Ragusan Republic
| Republic of Ragusa | ||||||||||||
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Respublica Ragusina (Latin) Repubblica di Ragusa (Italian) Dubrovačka Republika (Croatian) |
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Vassal state of :
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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 sold for all the gold in the world" |
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 Borders of the Republic of Ragusa, from 1426
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| Capital | Ragusa (Dubrovnik) 42°39′N 18°04′E / 42.650°N 18.067°E |
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| Languages | Latin until 1492 and then Italian as official. Croatian and Dalmatian as the spoken languages | |||||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholic | |||||||||||
| Government | oligarchic republic (City-state) | |||||||||||
| Rector as Head of state | ||||||||||||
| • | 1358–1370 | Nicola de Sorgo | ||||||||||
| • | 1808 | Simone de Giorgi | ||||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Age, Renaissance, Early Modern Age | |||||||||||
| • | City established | c. 614 | ||||||||||
| • | Established | 1358 | ||||||||||
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Fourth Crusade (Venetian invasion) |
1205 |
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| • | Treaty of Zadar | 27 June 1358 | ||||||||||
| • | Ottoman tributary | from 1458 | ||||||||||
| • | Joint protectorate | from 1684 | ||||||||||
| • | Invasion by France | 26 May 1806 | ||||||||||
| • | Annexation by Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy | 31 January 1808 | ||||||||||
| Area | ||||||||||||
| • | 1808 (?) | 1,500 km² (579 sq mi) | ||||||||||
| Population | ||||||||||||
| • | 1808 (?) est. | 30,000 | ||||||||||
| Density | 20 /km² (51.8 /sq mi) | |||||||||||
| Currency | Ragusa perpera and others | |||||||||||
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| Today part of |
 Croatia
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The Republic of Ragusa was a maritime republic centered on the city of Dubrovnik (Ragusa in Italian, German and Latin, Raguse in French) in Dalmatia (today in southernmost Croatia) that existed from 1358 to 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, out of whom 5,000 lived within the city walls. Its motto was "Non bene pro toto libertas venditur auro", which translated from Latin means "Liberty is not well sold for all the gold".
Originally named Communitas Ragusina (Latin for "Ragusan municipality" or "community"), in the 14th century it was renamed Respublica Ragusina (lat. for Ragusan Republic), first mentioned in 1385. In Italian it is called Repubblica di Ragusa; in Croatian it is called Dubrovačka Republika (Croatian pronunciation: [dǔbroʋat͡ʃkaː repǔblika]).
The Croatian name Dubrovnik is derived from the word dubrava, an oak grove; by a strange folk etymology, the Turks have corrupted this into Dobro-Venedik, meaning "Good-Venice". It came into use alongside Ragusa as early as the 14th century. The Latin, Italian and Dalmatian name Ragusa derives its name from Lausa (from the Greek ξαυ: xau, "precipice"); it was later altered in Rausium, Rhagusium or Ragusium (Appendini says that until after AD 1100, the sea passed over the site of modern Ragusa; if so, it could only have been over the Placa or Stradun) or Rausia (even Lavusa, Labusa, Raugia and Rachusa) and finally into Ragusa. The official change of name from Ragusa to Dubrovnik came into effect under Austria-Hungary. It is known in historiography as the Republic of Ragusa.
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