, Budua by the bridle path to Cetinje (still in
use), and Cattaro by the road to Cetinje. A little further east the
three branches met, and the route proceeded over well-wooded mountains,
now, alas, bare and desolate, past the ruins of Doclea to Podgorica
(a day and a half from Cattaro); then to the Plava lake, one of the
fairest spots in Albania, but now also one of the most dangerous, on
the shores of which, according to Professor Stojan Novaković, stood
the well-known Servian trading centre of Brskovo. Professor Jireček,
however, who has had access to further materials, places it in the
upper Lim valley. Brskovo (Brescoa or Brescoua in Venetian and Ragusan
documents) was the chief commercial city of Servia, and is mentioned
as early as the days of King Stephen the First-Crowned (1196-1228). It
was principally frequented by the people of Ragusa and Cattaro, and to
a lesser extent by the Venetians. The various products of the districts
were collected here for export to the coast, while the caravans from
the coast brought foreign goods for distribution throughout Servia.
The customs, which were usually farmed out to Ragusans, were a source
of considerable revenue to the Servian kings. Here, as in some
other mining towns, was also a mint, where the _grossi di Brescova_
were coined.[243] The Ragusan colony was numerous and influential,
containing members of some of the noblest families.[244] Beyond Brskovo
came Peč (Ipek in Turkish), an archiepiscopal, and later patriarchal,
see (until 1766). Peč, too, enjoyed considerable traffic, and had a
Ragusan colony in the fourteenth century.
The post from Venice to Constantinople went by this route in the
sixteenth century. As soon as the ship arrived the despatches were
handed to the messengers (they were always natives from two Montenegrin
villages), who rode off with them _via_ Plava, Peč, Novoselo, Priština,
Samokov, and Philippopolis, reaching the Bosporus in eighteen days.[245]
Throughout Servia, Bosnia, Hlum, the Zeta, and Bulgaria there were thus
numerous Ragusan colonies. As a rule mining was the chief industry, and
it was in the mining districts that the commercial settlements were to
be found. In Roman times the mines of Illyria were well known; they
were abandoned at the time of the barbarian inroads, and it was not
until the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, at the time of the rise of
the Serb States, that the industry revived. Wonderful tales were told
by mediæval travellers of the richness of the Balkan mines. As late as
1453 the Greek Critobulus asserted that gold and silver sprang from the
earth like water, and that wherever you dug you found large deposits
of the precious metals, in greater quantities than in the Indies.[246]
King Stephen Uroš II. Milutin (1282-1320) was the first to summon in
German miners, called Sasi (_i.e._ Saxons), so as to benefit by their
superior skill, but the Ragusans were also numerous. Many of the
technical terms relating to mining still used in Bosnia are of German
origin: _orat_ = _Ort_; _hutman_ = _Hüttenmann_; _karan_ = _Karren_.
The ore was extracted from galleries and shafts, many of which are
still in existence. The refining of the metal was executed at Ragusa or
Venice.
Gold, silver, lead, and iron were the chief products of the Bosnian
and Servian mines. Gold, of which the earliest mention is in 1253, was
found chiefly in the neighbourhood of Novobrdo (Novus Mons, Nouomonte,
Νοβοπύργον), which was for a long time the largest city in the interior
of the Balkan peninsula between the plain of Kossovo and the Bulgarian
Morava, three miles east of Priština. Silver, however, was found in
much larger quantities. Of this metal two kinds are mentioned in the
Ragusan annals, _i.e._ _argento bianco_ (white silver) and _argento de
glama_ (_glamsko srebro_ in Slavonic), which had a slight gold alloy.
Srebrnica was the chief centre for the silver-mining industry. Lead was
another important product, and was in much request for the roofing of
houses and churches. Sometimes a whole caravan of 300 horses journeyed
from the mining districts to Ragusa laden with nothing but lead. The
iron output gave rise to various active industries, both locally and at
Ragusa, where Bosnian iron-workers were often employed by the Republic.
A certain amount of copper was also found, and there were tin and
quicksilver mines in the Kreševo district. The principal mining centres
thus were: Kreševo and Fojnica;[247] Srebrenica, near the Drina,
chiefly for silver;[248] Zvornik on the Drina, for lead;[249] Rudnik,
where there are traces of Roman mines mentioned by Ragusan documents of
the thirteenth century; Kopaonik, for silver and iron;[250] Novobrdo,
for gold and other metals;[251] Kučevo and Brskovo, which flourished at
the end of the thirteenth century.[252]
Each mining centre usually consisted of a castle on a hill, wherein
dwelt the Vojvod, or feudal lord, representing the King or Tsar, and
a town below with a market, where the miners and merchants dwelt.
In times of danger the whole community could take shelter in the
castle.[253] The Saxons, as we have seen, were the most numerous of
the foreign settlers, and the Ragusans came immediately after them.
