LITERATURE
Owing to her position between the Italian and Slavonic elements,
and her connections with Venice and with the Serb States, Ragusan
literature was of a twofold, or indeed of a threefold, nature. There
were Ragusans who wrote in Latin, others in Italian, and others in
Slavonic. But so mixed was the character of the people that in many
instances the same author composed works in all the three languages.
“Dalmatia, and especially Ragusa, which represents the highest degree
of Slavonic culture, shows at the end of the Middle Ages a peculiar
and characteristic blend of Italian and Slavonic elements, which even
to-day is a remarkable trait of this people.”[526] Venetian influence
strengthened the original Latin element of the population, and most
of the nobles had Italian names, although later these were given a
Slavonic form as well. Thus Gondola is sometimes written Gundulić,
Palmota, Palmotić, Bona Bunić, &c. The collapse of Venetian power in
Dalmatia in 1358 opened the way to Slavonic influences, for Hungary
was too alien to the Dalmatians to impress more than her political
sovereignty on them. But Latin and Italian culture was maintained by
the side of that of the Slaves, and indeed the Slavonic literature at
Ragusa was wholly inspired by that of Italy.
“Under the influence of peculiar historical conditions there arose on
the Serbo-Croatian littoral an important poetical literature, of which
Ragusa was the centre, and the pure vernacular the organ.”[527] It had,
however, no connection with the old Slavonic tradition or the Servian
popular songs, but was based almost exclusively on Italian influences,
for Ragusan culture was purely of Italian origin, and the conditions
utterly unlike those of the people of the neighbouring Slavonic States.
The literary movements and forms of Italy were all reflected at Ragusa,
and thus we find specimens of Latin ecclesiastical literature, of
the Provençal troubadours, of Renaissance culture and the revival
of learning. In the Ragusan epic Italian influence is conspicuous,
and also in the native lyric poetry, which is chiefly inspired from
Petrarch’s _Canzoni_; while the Ragusan dramas are imitated from the
mediæval mystery plays, the pastoral plays of Tasso, and Italian
popular comedies. Even the so-called “macaronic” verses were adopted at
Ragusa, _i.e._ a medley of dog-Latin and Slavonic. The outward forms
of Italian literary life were copied no less than literary styles,
and learned literary academies were established at Ragusa, where men
of culture met to discuss their favourite topics. The city came to
be known as the “Slavonic Athens.” Learned Italians were invited to
lecture at Ragusa, for the Senate maintained chairs of Italian and
Latin literature since the early fifteenth century. The study of Greek
had been to some extent kept up owing to the old Byzantine tradition,
and it was now promoted by the influx of learned Greeks who took refuge
at Ragusa after the fall of Constantinople. On the other hand, many
Ragusans went abroad, especially to Italy, for purposes of study, and
some of them achieved considerable fame in various spheres of life,
such as Stoicus or Stoiković one of the most celebrated theologians of
the fifteenth century, and Anselmo Banduri, the archæologist.
The Ragusan poets who wrote in Latin may be dismissed in a few words.
The most celebrated of them was Elio Cerva, who went to Rome in 1476
at the age of sixteen, where he studied the humanities, and joined the
Quirinal academy. He Latinised his name according to the fashion of the
time into Ælius Lampridius Cervinus, and two years later he was crowned
Poet-laureate. He soon returned to Ragusa, married, and determined to
devote his life to the public service, but on the death of his wife
he took Holy Orders, and spent most of his time at Ombla. He died in
1520. He was much appreciated by his contemporaries, especially by
Sabellicus and Palladius Fuscus. His chief compositions are an elegy on
his retreat at Ombla, another on the tomb of Cicero’s daughter, and a
number of odes, epigrams, and hymns.
Another Latin poet of some reputation was Giovanni Gozze. He was
employed by the Republic on various embassies, in the course of which
he made the acquaintance of a number of statesmen and men of letters,
among others that of the celebrated Agnolo Poliziano. To the latter
he afterwards sent some of his own works, and Poliziano’s letter of
thanks, in which he expresses admiration for the poems, is published,
together with his other epistles. Giovanni Bona, who died in 1534, was
the author of several poems of a religious character. Niccolò Bratutti
(1564-1632) of Mezzo was made Bishop of Sarsina in Italy, but was
afterwards imprisoned, during which period he began to write religious
poems. These were published in 1630 under the title of _Martyrologium
Poeticum Sanctorum Totius Italiæ_. The name of Stefano Gradi may also
be mentioned as the author of sundry works in Latin on philosophy,
epistles, poems, &c. He did much for the relief of his fellow-citizens
at the time of the earthquake, and was instrumental in obtaining help
from the Pope and other foreign potentates. He died in 1683.
