RAGUSAN SHIPS AND SEAMEN IN THE SERVICE OF SPAIN
The great Spanish Empire of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
offered a wide field of maritime activity to the more enterprising
spirits of Ragusa, of which they were not slow to avail themselves.
The Dalmatians of other towns were under Venetian rule, and therefore
precluded to a great extent from these expeditions; but the Ragusans,
although their Government from time to time issued decrees forbidding
them to serve under foreign flags, so as to avoid international
complications, continued to do so, the prohibition being more honoured
in the breach than in the observance. Throughout the seventeenth
century we find Ragusan ships, manned by Ragusan officers and crews,
taking part in all the Spanish naval expeditions. These active
adventurers, whether serving in the war fleets of Spain or on board its
merchant ships, usually succeeded in accumulating large fortunes; some
of them came back to Ragusa to enjoy them, while others remained in
Spain and rose to high positions at the court of His Catholic Majesty.
But even these did not forget the land of their fathers, and utilised
their influence in the Spanish king’s councils for its advantage, by
obtaining favourable commercial treaties and valuable protection,
which stood it in good stead in times of danger. On the other hand, the
heavy losses endured in the many unsuccessful enterprises of Spain were
a severe drain on Ragusa’s resources, and ended by ruining her commerce.
There were a whole series of merchant-adventurers, whose wandering,
seafaring lives form a picturesque chapter in the history of Ragusa.
One of the most remarkable of them was Michele Prazzatto, a native
of the Isola di Mezzo. Like most of his fellow-islanders, he devoted
himself at an early age to commerce; but his first two ventures failed,
and his ships foundered. He was thinking of giving up trade in despair,
“but a lizard that he saw trying to climb up a wall taught him the
lesson of Robert Bruce’s spider. Like the lizard, having failed twice,
he succeeded in a third venture, and rose rapidly to wealth.”[482] He
served Charles V. with his galleys, and brought large cargoes of grain
to Spain in a time of famine. The Emperor appreciated his services, and
treated him with friendly familiarity. According to a local tradition,
on one occasion Prazzatto was assisting at Charles’s toilet, and on
being asked what reward he wanted for his services, replied: “I am
rich enough not to desire wealth; I am king on board my own carracks,
and have no need for honours; I am a citizen of Ragusa, and desire no
titles; but, as a memento of your favour, you may give me this shaving
towel.” The request was granted, and the towel is religiously preserved
to this day in the parish priest’s house at Isola di Mezzo. At his
death Prazzatto left his whole fortune, amounting to 200,000 ducats,
to the Republic, which rewarded his munificence by placing his statue
in the courtyard of the Rector’s Palace—the only public monument ever
erected to a citizen of Ragusa. The fame of Charles V. and of his
exploits, owing to the part which Ragusa took in them, are a living
memory to this day.
Another distinguished family of Ragusan mariners was that of Ivelja
Ohmučević, Count of Tuhelj. The Ohmučevići were among the earliest
exiles from the Herzegovina, who took refuge at Ragusa at the time of
the Turkish conquest, and were granted lands at Slano. They at once
began to devote themselves to maritime affairs, and in 1540 and 1541
the Republic hired their ships to transport grain from Italy. Their
house at Slano was a miniature court, and fitted up with every luxury
and elegance. It was a haven of refuge, where hospitality was dispensed
to all sailors or voyagers who entered Slano harbour to escape from the
tempest or from the pirates. Thus the Greek prince Alexius Comnenus,
after having been defeated by the corsair Karakosha, put in at Slano
and repaired his ships in Ivelja’s docks in 1569. He eventually settled
there, and married into the Count’s family. Ivelja’s sons all entered
the Spanish service, in which they greatly distinguished themselves.
The most famous of them was Don Pietro d’Ivelja Ohmučević-Grgurić, who
took part in the expedition to Portugal in 1580, where it is said that
forty Ragusan vessels were lost, and in 1582 he commanded some Ragusan
ships in the expedition to the Azores, under the Marquis de Santa
Cruz. Later he raised a force against the pirate Passareto, who was
eventually killed. He fitted out a fleet of twelve ships, known as the
“Twelve Apostles,” for the service of Spain, manned by 3200 Ragusans
and other Dalmatians, at a cost of 190,000 ducats.[483] This squadron
took part in an expedition to the Indies and in the Invincible Armada.
