1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 202 Ragusa Changes Flag

The Republic of Ragusa, on the northwest coast of the Balkan Peninsula.

The Republic of Ragusa is an Italian city-state republic centered on the city of Ragusa. The entire country, from government organization to administrative structure, is close to the Italian states and has a very strong Latin flavor.

However, the main ethnic group of this small state is Croatians, the mainstream language is Croatian, and the official belief is Catholicism, but folk religion is very chaotic. In addition to the two major denominations of Roman Catholicism and Greek Orthodoxy, there are many small sects that are excluded from the mainstream sects.

The city of Ragusa is located in the center of the east coast of the Adriatic Sea. It is an important hub for communication between the Balkans and Italy. It has had frequent trade since ancient times and has extremely advantageous geographical conditions.

Due to its close proximity to Italy, the people of Ragusa were influenced by the Italian city-state republican ideas at an early stage and established a city council. Officials at all levels were nominally elected by the council.

The Republic of Ragusa was originally born in the land and sea struggle between Hungary and Venice. Relying on the support of the land power Hungary, it drove out the Venetian colonists and brought some of the surrounding coastal territories under its rule. Facing the sea and backed by the mainland, it quickly rose in the trade activities between Italy and the Balkans, with a prosperous economy, flourishing culture, and a population of up to 50,000. It is known as the "Athens of the Yugoslavs."

Since then, the Republic of Ragusa has established its own national policy, relying on the land power on the Balkan Peninsula to confront the aggressive maritime hegemon Venice.

In the following hundred years, the Balkan Peninsula was full of turmoil, and the major powers flickered like stars. The Republic of Ragusa successively surrendered to Hungary, Serbia and the Ottoman Empire in exchange for their protection.

However, a few years ago, the Ottoman Empire was defeated, Hungary was in civil strife, and Serbia and Bosnia were on the verge of division. The people of Ragusa were surprised to find that in the entire northwestern Balkans, there was no longer a land power that they could rely on.

As expected, they were once again occupied by Venice and forced to sign an unequal treaty.

For a commercial republic that relies on maritime trade, hiding under the wings of others is not a shame at all. If handled properly, the merchants of Ragusa can even gain a lot of benefits.

Decades ago, the Republic of Ragusa obtained many trade preferences from the Ottoman Empire and actively participated in the Balkan trade and Adriatic sea trade. Not only did it not decline due to the Ottoman bloodsucking, but it became increasingly prosperous.

A few years ago, when the Venetian ships arrived, they impressed the merchant council of Ragusa with the trade concessions in the eastern Mediterranean, which led them to sign the treaty.

In fact, after the Republic of Ragusa followed Venice, its trade income also grew rapidly, and it built trading houses and trading posts in Egypt, the Levant and the Aegean islands.

However, with the outbreak of the St. Titus Uprising, the full-scale war between the Republic of Venice and the Eastern Roman Empire officially started, and the Eastern Mediterranean suddenly became a tragic battlefield. Among every ten merchant ships of the Republic of Ragusa going to the Eastern Mediterranean to do business, three were sunk or captured, and another three were forced to pay heavy tolls to the pirates before they could leave safely.

Injury for injury, blood for blood, this was nothing for the Eastern Roman Empire, which had a vast territory and was infused with foreign gold. It was also acceptable for the Republic of Venice, which had accumulated wealth for two hundred years and owned half of the Po River Plain. But for the Republic of Ragusa, which had an extremely small territory and was completely dependent on trade interests, this was nothing short of the worst nightmare.

Then, the Treaty of Cairo was signed, and the Italian states lost most of their trading posts and trade preferences in Egypt, and were forced to engage in a "trade war" with the merchants of the Eastern Roman Empire.

The policy of the Eastern Empire targeted the deepest profit-seeking in human nature, and adopted the method of raising prices to squeeze the Italian states out of the market, thereby gradually completing the monopoly of Mamluk trade.

Due to the distance, it only took a few days for Mamluk goods to reach Cyrenaica and Morea, but several weeks to reach Italy. Even without considering the country's tax policy, the merchants of the Eastern Empire had lower transportation costs and could naturally afford higher commodity prices.

This "trade war" soon spread from Egypt to the Levant, and the merchants in the Levant began to realize that Greek merchants would buy their goods at higher prices. They either asked Venetian merchants to increase prices or directly transferred their trading posts to the ship merchants of the Eastern Empire.

This is not an advanced tactic. When Pisa, Genoa and Venice were competing for supremacy, they also adopted such trade strategies, aiming to exclude trade rivals and dominate the market.

Of course, after achieving a monopoly, prices must still be lowered.

