Since emerging as a settlement in the seventh century, Dubrovnik held a
significant position beyond what could have been expected of this tiny
city-state. This is a comprehensive history of Dubrovnik's progress over
centuries of European development, encompassing arts, architecture, social and
economic changes and the traumas of war and politics.Since emerging as a settlement in the seventh century, Dubrovnik held a
significant position beyond what could have been expected of this tiny
city-state. Its merchants, trading throughout the huge Ottoman Empire, enjoyed
privileges denied to other Western states. A politically skilled and
commercially enterprising ruling class took every opportunity to maximise the
Republic's wealth. Dubrovnik also faced the extreme dangers posed by Venetian
aggressors, Ottoman plotters, a terrible earthquake in 1667 and, finally, the
will of Napoleon. In 1991-92, the city survived the besieging Yugoslav army,
which heavily damaged but did not destroy Dubrovnik's cultural heritage. This
book is a comprehensive history of Dubrovnik's progress over twelve centuries
of European development, encompassing arts, architecture, social and economic
changes and the traumas of war and politics.