One of the ships, the _Annunciation_, was commanded by Count Peter’s
brother-in-law, the Almirante Don Estevan de Olisti-Tasovčić, “a very
brave youth, of high spirits and beautiful manners,”[484] who behaved
with conspicuous gallantry in the Armada. “Finding himself separated
from the body of the Spanish fleet, he was bombarded by the enemies’
batteries, and escaped out of the range of their fire with difficulty,
and in such a terrible plight that he was in danger of foundering, and
unable to repair the damages. The Duke of Medina-Sidonia, grasping
the situation, at once sent two _pataches_[485] to the rescue, so
as to save at least the crew. Don Estevan made for the Irish coast
near Limerick, and succeeded in transferring his men from the doomed
galleon to the _pataches_ under a heavy fire. He then burnt his ship,
to prevent her falling into the hands of the English, and sailed away
to Santander, which he reached without the loss of a single man.[486]
Afterwards he joined Count Peter at Cape Finisterre with a new galleon,
which he had fitted out at his own expense, so as to complete the
“Twelve Apostles.” When Count Peter died he left the fleet as an
inheritance to the King of Spain. But the vessels foundered soon after,
and Don Estevan was sent to Terceira with another squadron. This, too,
came to a similar end, and sank with all hands in a sudden Atlantic
storm.
Count Peter’s other son, Don Jorge d’Olisti-Tasovčić, served under
Francisco de Mendoza in various expeditions to Tunis and elsewhere.
With his brother Estevan he provisioned Naples during the famine of
1592-94—a risky operation owing to the perpetual raids of the pirates.
After various encounters with the latter he fell in with a fleet of
them of a hundred sail, commanded by one Cicola, in the Straits of
Messina during a calm. After a very severe engagement, overwhelmed
by numbers, he was forced to surrender, and sent as a prisoner to
Constantinople, losing his three galleons, valued at 80,000 ducats, and
their cargo valued at 20,000. He remained in captivity for three years,
until he managed to raise the 3000 _scudi_ required as his ransom, and
returned to Spain a ruined man. But the King gave him a new command,
and a pension of 40 _scudi_ a month. He served with distinction with
the Levant fleet on the coasts of Anatolia and of Albania in 1605-6,
and later with the Western fleet. He died, loaded with honours, in 1625.
Another member of this family, Don Juan d’Olisti-Diničić-Tasovčić, was
equally conspicuous, and fought under Stephen and George, and then
under Don Luiz Faxardo in the attack on the coast of the Sea of Marmara
(1614). He subsequently commanded twenty-six galleys in Catalonia,
fought with the corsairs, and was appointed Captain-General of the
Neapolitan Vice-regal fleet in 1639.
With the death of Count Peter in 1599 the male line of the Counts
of Tuhelj became extinct, but some years previously he had arranged
a match between his daughter Aurelia and Andrea Ohmučević-Grgurić,
of the cadet branch of the family, also a captain in the Spanish
service. The marriage did not take place until 1617. Andrea’s brothers
were all sea-dogs in the Spanish service. One of them, Don Pedro,
led a successful expedition to Brazil, and was afterwards appointed
Spanish consul at Ragusa (1623-1631). Don Pablo, after knocking about
in various parts of the world, ended his life in retirement at the
family place at Slano. Don Andrea himself served Spain for fifty-seven
years, commanding various fleets, and was created Spanish Admiral of
the Neapolitan fleet, which position he held during the Masaniello
rebellion. In 1614 the Tuhelj estates in the Herzegovina, which after
the Turkish conquest had been confiscated and then restored to the
family on payment of a tribute, were once more confiscated on account
of the part which its members had played in the Spanish wars against
the Turks. Don Andrea tried in vain to obtain redress from the Pasha of
the Herzegovina, and then appealed to the King of Hungary, who in two
rescripts of 1650 and 1654 recognised Don Andrea’s rights and those of
his heirs, but there was no hope of enforcing them until the country
should again be under the rule of a Christian Power; 224 more years
were to elapse before this consummation came to pass!