This was a great hardship for the merchants of Ragusa, as the trade profits they had gained by selling their freedom vanished in the blink of an eye.

They also sent envoys to Constantinople and Carthage, trying to remain "neutral" in the war between the Eastern Roman Empire and Venice, hoping that the Eastern Empire would no longer attack their merchant ships and trading stations.

In response, Isaac agreed to the envoy's request, but demanded that the Republic of Ragusa tear up all treaties with the Republic of Venice, expel all diplomatic envoys of the Republic of Venice, and recognize the protection agreement between the two countries during the Komnenos dynasty.

The envoy was very embarrassed and promised to go back and think about it carefully.

This consideration took into account the fall of southern Crete, the fall of Dyrrachium, and the defeat of the Venetian army.

In a mansion in the city of Ragusa, the then Mayor of Ragusa, Paul Rosso, looked gloomily at the councilors who were arguing fiercely on both sides of the square table, feeling extremely annoyed.

The Republic of Ragusa was an aristocratic parliamentary republic. The parliament was divided into the Grand Committee and the Small Committee. All members were city nobles. The head of the republic was elected and, like other commercial republics, retained the feudal title of "Grand Duke" and could also be called "Grand Chairman."

The current Archbishop of Ragusa, Barolo, comes from the Bramire family, the most powerful business family in Ragusa. The family started out with the Balkan land trade and once maintained a very good relationship with the Ottoman Empire.

After the Ottomans withdrew from the Balkans, a power vacuum emerged in the northwestern Balkans, which was a region of mixed ethnic groups, numerous religions, and chaotic culture, and soon fell into continuous chaos.

The merchants of Ragusa mainly traded in metals, wood, furs and precious handicrafts. They hated chaos and loved order and peace. Only in a peaceful and stable situation could their fundamental interests be guaranteed.

If a war really breaks out, the short-sighted military leaders in various places will not care about long-term interests. They will just rob goods, kidnap merchants, and take money.

It takes a long time to establish order, but only a day or two is enough to create chaos.

After land trade was blocked, the Blamire family and other land trading families began to turn their attention to the sea and agreed to Venice's harsh conditions.

Then, just a few years later, they lost all their money again.

"Have you had enough noise?"

Brozo pounded the table and glared at the senators.

"Chairman, I suspect there are spies in the Senate. They are prepared to fight to the death for the Venetians regardless of Ragusa's interests!"

One senator immediately shouted.

"The Venetians are about to be defeated. Even if we don't surrender to the emperor of the Eastern Empire, we should take this opportunity to regain our freedom!"

The senator spoke indignantly, raising his right hand high and pointing to the national motto on the wall.

Freedom is better than gold.

The senators who opposed him were speechless and glared at him.

"We have invested too much in Venice. If we suddenly betray it, we will never get it back!"

"Besides, the Venetians are our Catholic brothers after all. It would be inappropriate to betray them and join the Orthodox emperor, right?"

"Hey, Stagnair, why didn't you say this when you joined Osman?"

The first senator looked at Stagnard sarcastically.

"It's not appropriate emotionally or rationally, but when have we ever cared about emotion and reason?"

The Senator stood up, faced the rest of the group, and continued his speech.

"Liberty is better than gold, and gold is better than anything except liberty!"

"We jumped back and forth between Venice, Hungary, Serbia and the Ottoman Empire. Wasn't it to maximize profits?"

"Since the Venetians can no longer bring us greater benefits, don't blame us for looking for another good master!"

"Okay, stop saying a few words!"

Brozo frowned when he saw that he was being too blunt.

To be honest, due to the commercial failure, Brozzo was also very dissatisfied with the Republic of Venice. There were two main reasons why he had not directly surrendered to the Eastern Empire. One was that he was concerned about the Venetian army stationed around Ragusa, and the other was that he was worried about the growing ambitions of the Eastern Empire.

However, as the war became increasingly fierce and the sea trade routes became increasingly difficult, the Republic of Venice was forced to withdraw part of its troops to the south to fight against the steadily advancing Maruna army.

Brozzo believes it is time to consider Ragusa's future.

"Ladies and gentlemen, just yesterday I received an envoy from Italy. He talked to me and shared his views on the predicament of Ragusa. I think it is necessary for everyone to listen."

Brozo clapped his hands, and the ancient and luxurious door creaked open. A young noble with black hair and black eyes, wearing luxurious clothes, walked into the hall. There was a faint smile on the corner of his mouth, as if he had everything planned out.

The young noble walked up to his host and bowed slightly.

"Hello, distinguished members of parliament."

