Republic of Ragusa

Republic of Ragusa
Republica de Ragusa (Dalmatian)
Respublica Ragusina (Latin)
Repubblica di Ragusa (Italian)
Dubrovačka Republika (Croatian)
Repùblega de Raguxa (Venetian)
1358–1808
Motto: Latin: Non bene pro toto libertas venditur auro
Croatian: Sloboda se ne prodaje za sve zlato svijeta
Italian: La libertà non si vende nemmeno per tutto l'oro del mondo
"Liberty is not well sold for all the gold"
Borders of the Republic of Ragusa, from 1426 (encompassing also the area labelled "Neum" until 1718)
Borders of the Republic of Ragusa, from 1426 (encompassing also the area labelled "Neum" until 1718)
StatusSovereign state which was a Tributary state of:[citation needed]
CapitalRagusa
42°39′N 18°04′E / 42.650°N 18.067°E / 42.650; 18.067
Common languages
Official[1]
Common[1]
  • Dalmatian[a]
  • Croatian[b]
Religion
Catholicism
GovernmentAristocratic merchant republic (city-state)
Rector as Head of state 
• 1358
Nikša Sorgo
• 1807-1808
Sabo Giorgi
Historical eraMiddle Ages, Renaissance, Early modern period
• City established
c. 614
• Established
1358
• Fourth Crusade
(Venetian invasion)

1205
27 May 1358
• Ottoman tributary
from 1458
from 1684
26 May 1806
9 July 1807
31 January 1808
Population
• Estimate
90 000 in the XVI Century
CurrencyRagusa perpera and others
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Republic of Venice
Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)
Illyrian Provinces
Sanjak of Herzegovina
Today part ofCroatia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Montenegro
a A Romance language similar to both Italian and Romanian[1]
b While present in the region even before the establishment of the Republic, Croatian, also referred to as Slavic or Illyrian at the time, had not become widely spoken until late 15th century.[1]
Dubrovnik before the 1667 earthquake
Painting of Dubrovnik from 1667

The Republic of Ragusa (Dalmatian: Republica de Ragusa; Latin: Respublica Ragusina; Italian: Repubblica di Ragusa; Croatian: Dubrovačka Republika; Venetian: Repùblega de Raguxa) was an aristocratic maritime republic centered on the city of Dubrovnik (Ragusa in Italian and Latin; Raguxa in Venetian) in South Dalmatia (today in southernmost Croatia) that carried that name from 1358 until 1808. It reached its commercial peak in the 15th and the 16th centuries, before being conquered by Napoleon's French Empire and formally annexed by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1808. It had a population of about 30,000 people, of whom 5,000 lived within the city walls.[2] Its motto was "Non bene pro toto libertas venditur auro", a Latin phrase which can be translated as "Liberty is not well sold for all the gold".[3]

  1. ^ a b c d Lodge & Pugh 2007, pp. 235–238.
  2. ^ David Rheubottom (2000). Age, Marriage, and Politics in Fifteenth-Century Ragusa. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-823412-0.
  3. ^ Riley, Henry Thomas (1866). Dictionary of Latin quotations, proverbs, maxims, and mottos. Covent Garden: Bell & Daldy. p. 274. Retrieved 28 February 2010.

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