The Legal Position of the Dubrovnik Republic against Turkey in the 15th and Early 16th Century and Its Efforts to Introduce the So-Called “Dubrovnik Duty” in 1521

The author’s aim was to analyse the legal situation of the Dubrovnik Republic and Dubrovnik merchants operating in the lands subject to the Sultans in the 15th and early 16th centuries. The conclusion was that in the early period the position was secured individually by obtaining salvus conductus. The imposition of vassal status on the Republic by the Turks (finally in 1458) was linked to the necessity of paying tribute, but at the same time there was a uniform regulation of the status of Dubrovnik merchants. During the reigns of Mehmed II and Selim, attitudes towards the Raguzans were hostile (increasing tribute, increasing customs duties) and merchants suffered oppression. The benevolent attitude of the young Suleiman resulted in the institution of the so-called Dubrovnik customs in 1521, whose favourable arrangements became one of the foundations of Raguzan prosperity under the protection of the sultans in the following century.