Far more important is the Slavonic literature of Ragusa, Slavonic,
as I have said, only in language, but Italian in character. The
first Ragusan to write verse in the vernacular was Šiško Menčetić or
Sigismondo Menze (1457-1501), who may be called the father of Ragusan
poetry. His compositions were chiefly love lyrics of the Provençal
troubadour character, a form introduced into Ragusa through the
Republic’s connection with the Spanish court of Naples. His canzoniere
is entitled _Pjesni Ljuvesne_.[528] Of a similar character are the
poems of Gjore Držić (died 1510), and those of Hannibal Lučić or Lucio
(1480-1540), author of a play called _Robinja_, or the Slave girl, of
which the subject is an episode of the Turkish wars.[529] He also wrote
an ode in praise of Ragusa, of which the following is an extract: “My
songs cannot in any way tell of all the lands with which the famous
Ragusa trades. Over mountains and through forests, all the world over,
does she send her merchants without let or hindrance, through lands
where the sun shines from afar, where it burns moderately, and where
it blazes overmuch. All receive the wares which they peacefully bring,
and what is given in exchange they peacefully carry away. Worthy is the
city that she should everywhere be praised, that God and men should
bless her!”
Nikola Vetranić-Čavčić (1482-1576) was much admired as a poet. He
belonged to a noble Ragusan family, and was abbot of a monastery, but
later in life he retired to a hermitage on a small island off the
coast, where he continued to write poetry and keep up his intercourse
with literary friends. His _Sacrifice of Abraham_ is considered one of
the best of the Slavonic mystery plays, for it contains really artistic
presentations of character and situations, while some of the episodes
begin to resemble Servian popular poetry. In a poem called _Remeta_, or
the Hermit, he describes his island retreat, and in the _Putnik_ (the
Wanderer) Ragusan scenery. His _Italija_ is an ode to Italy, in which
he shows that the Ragusans considered themselves almost Italians, for
he hopes that her ancient glory may return to Italy, and that she
will remain independent of the heathen (the Turks), and that neither
the Eagle nor the Cock (the Empire and France) will do her any harm,
and he wishes her freedom and unity. Vetranić is also the author of a
translation of the Hecuba of Euripides. Andrija Čubranović (died about
1550), unlike the other poets mentioned, was a man of the people.
His best known poem is the _Jegjupka_, or the Gipsy.[530] It seems
to have been a carnival song, and recalls some of the Italian _Canti
Carnascialeschi_. It is said to have been publicly recited at Ragusa in
1527, and is considered remarkable for the purity of the language.
[Illustration: GIOVANNI GONDOLA
(_From the Galleria di Ragusei Illustri_)]
A form of literature much in vogue at Ragusa was the pastoral play
or idyll, based on Italian models. The Slavonic pastoral play is
of two types, that of Ragusa, which is comic, and that of Lesina,
which is more purely idyllic. The mathematician and astronomer
Nikola Nalješković (1510-1587) achieved some poetic fame as a writer
of these plays, in which the shepherd falls in love not with the
classical nymph, but with the _vila_ of South-Slavonic popular legend.
Another writer of plays was Marino Držić, praised by his Italian
contemporaries for “il puro vago e dolce canto.” His principal works
are _Tirena_,[531] _Dundo Maroje_,[532] and _Novela od Stanca_ (the
tale from Stanac). He also wrote sacred poems.
Dinko Ranjina or Domenico Ragnina (1536-1607) was the most famous
Ragusan poet of the sixteenth century. Born of one of the noblest
families in the town, he spent some years in Italy attending to his
father’s business. Subsequently he returned home and entered the
service of the Republic, and was elected Rector several times. His
poems are chiefly love lyrics; but he also wrote epistles, didactic
poems, and idylls in the classical Renaissance manner, as well as
translations from Tibullus, Propertius, and Martial.
Dinko Zlatarić (1556-1510), also a noble, studied at Padua, and at the
age of twenty-three was appointed Rector of the University gymnasium.
