Ars Nautica

The Republic of Dubrovnik (Ragusa)

According to written sources, the medieval city of Ragusion (Dubrovnik in Croatian) was established after the destruction of the former Roman settlement in the territory of Cavtat (formerly Epidaurum ) at the beginning of the seventh century AD. Recent archaeological evidence attests to the existence of a much older settlement and port.

During the early Middle Ages, Dubrovnik was under Byzantine domination, but at one time it was a separate Byzantine theme. In the ninth century it resisted Saracen attacks. In 869, the city's fleet transported Croatian soldiers to Bari, which was then being held by Saracens. From 1205 to 1358, Dubrovnik recognized the authority of Venice. In 1272 the city's Statute was proclaimed; Book VII of that Statute was entirely dedicated to maritime affairs.

In 1430 the Republic of Dubrovnik was established and became one of the leading maritime powers in the Mediterranean. In 1434 it received a Coena Domini, a papal bull which granted permission to sail to the Holy Land and to other lands of “infidels” to engage in trade and establish consulates. This considerably enhanced Dubrovnik's mercantile strength.

The oldest contract on maritime insurance in Dubrovnik is dated 1395, and Dubrovnik's maritime law on safety ( Ordo super assecuratoribus ), from of 1568, is the oldest law of its kind in the world.

During the fifteenth and sixteenth century Dubrovnik experienced its greatest economic and cultural bloom and its ships, flying the independent maritime flag, engaged in trade throughout the Mediterranean. Between 1539 and 1544, the Republic had at its disposal 132 ships with total carrying capacity of 15,200 carri and 3,000 sailors, while from 1570 to 1585 its 182 ships had total carrying capacity of 36,500 carri and 5,500 sailors. During the Ottoman-Venetian Wars, Ragusans played the important role in trade with the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa. The sixteenth century is usually considered the golden age of Dubrovnik.

The seafarers of Dubrovnik employed various types of ships. Aside from the popular carrack, there were also such ships as the galleon ( galijun ), xebec ( šambek ), grippo ( grip ), galliot ( ormanica or galijica ), felucca ( filjuga ), among others. The Mediterranean sailing ship called the pink was somewhat less present in the merchant fleet.

In the second half of the sixteenth century the Republic of Dubrovnik had between fifty and sixty consulates in the Mediterranean. In the eighteenth century the number of consulates increased to between eighty and ninety, thus testifying to the distant reach of the merchant marine, as well as a well developed diplomatic network.

Dubrovnik natives were among the first to step onto the American continent, and the argosy, a type of vessel with origins in Dubrovnik (Ragusa of Aragosa), even found a place in the work of Shakespeare.

In 1667 Dubrovnik was severely damaged by an earthquake, which benefited Venice in its efforts to destroy Dubrovnik's trade. On several occasions Venetian conquests of Dubrovnik's Ottoman-controlled hinterland severed its important merchant ties with Turkey, but the acumen of Dubrovnik's diplomats saved the city from economic and political disaster.

After abolishing the Venetian Republic in 1797, the French under Napoleon entered Dubrovnik in 1806, and on 1 January 1808 they dissolved the Republic. Even so, the city's glorious cultural and maritime traditions continue to persist.

From the historical accounts:

How owners must keep their vessels:
Therefore we order that all patrons must keep their vessels ready, in sound condition and thoroughly caulked from outside the hull and with regard to the sides and decks and boat, and that each vessel should be coated by agreement between the owner and contractor at the expense of the owner. When stakes are held in the voyage of a ship, scraping with firing shall be the joint cost of the mariner and ship, while all costs of nails, tow and pitch shall be borne by the owners.
(Statute of the City of Dubrovnik , 1272, VII, I)

… there is no such secluded part of Europe or one so inaccessible to the newcomers, where you will not encounter Ragusans practicing their merchant activity.
(Palladius Fuscus, De situ orae Illyrici, Venice 1540)

Ragusans are great merchants, especially in the Mediterranean where they have more than hundred and twenty big ships …
(Jean Palerne, D'Alexandrie a Istanbul: Peregrinations Dans L'Empire Ottoman 1581-1583)

Among the experts and masters (craftsmen or artisans) of galleons the most numerous and probably the most skillful in this sea (the Mediterranean) are Ragusans …
(Bartolomeo Crescentio, Nautica Mediterranea , Venice 1602)

Your mind is tossing on the ocean;
There, where your argosies with portly sail,
Like signiors and rich burghers on the flood,
(William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice , 1595)