Ragusa and Montenegro were independant in 1492. If I remember well, Montenegro was very minor and had no influence before being annexed by Ottomans in 1499. And Ragusa was also minor, if I understand well Savant. And inland, with a common border with all these territories, lies the Ottoman Empire.
Raphael, your first paragraph above is on the mark. Both Montenegro and Ragusa were independents with Ragusa a nominal vassal of Hungary in the sense that it was pleadged to provide 2 warships. Subsequent to Mohacs, Ragusa payed a small tribute in the way of ducats to the Ottomans. This was really for the priviledge of continuing trade, not so much 'vassalage.' The Ottomans needed a window on the west much like the Russians and Ragusa was such a trade window in that goods were freely exchanged between Ragusa and Christian nations and then made their way to the Balkans. I think this was an important motivation for the Ottomans to treat Ragusa differently.
Ragusa was surrounded by Ottoman territory. Along the very northern border they were separated from venetian lands by just the marshes of the Neretva River.
So which ruler shall we choose for the province Ragusa ? I would like of course to hear Savant’s critics on the preceeding and opinion on the nationality we should give to the province.
The government of Ragusa was akin to that of Venice except that unlike the position of Doge, the Ragusans adopted a council. The Great Council (numbering 200-300) was the most powerful collective body and comprised solely of aristocrats. There was a Senate (Rogati) and a Small Council. The Senate actually ran foreign affairs and varied in numbers but 35 members was most common.
The Ragusans did not wish to have an executive run the country. In many respects they were distrustful of centralized power and there are very few statues or markers recognizing individual success in the city (perhaps Hartmann can verify this also). This was deliberate in order that the ruling families would not try to one-up each other. It was designed to make personal rule impossible. All decisions were reached by board or committee and even ambassadors were
sent in pairs to foreign nations. The Senate was too large a body to act like that of Venice's Council of Ten (which acquired more power as that of the Doge declined). So, you have a picture of a society very obsessed with maintaining social tranquility at the expense of aggressive foreign trade or acquisitions. It was as if individual recognition was actually actively censored.
Ragusa did have an executive position (initially three execuitives who co-ruled and then just one) but never could he make an independent decision. All proclomations were by and in the name of the Senate (the Senate's name was the Rogati). So the executive was little more than a figure-head. This obviates the need for specific ruler names.
The names of these rulers and the aristocracy were a rather strange Italo-Slavic hybrid:
Radigne, Prandi, del Andriano, Crosius, Ballislav
The language was very unusual also in that it was initially Latin and evolved into Italic and then increasingly Slavic. The names of citizens reflect this as well.
I think it can’t be said to be Montenegro, nor Ragusa (following Savant’s synthesis). Can it be said venetian, while only a very thin part of the map province was venetian ? I would say no, but this is a personal opinion, of course. The only lasting option is turkish, I think.
I have done more reading this morning and it would appear that to be most faithful to the state of the situation in 1492 and for some decades thereafter that Ragusa was certainly NOT Turkish. Like I said before, formally it had these obligations to Hungary:
- provide 2 warships in times of war
- sing the King's (of Hungary) praises in the churches 3 times a year
- fly the standard of Hungary
- pay 500 ipperperi a year
No such obligation aside from the payment of ducats was required in relation to Turkey. Also recall that seven powers essentially guaranteed Ragusa's freedom and the Turks used it as a way to obtain prohibited western goods - especially armor and technology that they wished to copy.
So in sum, I would say Ragusa would best be classified as:
- an independent minor with CB shields for Hungary and Venice.
- good relations with Hungary, Papacy, Naples, Genoa, Spain, and Austria, less so with Venice bc of constant worry of Venetian ambitions, and very negative with Turkey
- no Wharf but a few warships
- some high level of merchant ships relative to it's size (10% of the population was involved in seafaring)
- source of metals (it had access to mines in the interior and produced finished metal goods)
- traders in the Constantinople COT
If Ragusa cannot be a minor, I think it should belong to Hungary (with Venice CB shield). The Ragusans seemed most satisfied with that relationship and never rioted to protest it (unlike with Venice in which there were several occassions of unrest - but recall, the Venetians exercised more direct control). The Ottomans never really 'ruled' over Ragusa in a significant way other than being a BIG shadow on their back doorstep. In fact, if you recall, Ragusa joined the Holy League at Lepanto despite being completely surrounded by the Turks at the time.
An aside - Ragusa had built a new Arsenal for ship building outside the city (at Gruz) in 1525 and by 1530 it employed 100 boatbuilders. There was also a small harbor on the north side of the town in addition to the city's main southern harbor. These were high quality ships and the tonnage of Ragusa was larger than that of England in 1560. By 1580 English merchant shipping totalled 76k tons and Ragusa slipped behind at 40k tons.
Did I miss anything?
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~ Salve ~