[Illustration: ISOLA DI MEZZO]
Owing to the annoyances and prohibitions imposed by the Venetians,
all the more enterprising Ragusan captains gradually abandoned the
Adriatic, and extended their operations to the Mediterranean and the
Atlantic. Another of the great seafaring families was that of the
Mašibradi. Girolamo Mašibradi was the founder of its fortunes, but
his first ventures, like those of Prazzatto, proved unsuccessful, and
he was surprised and captured by a fleet of twenty-two pirate galleys
from Rhodes, and sent as a slave to Scio. But he was soon ransomed,
and with his brothers ended by accumulating great wealth. He was
eventually appointed Captain-General of Spain, and granted a salary of
2400 _scudi_ a year. His brother Nicholas was in the Spanish service
for many years, and was created Marquis and Knight of St. James of
Compostella, and granted a large pension. Other Ragusan families
attained to eminence, such as the Martolossi, the Bune (Bona), &c. All
this brought riches to the citizens, but, on the other hand, it denuded
the city of both ships and men. Gradually all the Ragusans who were
not in the Spanish service sold their vessels, notwithstanding the
laws forbidding these sales. The number of new ships built at Ragusa
decreased to an alarming extent, and soon even the Spanish merchant
navy began to decline owing to English and Dutch competition. Don
Andrea, Count of Tuhelj, Admiral of Naples, made a series of proposals
with the object of reviving the shipping and the trade of Spain and
its vassal States, especially Ragusa. In a letter to the Senate of
that city, dated March 4, 1634,[487] he mentions the fact that there
had been at one time from 70 to 80 large ships of 1000 to 5000 _salme_
flying the banner of St. Blaise, manned by 5000 sailors, “employed
in traffic throughout the Adriatic and the Mediterranean, voyaging
even unto Lisbon, Flanders, and England. These vessels were well armed
with artillery and ammunition, and manned by excellent officers and
crews who were ever ready to withstand any enemy attempting to molest
them. The assurance that the ships were so good and so well armed, and
that the seamen were so brave and trustworthy, induced all European
merchants to employ them for the transport of their goods. They were
consequently almost always making voyages, and the profits were so
large that not only were they kept in good repair, but new vessels
were constantly built, and the full number was thus maintained. Ragusa
increased in wealth, in honour, and in population, for the Republic was
greatly esteemed by the princes and potentates of the world. But in
consequence of the recent truce concluded by His Catholic Majesty with
the Netherlands, Michael Waez, Count of Mola, was able to introduce
Dutch ships into the Mediterranean and the Adriatic for the purposes of
commerce, and these vessels, not being exposed to the attacks of the
Turks, the Moors, the English, and the other enemies of Spain, were
under no necessity of defending themselves. They were therefore able
to sail with small crews at small expense, and charge lower freights.
Wherefore most of Ragusan ships began to fall into disrepair and were
not renovated.... The only remedy for this woeful decline is that His
Catholic Majesty, in the interests and for the maintenance of this most
excellent Republic and of his own vassals, should grant to all those
who build large ships special exemptions and privileges throughout his
kingdoms of Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia, and that preference
should be given to those designed for the transport of grain, salt,
wool, and other similar goods.”
The Dutch now almost monopolised the carrying trade of the
Mediterranean, and it became cheaper not only to obtain northern
products, but even the spices of the East from Amsterdam, where they
arrived by the Cape route, than directly overland and distributed by
Italian or Dalmatian ships. Neither Spain nor Ragusa paid attention
to his proposals, and both allowed the fatal decay to continue. But
still the Ragusans continued to distinguish themselves in the Spanish
service, especially the members of the Tuhelj family. One of them, Don
Antonio, when he heard of the terrible earthquake at Ragusa, gave up
his brilliant career in Spain and came to the help of his distressed
fatherland. He was subsequently sent as Ragusan envoy on a number
of diplomatic missions. His branch of the family finally entered
the Austrian service, and received high emoluments from the Emperor
Leopold. The reason of these favours lies in the fact that the Tuhelj
still claimed their ancestral estates at Castelnuovo, Risano in the
Herzegovina, and at Kastoria in Macedonia, and were therefore likely to
prove useful in the Austrian campaigns against the Turks. Don Antonio
Damiano, in fact, served for five years in the frontier wars, and ended
his military career after a severe wound at the battle of Dervent in
Bosnia (September 5, 1688). He was then appointed Imperial Resident
at Ragusa, and devoted himself to the cause of the emancipation of
Bosnia and the Herzegovina from the Turkish yoke. He visited those
provinces repeatedly, and when he himself could no longer travel he
arranged an elaborate system of secret information. In 1701 he was
created Knight of Justice and Commissary-General of the Order of St.
George, the object of which was to redeem Christian lands from the
Infidel, and he took up his residence in Vienna to prepare his plan.
But in his old age he retired to Ragusa once more, and spent his last
days in studying the city archives, reconstructing the history of
his own family. He too tried to revive the practice of inducing his
countrymen to enter the Spanish service, and wished to enrol numbers of
experienced Ragusan officers and sailors to man the navies of Spain,
saying that they were far better fighters than the Neapolitans. “Ten
Ragusans,” he wrote, “are worth more than a hundred Lazzaroni.”[488]
But it was now too late, and decadence had gone too far. The large
number of Ragusan vessels lost in the service of Spain discouraged
the citizens, while the population and wealth of Ragusa was greatly
reduced by the earthquake. The Republic was now suffering from the
vexatious attitude of the Venetians and the Turks, who were conspiring
together for the destruction of the last “Antemurale Christianitatis”
in the Balkan peninsula, and the citizens actually proposed to ask for
a Spanish-Neapolitan “Governatore delle Armi.” Don Antonio’s scheme
having fallen through, he returned to his historical studies, and
collected a mass of more or less unreliable information, chiefly culled
from local traditions and native historians.