In memory of the Republic of Ragusa, betrayed and destroyed on this day in 1808. A maritime republic centered on the city of Dubrovnik in Dalmatia, it was sovereign from 1358 to 1808. It reached its commercial peak in the 15th and the 16th centuries, under the protection of the Ottoman Empire, before being conquered by Napoleons French Empire in 1808. It had a population of about 30,000 people, of whom 5,000 lived within the city walls. It had the motto Non bene pro toto libertas venditur auro (Latin for Liberty is not well sold for all the gold). The motto was adopted in 1418 when Ragusa abolished Slave trading, It was the first state I have heard of that abolished the trade, Among other ways the Republic was ahead of its time, a medical service was introduced in 1301, with the first pharmacy, still operating to this day, being opened in 1317. An almshouse was opened in 1347, and the first quarantine hospital (Lazarete) was established in 1377. The economic wealth of the Republic was partially the result of the land it developed, but especially of seafaring trade. With the help of skilled diplomacy, Dubrovnik merchants travelled lands freely and on the sea the city had a huge fleet of merchant ships (argosy) that travelled all over the world. From these travels they founded some settlements, from India to America, and brought parts of their culture and flora home with them. One of its keys to success was not conquering, but trading and sailing under a white flag with the word Latin: Libertas(freedom) prominently featured on it. The flag was also adopted when slave trading was abolished in 1418. Many Conversos, Jews from Spain and Portugal, were attracted to the city. In May 1544, a ship landed there filled exclusively with Portuguese refugees, as Balthasar de Faria reported to King John. The Republic gradually declined after a crisis in Mediterranean shipping and the catastrophic earthquake of 1667 killed over 5,000 citizens and levelled most of the public buildings, ruining the well-being of the Republic, but it remained influential enough to join the Coalition of the Willing which supported the colonial Neo-Nazis of the colonies in their effort to illegally change the Proto -Fascist Imperialist. youtube/watch?v=g1VSz4vFP60
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 02:46:37 +0000
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