Il Senato della Republica Venetiana: Collaborative AAR

unmerged(29041) · Dec 5, 2005

Senators,

In our war against Bavaria, I have given command of our army in Lombardia to General Pompeo Giustiniano (3, 5, 2, 1 with our DPs) in January 1609. I already outlined my strategy to the Senate. Since Bavaria is small and is focused in Tirol, I have decided to kill her soldiers by attrition, as the Bavarian army is under command of the excellent Flemish General Johan Tserclaes Tilly (3, 4, 5, 1), also known as "the butcher of Magdeburg", famous killer of Protestant Bohemians and Swedes, and we would not win a single battle against him. However I believe I can kill more Germans by attrition, than the limited resources of Bavaria can replace. We will just have to achieve a total victory over our enemy, and I count on Savoy for that.

Every two months Giustiniano pays a visit to Tilly and about 5,000 Bavarians die of attrition while our forces retreat. Giustiniano makes sure that the total number of troops in Tirol is not over 45,000, our support limit. Bavaria has to build troops all the time, and will soon run out of funds. Already in June Savoy has conquered Alsace, and while Bavaria tries to attack Lombardia, I send Colonel Moro through Austrian lands to surprise the Bavarian rearguard.

But suddenly Dauphiné, Hungary and Switzerland decide to declare war on Savoy and Jerusalem. We are forced to join in the fight out of loyalty, but our situation becomes very compromised. We are at war with three of our neighbours. Finishing Bavaria is still our priority, and just in time, our finantial effort in researching new weaponry produces a significant advance (level 18) and our troops become much more eficient in combat than our enemies. Tilly is still a headache, but the Hungarians melt like cheese in a fondue when they try to overcome the much smaller army of Almoravid.

But for Savoy things are not looking bright. The Swiss defend the passes to their mountains fiercely, and the French army of the Dauphin sieges their capital. Meanwhile Moro arrives to the Danube and waits until Ansbach is undefended. The summer is dying but the war against Dauphiné's alliance does not allow for any delays. If winter comes and the snow covers Ansbach we will pay a dear price in Venetian lives. Moro establishes his camp at the North Bank of the Danube and defeats several attempts to dislodge the siege. The Bavarians invade the plains of Lombardia, but are met with deadly force even if the army of Giustiniano suffers grievous loses. The Bavarians claim the battle as their victory, since Giustiniano had to retire to Mantua, but Tilly also suffered tremendous loses, and his small army is completely routed by the Savoyards, while attempting to reach Alsace. Tilly ends his career in the Alps of Bern. A great loss for Bavaria, as Tilly was so young and had a long and promising career ahead of him.

Troops are needed everywhere. Moro needs reinforcements to sustain the siege of Ansbach, Almoravid resists the Hungarian attacks, but is dangerously low on troops, and requests reinforcements to invade Hungary. Giustiniano has to make good the loses suffered at the hands of Tilly. We call to arms everybody born between 1580 and 1588, then those born between 1588 and 1590. The Venetian recruitment system consists in making groups of six men. They chose between themselves who goes to war, and the other five pay for his equipment, sustainment and even support his family if he has dependants. It is a good system when we need few soldiers, but it is ineffective when we reach the bottom of the bucket. Calling for the second soldier in the group is perhaps too much to ask from them.

But Bavaria has even worse problems than we do. By the next summer (1610), of the 60,000 soldiers of the once proud Bavarian army, and despite the intensive recruitment only 25,000 are left. Maximilian of Bavaria starts to be more reasonable in his peace offers, and since Charles Emmanuel is having a rough time, Maximilian gets his offer of 54[,000] ducats to Savoy in exchange for the return of Alsace to Bavaria accepted. Savoy is now out of the war, and our warscore is terrible despite our great estrategic position. We will need to occupy every Bavarian province, including Alsace to meet our goals. Damned Charles Emmanuel. Meanwhile Almoravid sends Colonel Roberto Contarini to besiege Krein, while he defends Istria and Dalmatia.

By the end of 1610, the Bavarian armies had finally been destroyed, and Moro conquers Ansbach. Just when one enemy is being defeated, another takes the torch. The armies of Dauphiné finally conquer Savoie unmolested, and cross the Alps invading Piamonte.

A new army is recruited hastily in Lombardia, and Giustiniano leaves the siege of Bayern in the hands of Moro, and in a surprise attack routes the forces of the Dauphin. Giustiniano leads his army directly to Dauphiné, with the goal of knocking them out of the war. Almoravid's regiment is destroyed by a large Hungarian army that runs through the North of Italy towards the French Alps, looting our countriside in their path.

