Commune of Ragusa

Who rules

Name

Not pinned for 1199-1200. The last count on record is Gervasius (Krvaš), to whom Ban Kulin's charter of 29 August 1189 is addressed.

Title

Count (comes, knez) of Ragusa, with the commune's council and assembly

Since

not pinned

Born

not pinned

Family

The count was a Ragusan noble chosen by the commune before Venice began sending counts (1205).

Confidence

low

English Wikipedia (Republic of Ragusa; Charter of Ban Kulin); Italian Wikipedia (Repubblica di Ragusa) for the Ancona alliance of 1199; FMG (Bosnia) for the 1189 charter.

Overlord

The Byzantine emperor (Alexios III Angelos), nominally. Ragusa had accepted the Norman kings of Sicily as overlords in the later 1180s (sources differ: 1186 or 1189 to 1190 or 1192) and returned to Byzantine overlordship afterwards; it is not under Venice (Venetian counts from 1205) nor under Hungary on 1 January 1200.

What the realm holds

• The walled city on its rock, with the mainland quarter below Mount Srđ joined to the old islet town.
• The Astarea: the coastal district from the Ombla (Rijeka dubrovačka) and Zaton past Gruž to the Župa (Breno); its eastern edge in 1200 is not pinned.
• The Elaphite islands (Koločep, Lopud, Šipan), Ragusan since about 1080, and Lokrum with its Benedictine abbey.
• Not yet Ragusan: Lastovo (13th century), Ston and Pelješac (1333), Mljet (the island of the Benedictines of St Mary, given them by the great prince of Hum Desa in 1151, under the princes of Hum and the rulers of Raška; finally Ragusan in 1410) and Konavle with Cavtat (1419-1427).

How it was acquired

An old Byzantine town (Rausium), self-governing under the emperor; the district was enlarged in the 11th century.

Allies and rivals

Friends: Ban Kulin of Bosnia (1189), Ancona (alliance from 1199), the Italian ports; peace with the Kačić of Omiš (1190) and with Serbia (1186). Rivals: Venice, which wants control of the Adriatic ports; Split and Bar in church matters; the princes of Hum and the Serbian lords of Travunia and Konavle at its gates.

The realm that morning

Self-governing under its own count, recognising the Byzantine emperor. No war or raid is recorded that winter. Venice has no hold on the city yet.

Wealth

Trade between the Balkan interior (Bosnia, Serbia, Hum) and Italy and Byzantium: salt from the coast, cattle, hides and wax outward (silver and slaves become staples only later), cloth, wine and oil inward; shipping and the carrying trade; the Ragusan merchants' freedom from toll in Bosnia and free trade in Byzantium.

Military

The city walls and a small fleet; Ragusan galleys captured the galleys of Nemanja's brother Stracimir after the raid on Korčula of 10 August 1184. No numbers are recorded.

Threats

• Venice, which takes Ragusa under its counts in 1205 after the fall of Constantinople.
• The princes of Hum and Serbia, who besieged and raided it in 1184-1185.
• Pirates of Omiš, despite the peace of 1190.

Court and officers

The count presides over the commune with judges and a council of nobles; the popular assembly (laudum populi) still counts. The statute is later (1272). No officer is named for 1199-1200.

Church

The archbishop of Ragusa (Church map record) is Bernard, archbishop since 1189 or soon after, a foreigner who by about 1200 was looking after the vacant see of Carlisle in England and was translated there by the pope on 15 May 1203; whether he is in Ragusa that winter is not pinned. In 1199 Innocent III raised Bar (Antivari) to an archbishopric at Vukan's request, taking the southern sees from Ragusa, and Split disputes Ragusa's hold on the Bosnian see.

Treaties

Molfetta (1148); Pisa (1169); Ravenna (1188); peace with Stefan Nemanja and his brothers Stracimir and Miroslav (1186); Ban Kulin's charter (29 August 1189); peace with the Kačić of Omiš, giving Ragusan ships safe passage (1190); Isaac II's privilege (1191); alliance with Ancona (from 1199).

Wars and feuds

None in force on 1 January 1200 as far as the sources show.

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

In 1200

1. During 1200 (not pinned)Ragusa continues to trade under Byzantine overlordship; nothing dated is known for the year.

Later, on the likely course

1. 15 May 1203 (later)Archbishop Bernard is translated to Carlisle.Depends on: The pope and King John.
2. 1205 (later)After the Latin conquest of Constantinople (April 1204), Venice imposes its own count on Ragusa.Depends on: The Fourth Crusade taking Constantinople. Stopped by: The crusade not reaching Constantinople.

Places of note

• Lokrum: Island abbey of the Benedictines facing the city.
• Lopud: Elaphite island, Ragusan since about 1080.
• Šipan: Largest of the Elaphite islands.

Where the sources disagree

• Sources differ on the Norman interlude: English Wikipedia gives Norman rule in 1189-1190, other summaries 1186-1192. Both end before 1200.
• English Wikipedia's infobox dates Venetian rule from 1205 and its text from 1202 (tribute imposed by the crusade fleet); Italian Wikipedia gives 1204. None of these is before 1 January 1200.
• Lastovo's union with Ragusa is given as the mid 13th century (English Wikipedia) or 1272 (Italian Wikipedia).

Evidence: The treaties and the overlordship are well attested; the count and council of 1199-1200 are not named in the sources used.

On the map: The commune's ground is drawn by its town record (Ragusa).

Primary sources for this realm

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• The Chronicle of the Priest of Dioclea, Anonymous (the priest of Dioclea; Rudger, archbishop of Bar, by Zivkovic's attribution) (disputed: the 12th century on the older view, about 1295 to 1301 on the current one). The chronicle ends before 1200 and gives no event of that year. Read online
• History of the bishops of Salona and Split, by Thomas the Archdeacon, Thomas of Split (about 1266). Written two generations later by a Split churchman born about 1200. Read online
• History of the doges of Venice (about 1229, with a continuation). The earliest surviving Venetian narrative close to the events. Read online
• Charters of the kingdom of Croatia, Dalmatia and Slavonia, volume 2, 1101 to 1200 (documents of 1101 to 1200, edited 1904). The Croatian and Dalmatian charters to 1200: the acts of Duke Andrew as lord of Croatia and Dalmatia (1197 to 1204), the Hungarian kings' grants, the Templars and the bishops of Zagreb, Split, Zadar and Trogir, the communal statutes of the coastal towns, and the papal letters of 1200 to Emeric about Ban Kulin of Bosnia and heresy. Read online
• Hungarian royal charters: Fejér's Codex diplomaticus and Szentpétery's critical calendar of the Árpád kings (documents of the 11th to 13th centuries; Fejér published 1829 to 1844, Szentpétery vol. 1 in 1923). The documentary base for Hungary in 1200: King Emeric's grants to Pannonhalma, the bishops, the Templars and Hospitallers, Duke Andrew's acts in Croatia and Dalmatia, and the papal letters of 1200 to Emeric about his brother's rebellion and about heresy in Bosnia. Read online
• Documents on the older commercial and political history of the Republic of Venice, part 1, 814 to 1205 (documents of 814 to 1205, edited 1856). Venice's treaties and privileges in full text. Read online