At Novobrdo early in the fifteenth century we find members of nearly
all the noblest Ragusan families—Bobali, Benessa, Menze, Ragnina,
Resti, Gozze, Caboga, &c. The Ragusans were the principal merchants
and carriers, and the provision trade was almost wholly in their
hands. They sold supplies in exchange for raw metal. There were also
merchants from the other Dalmatian towns, from Italy, especially from
Venice, and a few natives. The mining towns on the whole had a marked
Latin character, and they were all provided with at least one Latin
church,[254] under the authority of the Bishop of Cattaro. There were
also several Franciscan monasteries, which afterwards ministered to the
religious needs of the native Catholics in Turkish times; some of them
still exist. The chief authority in the town was, as I have said, the
Servian Vojvod, but the head of the mining and mercantile community
was the Conte dei Purgari Vaoturchi.[255] The taxes and customs were
farmed to Ragusan or Cattarine speculators, and in fact most of the
higher financial officials in the South-Slavonic States, including
the Protovestiars (Finance Ministers), were usually natives of those
cities. The Ragusans who owned houses were bound to bear arms in
defence of the castle and market-town, but the others were exempt. If
a dispute arose between them and the Saxons or the Serbs the question
was decided by an arbitration commission composed of six Ragusans and
six Saxons or Serbs. Ragusan creditors enjoyed the privilege of being
able to imprison their debtors, provided they too were Ragusans, in
their own houses. The heads of the Ragusan community were the consul
and two judges, usually noblemen appointed by the Republic. In 1332
a consul was appointed to reside at the Royal Court, which was at
Prizren or Skopje (Üsküb).[256] This consul was to travel about the
country, visiting all the market-towns, mining centres, and fairs,
with a view to learning what openings there were for Ragusan trade, as
well as all the towns where Ragusan colonies were already established.
The different mints were under the superintendence of the Vojvods
and of the _gabellotti_ (tax-farmers) or _aurifices_ (goldsmiths),
usually Ragusans or Dalmatians. In the tenth century Constantine
Porphyrogenitus alludes to the use of coinage by the Ragusans, but
for a long time afterwards trade continued to be carried on by means
of barter. Thus in 1280 we find a Ragusan selling a horse to a
fellow-citizen for sixteen ells of cloth, and even as late as 1322,
although mints were established in various places, a commercial treaty
between Stephen, Banus of Bosnia, and Ragusa alludes to the fact that
cattle were used for payments of indemnities.[257]
Communications between Ragusa and the settlements in the interior
were carried on by means of couriers (_cursores_, _corrieri_, Slav.
_knižnici_), who were instituted early in the fourteenth century,
and lasted until the fall of the Republic. They carried official
correspondence from the Republic to the ambassadors and consuls,
and legal notices, writs, reports of judicial proceedings, &c.,
to the Ragusan traders. They were not allowed to convey private
correspondence, which was usually sent by caravan, or in the case of
the chief merchants by their own special messengers, save on the return
journey. The time employed by these official messengers was usually
two days from Ragusa to Blagaj (Mostar), four or five to Visoko or
Sutieska, five or six to Prača, seven or eight to Srebrnica, ten to
Zvornik, twelve to Syrmium, seven to Rudnik or Novobrdo, fifteen to
Constantinople. In bad weather, when the passes were blocked with snow,
double the time was often necessary to traverse the same distance,
which was the time required by the caravans in favourable weather. The
envoys sent to Constantinople with the tribute to the Sultan took as
much as two months.[258] The official correspondence to the various
Ragusan representatives in the East is preserved in the archives of
Ragusa in 138 volumes, under the heading of _Lettere e Commissioni di
Levante_.
This traffic proved to be a source of great wealth for the citizens,
who in time came almost to enjoy a monopoly of the inland trade in this
part of the Balkan peninsula. But great as were the privileges which
they enjoyed, merchants and miners were subject to depredations and
arbitrary confiscations at the hands of the Servian kings, the Bosnian
Bani, or the various minor feudatories. Most of the quarrels between
Ragusa and the Slavonic States were caused by these depredations, which
after all were natural enough. The Ragusan merchants succeeded in
accumulating large fortunes by intelligent management and indefatigable
industry, which the less hard-working Slaves, devoted to the arts of
war, were incapable of acquiring. Whenever the King or vassal lord
was in need of money, what could be simpler than to pounce down upon
a richly-laden caravan on its way to or from the coast and plunder
it or take heavy toll of it, or to impose fresh taxes on the wealthy
colonies of “Uitlanders” at Rudnik, Srebrnica, or Brskovo? Ragusa
was often forced to pay tribute to this or that sovereign to ensure
safety from depredation, and in those days the line of division
between feudalism and brigandage was very vague. But the mercantile
communities were quite willing to undergo the risks for the sake of
the large profits which they made. There can be no doubt that in
this way a certain amount of civilisation was introduced into these
lands which would otherwise have remained quite without the pale. The
currents of western thought and culture found their way into Bosnia and
Servia by way of Ragusa and the other Dalmatian towns rather than by
Constantinople.[259] These civilising influences increased and spread
until the curse of the Turkish conquest fell on the land like a blight,
from which it is only now beginning slowly and painfully to recover.
This mercantile development naturally led to the formation of numerous
guilds or confraternities. Like other Ragusan institutions, they were
based on Venetian models, and were really the beginnings of the modern
mutual aid societies on a religious groundwork. Among the earliest of
these are that of the joiners, founded in 1266; that of St. Michael,
founded in 1290; that of the goldsmiths (1306), that of Rosgiato
(1321), and that of St. Anthony the Abbot (1348). During the Venetian
period they were under strict Government supervision, but after 1358
they were invested with political privileges and exemptions.[260]