Thence he went to Agram, and then home to Ragusa. He translated Tasso’s
_Aminta_ under the title of _Ljubomir_, the _Electra_ of Sophocles,
and the episode of Pyramus and Thisbe from Ovid, and is the author of
a number of love idylls and didactic poems. With his name is coupled
that of Floria Zuzzeri, a Ragusan lady renowned for her beauty and her
virtue, also a poetess of distinction, whom he adored. She had been the
centre of a little circle of literary ladies at Ragusa until her father
took her to Ancona on business. There she married Bartolommeo Pescioni,
a wealthy Florentine, in 1577. She settled in Florence, where she kept
a _salon_ frequented by many famous Italian authors and dilettanti, and
also by Ragusans, such as the aforesaid Zlatarić, Ragnina, and Giovanni
Gondola. She wrote sonnets both in Italian and Slavonic, some of which
became famous throughout Italy. She died in 1600.
The most celebrated of all the Ragusan poets is Ivan Gundulić or
Giovanni Gondola (1588-1638). Very little is known of his life beyond
the fact that he studied the classics, philosophy, and law, and that he
was a great admirer of Italian literature. He desired to introduce the
harmony of Italian verse into Illyrian, and to purify that language.
He preferred the style of Tasso, which he closely imitated, to that
of Petrarch, till then the favourite model of Ragusan poets. Instead
of a line of ten, eleven, twelve, or thirteen syllables, he adopted
that of eight, in rhymed strophes, which he deemed more fluid and
vigorous, capable of expressing feelings with greater power, and more
in accordance with the genius of the language. His first essay was a
translation of Tasso’s _Gerusalemme_, after which he devoted himself to
the drama, composing or translating from the Italian a number of plays,
which he and a circle of literary friends produced on the stage. The
chief of these are _Dubravka_, _Arijadna_, _Armida_, and _Galatea_.
But the work on which his fame chiefly rests, and is regarded as the
most important composition in the Servian language, is the _Osman_,
an epic in twenty cantos. The subject is the war between Turkey and
Poland, and the fall of the Sultan Osman after his defeat. The Polish
victory of Koczim in 1621 forces the Turks to make peace, and the
action of the poem begins at this moment. After the defeat of the Turks
Osman deplores the disaster and attributes it to the decadence of the
Ottomans, and proposes a number of reforms. He orders the arrest of his
uncle Mustafa, who had already usurped the throne once, sends Ali to
Warsaw to sue for peace, and Cislar to the provinces to find a number
of fair damsels, from among whom he will choose the Sultana, and orders
that the Polish prisoner, Prince Koreski, immured in the Castle of the
Seven Towers, shall be carefully watched. Ali goes through Moldavia,
where he finds Kronoslava, Koreski’s wife, attired as a warrior, and
tells her of the imprisonment of her husband. She resolves to go to
Constantinople in disguise to obtain his ransom. The Poles celebrate
the anniversary of the victory of Koczim, when Prince Ladislas of
Poland has an encounter with Sokolica, the daughter of the Grand Mogul,
and her amazons; he captures them, but out of admiration for their
courage sets them free, and they return to Constantinople. Ali reaches
Warsaw and enters the Royal Palace, where he notes the splendour of
the court and sees the tapestries representing the battle of Koczim,
here described in detail. He concludes the treaty of peace and returns
home. Cislar has collected a number of maidens from Greece, Macedonia,
and the Archipelago, and goes to the borders of Moldavia to capture
Danica, the daughter of Prince Ljubidrag, who, having lost his estates,
is living in a rural retreat. While he and his friends are performing
rustic games, Cislar and his companions arrive and carry off Danica.
Satan, enraged at the victories of the Christians, summons his demons,
and flies with them to Constantinople to raise trouble. There, too,
Kronoslava has arrived in search of her husband; she is told that he is
in love with the daughter of the governor of the prison, and although
not quite convinced, she begins to feel jealous. By bribery she manages
to see Prince Koreski, is convinced of his fidelity, and falls into his
arms. The Sultan soon afterwards sets him free, and he returns home
with his wife. Cislar appears with his fair captives, but Osman, seeing
Danica’s despair and hearing her story, sends her back to her father.