“You may not know me, but you may have heard of my name.”

"My name is Dimarco Gattiluccio. I am trusted by your majesty and the citizens to serve as the first citizen and life governor of the Free City of La Spezia."

Stagnard's face changed drastically. He looked at several senators he was close to and found that they also looked unhappy.

Knowing that Dimarco was a lobbyist sent by the emperor, the Grand Chairman still invited him to the stage to speak. This behavior has already hinted at his and the Bramire family's attitude.

"Mr. Dimarco, please tell us about the recent achievements of the Free City of La Spezia under your administration."

Brozo took over the conversation promptly.

"Everyone knows that the Free City of La Spezia was officially established in 1460 with the approval of the Eastern Empire Emperor Isaac III and the recognition of all citizens. Its jurisdiction includes the city of La Spezia and its surrounding towns. The city population is about and the total population is about ."

DiMarco talked freely.

"For three years, the Free City of La Spezia has worked hard to get rid of the shadow left by the Genoese colonial period, actively participated in Mediterranean trade, and worked to break down the tariff barriers of northern Italian states and promote common prosperity."

"You little Gattilucio, you're just a bunch of clichés. Say something useful!"

Stagnair snorted.

"In three years, the merchants in La Spezia became richer, the market was more prosperous than ever before, the port was expanded several times, and they had their own trade warehouses in Carthage, Constantinople, Cairo and Alexandria, enjoying the same tariff conditions as the merchants in the Eastern Empire."

"This means that we can intervene heavily in the Black Sea trade, the East Mediterranean trade and the West African ocean trade, and get a share of the monopoly trade."

DiMarco smiled.

"You may not know that just last week, the first round of La Spezia's large-scale ocean trade organized by me and other La Spezia councillors was a complete success. Ten merchant ships loaded with silk, glass and cotton cloth arrived at the Bijagos Islands in the Gulf of Guinea, Port St. William and Port Chrysostom of the Kingdom of Congo along the West African coastline, in exchange for African cardamom, sugar and high-quality ivory of inestimable value."

"In the end, due to the storm, only eight ships successfully returned to La Spezia, but the income from this trade trip was far more than worth it." "What do you want to say?"

Stagnard asked again.

DiMarco shrugged and made it clear.

"I think that no matter whether you are committed to the Balkan land trade, the Eastern Mediterranean trade, or have plans to enter the ocean trade, you should leave the Republic of Venice, which is already a dead body in the grave, as soon as possible and pledge allegiance to His Majesty the Emperor."

"Ha! He is indeed a lobbyist sent by the Greek emperor!"

Stagnard stood up and looked around anxiously.

"Gentlemen, we cannot surrender to the Greeks, they ..."

Stagnard noticed that most of the other MPs didn't even look at him and their voices became smaller and smaller.

"I gathered everyone together for this very purpose."

Brozo ignored Stagnard and raised his voice.

"Dimarco is indeed the emperor's envoy, and he also brought us the emperor's final solution on the Ragusa issue."

Brozzo nodded to DiMarco, who pulled out a roll of documents.

"According to the agreement between the two parties, the Republic of Ragusa will cut off all diplomatic exchanges with the Venetian puppet government, expel the Venetian puppet troops stationed outside Ragusa, allow Count Maruna's army to enter Ragusa, and provide it with military supplies."

"The title of the Republic of Ragusa shall be abolished, and both the upper and lower senates shall pledge allegiance to the Roman emperor and accept the rule of the Roman Empire."

The congressmen immediately began to whisper, and DiMarco raised his voice when he saw this.

"The Roman Empire will grant Ragusa free city status, retaining the original upper and lower councils, a certain number of city guards, administrative power, religious freedom, and economic freedom. Diplomatic power and sovereignty will be nationalized, and each mayor will be elected by the council, but must be approved by the emperor."

"Merchants in the Free City of Ragusa will enjoy the same treatment as Roman merchants. They can use ports, roads, post stations and other infrastructure as normal. They can purchase real estate in major cities and participate in ocean trade after joining the three major West African companies."

DiMarco put down the paperwork and waited quietly for the congressmen's response.

"Mr. Dimarco, these conditions are indeed very generous, but is the issue of taking back diplomatic rights open to discussion? Ragusa has always been an independent republic. Even if it is dependent on others, it still enjoys the right to independent diplomacy."

one councillor asked.

"This is the Emperor's final plan, my dear sir."

DiMarco smiled.

"Colleoni has no way to deal with Count Maruna's army. Now he can only retreat to the area around Shkoder. The Venetian fleet dares not fight a decisive battle, let alone cross the sea to support Crete."

