Republic of Ragusa

The Republic of Ragusa was an aristocratic maritime republic centered on the city of Dubrovnik (Ragusa in Italian, German 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. Its motto was "", a Latin phrase which can be translated "Liberty is not well sold for all the gold". Names Originally named (Latin for "Ragusan municipality" or "community"), in the 14th century it was renamed (Latin for Ragusan Republic), first mentioned in 1385. It was nevertheless a Republic under its previous name, although its Rector was appointed by Venice rather than by Ragusa's own Major Council. In Italian it is called ; in Croatian it is called. The Slavic name Dubrovnik is derived from the word , an oak grove; by a folk etymology. The name Dubrovnik of the Adriatic city is first recorded in the Charter of Ban Kulin (1189). It came into use alongside Ragusa as early as the 14th century. The Latin, Italian and Dalmatian name maybe derives its name from (from the Greek : , "precipice"); it was later altered to , , or (even , , and ) and finally into . Another theory is that the term "Ragusa" derivatives from or is related to Proto-Albanian *rāguša meaning 'grape' (compare Modern-Albanian rrush (meaning "grape")), according to V. Orel. The official change of name from Ragusa to Dubrovnik came into effect after World War I. It is known in historiography as the Republic of Ragusa.