Sokolica, too, comes to Constantinople, and Osman chooses her as first
Sultana, and marries two Greek maidens as well. He then prepares for an
expedition to Asia against the rebels, but the Janissaries revolt, and
demand the heads of Dilaver Pasha the Grand Vizir, of the Hodja, and of
the chief eunuch. The rebellion spreads, the Grand Vizir is murdered,
and Osman’s uncle Mustafa freed and proclaimed Sultan. While Osman is
deploring his misfortunes and recalling the glories of his ancestors,
he, too, is assassinated by Mustafa’s orders.
This poem, although not of first-rate quality, has some originality,
and is interesting from its subject. It is only at Ragusa that a
Christian writer would have made a Turkish Sultan his hero, and it
is only here and there that a few passages are introduced reflecting
unfavourably on the Turks. A great deal of it is simply an adaptation
of Tasso, and whole passages are translated from that work. It is full
of repetitions and exaggerations and useless accessories, but it also
contains many passages of real beauty and feeling, such as the address
to Ragusa: “O mayest thou ever live peaceful and free as thou art now,
O white city of Ragusa, famous throughout the world, pleasing to the
heavens.... Bondmen are thy neighbours, oppressive violence grinds
them all down, thy power alone sits on the throne of freedom” (Canto
viii.). Gondola also apostrophises Stephen Dušan, the Nemanjas, Marko
Kraljević, and other Servian heroes. Cantos xiv. and xv. were lost,
and have been rewritten by Petar Sorkočević, Marino Zlatarić, and Ivan
Mažuranić. The interest is divided between the two heroes, Osman and
Ladislas, and a great deal of the work is lyrical rather than epic in
character.[533]
Of the prose writers of this time, the one most deserving of notice
is Mauro Orbini, who died in 1601. His chief work, which is written
in Italian, is entitled _Storia del Regno degli Slavi_. It is of no
great historic value, but it is important as being the first attempt
to deal with the history of all the Slaves as a comprehensive whole.
Other historians are Niccolò Ragnina, author of the _Annali di Ragusa_,
Giacomo Luccari, whose _Copioso Ristretto degli Annali di Ragusa_
contains much interesting information about the constitution of the
Republic, and Giunio Resti, author of the very detailed _Cronaca
Ragusina_, in thirteen books, a most unreliable work. None of these
writers have shown any conspicuous qualities as historians of their
native city, being inspired by a strong political bias, and are only to
be consulted with caution.
Ragusa gave birth to several men of science, of whom two deserve to
be remembered—Marino Ghetaldi and Ruggiero Bosković.[534] Ghetaldi
was born in 1566, and studied in Rome and Paris. After travelling
about Europe he obtained the professorship of mathematics at Louvain.
He subsequently returned to Ragusa, and served in the Government
offices. In summer he would retire to his villa by the sea to meditate
and make experiments in a cave on his estates. He was regarded by
the people as a magician, and his experiments in setting fire to
boats out at sea by means of mirrors and burning-glasses were
considered quite diabolical. He wrote _Promotus Archimedes, seu de
variis corporum generibus gravitate et magnitudine comparatis_ (Rome,
1603), and many other mathematical works. He is said to have applied
geometry to algebra before Des Cartes, and to have been the first to
discover equations of the fourth degree. He died in 1627. Bosković
was born in 1711, and became a Jesuit at an early age. He obtained
the professorship of mathematics in Rome, and measured the meridian
between Rome and Rimini with the Englishman Maire. He made a map of
the Papal States, and wrote a work on the molecular theory of matter,
_Theoria Philosophiæ Naturalis redacta ad unicam Legem Virium in Natura
existentium_. In 1759 he was sent to England on a diplomatic mission,
where he made the acquaintance of Dr. Johnson, and was elected Fellow
of the Royal Society, to whom he dedicated his Latin poem _De Solis
et Lunæ Defectus_. He afterwards travelled in Turkey for scientific
purposes, and was then appointed Professor of Mathematics at Pavia
(1764) and Director of the Brera Observatory. His vanity and egoism
made him many enemies, and in 1770 he left Italy for Paris, where he
was made Director of Optics to the Ministry of Marine, an office which
he held for ten years. In 1783 he returned to Italy and published all
his works. His health was failing, his reputation on the wane, and he
soon fell into melancholy and madness, and died in 1787. Besides other
works, he wrote the _Elementa Universæ Mathesos_, published in 1754.