"His Majesty said that if you do not make a choice when the Maruna army drives Colleoni out of Albania, then he will directly order Count Maruna to bombard the city of Ragusa and destroy everything you depend on for survival."

"Your Majesty also said that if you still want to act as a middleman between Italy and the Balkans as before, you should hope for peace in the Balkans, which the Venetians will never be able to bring."

"Your Majesty will bring peace to a generation, there is no doubt about that."

The congressmen were embarrassed by the harsh words, but they didn't know how to refute them.

"So, Mr. Dimarco, how do you plan to deal with the Venetian army stationed southeast of Ragusa?"

An elderly councillor asked slowly.

"Don't worry about this. If you really feel uneasy, you might as well wait and see how things develop."

DiMarco laughed.

"In that case, let's vote."

Seeing that the time had come, Brozo started voting immediately.

"Members who agree with this plan, please raise your hands!"

After Brozo finished speaking, he raised his right hand first, and then glanced at every hesitant person with a stern look.

"Very good, more than half of the votes have been cast. Congratulations, everyone. You are now citizens of the Free City of Ragusa in the Roman Empire."

Brozo didn't want to give them a chance to change their minds, so he immediately picked up the quill, signed his name, and stamped it with the seal of Ragusa.

"This... this is simply nonsense!"

Stagnair roared angrily, swore, and ran away.

When he reached the door, he was stopped by the guards.

"In order to ensure the smooth implementation of the plan, all members of parliament are not allowed to go home during this period. There will be rooms for you in this mansion, and all entertainment facilities are available. You can just take a vacation."

After Brozo finished speaking, dozens of heavily armored soldiers holding halberds rushed into the parliament and stood behind the parliamentarians with a fierce look in their eyes.

Under coercion and inducement, the congressmen left the hall one after another and went to their rooms to rest. In the hall, Dimarco poured two glasses of wine and handed one to Brozzo.

“May you be rich and healthy, Mayor Brozo.”

Brozo hesitated, sighed, and clinked glasses with Dimarco.

"Now can you tell me how you plan to deal with the Venetian garrison in the southeast?"

Dimarco smiled mysteriously, took out a letter and handed it to Brozo.

……

Southeast of the city of Ragusa, in the diocese of Cetinje.

In a church school, "Gray Cardinal" Alexander is teaching students. He is still wearing a simple robe and a wooden Orthodox cross as before, but there is a hideous and ugly scar on his gentle and kind face.

However, every time the believers looked at Scar, what appeared on their faces was not disgust, fear, or pity, but deep admiration, love, and respect.

These are the scars left in the Battle of Belgrade, and they are a testimony to the bravery and tenacity of the Peasants' Crusade.

"Today, in addition to scriptures, I would also like to talk about religious movements in recent years."

Alexander closed the book and looked at the believers with a smile.

"The first is the Hussite movement. The Hussites can be said to be the Bogomils of the Western Church. They all advocate reducing the exploitation of the people by the church and the nobility and making people's lives better."

"However, whether it was the Hussites of the Western Church or the Bogomils of the Eastern Church, they were all without exception not recognized by the mainstream population and failed to truly benefit the general public."

"Bottom-up violent reforms have failed, but top-down reforms have succeeded."

Alexander paused, looking at the confused expressions of his congregants.

"In the east, Emperor Isaac III of the Eastern Empire used coercive means to make certain reforms to the church. Not only did he greatly reduce the land they controlled, he also prohibited them from collecting taxes and donations from the people privately."

"So, the living standards of the people under the rule of the Eastern Empire are gradually improving. Just like what the emperor often said, if the people above don't mess around, the people can live well on their own."

"Bishop, why can he succeed?"

asked a young priest.

"There are many reasons. He has sufficient prestige, some armed forces independent of the mainland, and the timing is just right."

"Also, compared to the Western Church, our Orthodox Church does not have an institution like the Roman Curia that is above the imperial power, so there is less resistance to reform."

Alexander nodded at him and motioned for him to sit down.

"The most important thing is that he has a firm heart."

As he was speaking, a priest suddenly rushed into the church.

"Bishop, someone outside is looking for you. He calls himself Peter. He is your old friend and has come to discuss important matters under the order of the monarch."

Alexander nodded, made the sign of the cross on his chest, and silently recited a prayer.

"I see. Let him wait."

"correct,"

Alexander walked to the door and looked back at the congregants.

"Everyone, if the Antichrist becomes rampant again, will you still have the same firmness as before and be willing to put on armor and fight for the glory of our Lord?"

"For my lord!"

"We must fight when we have to!"

(End of this chapter)