But once Dauphiné is under siege, and Roberto Contarini conquers Krain, and heads towards Pest, the capital of Hungary, it looks like we are soon going to win this war. Once again Charles Emmanuel I "The Great" of Savoy throws our effort through the window, and agrees to pay 250[,000] ducats to return to status quo. Double damned Charles Emmanuel. With friends like that, who needs enemies? We have to pay one third of that amount, 83[,000] ducats. Next time we are leaving Savoy out in the cold.

But we are still at war against Maximilian Wittelbach of Bavaria. Giustiniano is sent from Dauphiné to Alsace, and Moro conquers Bayern.

Maximilian escapes towards Alsace to continue the resistance, but resistance is futile. Without Tilly, Giustiniano is king of the hill, and makes good work of the last Bavarians. The siege of Alsace goes slowly. It has already been 5 years of war, and the Signorie is anxious of starting the Indian campaign. When November arrives, Giustiniano decides to launch a full assault before the first snow. Our soldiers are able to overcome the defenders, and enter the city through the breach in the walls. Victory. Maximilian surrenders without terms. He finds the conditions of the Signoria extremely generous. He will have to yield access to Venice armies at all times in Bavaria, and will be obliged to pay 100[,000] ducats in war indemnities. Half of that amount to the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

I have ordered the recruitment of native auxiliaries in Kerala, forming a Gurka regiment, and ships have been built in Nile, increasing the size of our Red Sea Squadron, even during our hostilities in the Alps. I will move some regiments to Egypt, and start transporting troops to India. We will soon be ready for our Indian campaign.

Capitano Generale Fodoroni

Norrefeldt · Dec 5, 2005

Aureo Barbarigo
King of Jerusalem

Honourable Doge,
I bring to you the latest news from the war fought by in the Holy Land. As a matter of fact I was well prepared when the war started, since the mandean merchant, and informer of mine, Hoshea Osipal in Antiochia had heard of it from some careless Janissary officers. It seems the stern discipline of that body isn't what it once was. This man later fled to Cyprus, and I hope he'll be well received there for his services.

When war was declared I felt obliged to serve the republic once more, and naturally the call was honoured. Even after almost two decades, it's impossible not to remember the land of my mother, and my political career. However, old age has made me realise that a firm rule under a wise king is in many ways preferable to a republic. But I miss the debates. I have been blessed with two children here, both brought up to understand Arabic.

When my time here nearing its end, I have one advice for my successor. Don't rely as heavily on local, feuding Knight Orders and Bedouin cavalry as I did, since they are not able to endure long sieges and blockades. They are swift and can endure the difficult summer climate, but I think another try with proper Spanish tercios ought to be tried again. I intended to set up such units in my first years, but mercenaries trained for that kind of warfare have been scarce, and indigenous infantry will not be of the high quality our Venetian officers are accustomed to. Therefore, when the war started, Jerusalem could field 22.000 cavalrymen, and only 1000 infantry! Most of these men are of my personal guard, as a man of my standing and age has far greater needs than some upstart condottieri. It takes a heavy toll on the health, sleeping in the wilderness of some remote village in Jordan at an age over 80.

Arturo Gandolfi was on command of the 8,000 Venetian auxiliary cavalry in the Venetian Squadron of the Holy Sepulchre, and they set of to ravage Jordan. In April, I and Gandolfi and Barbarigo were confronted by rebels in Jordan, but they were easily defeated with little losses. When Gandolfi left, it was difficult to convince my troops to continue the siege; they abandoned it and went back to Judea, then ravaged Samaria, then back to Jordan. They are more interested in plunder that sitting outside the gates of Amman, waiting. In the summer Giustiniano arrived to Levant with a big army and lots of artillery, establishing a siege in Lebanon. In the early fall I finally managed to coax the the Kisash and the Al 'Abrid tribes of Ashkelon and southern Judea into escorting newly recruited infantry to the capital of Jordan. The Venetians provided a small cover force, as Gandolfi's army had been decimated by one victory and one defeat in Syria. Also Carlec's Nile army provided much needed infantry to sustain the siege.

Bitter by the difficulties to master my army, I ordered the assault of Amman (Jordan) when a breach in the walls was produced. I had grown careless with the lives of soldiers I couldn't respect. It was a close call, and at the brink of having to abandon the assault, the Knights of Jerusalem and our Venetian allies defeated the defenders on November 30, 1613. The banner of Jerusalem was raised on the citadel.

The assault on Amman

In December rebellious nobles decided to abandon the siege of Acre (Samaria) that was going so well! They will be justly punished. Probably they were bought of by the Ottoman officer leading the defence. The Venetians under Giustiniano conquered Beirut (Lebanon).

The treason in Acre

After only one year of war, Jerusalem has Jordan; Venice has Quattara and Lebanon and is besieging a bunch more. I would like to lead my men to Samaria, Sinai or Syria, but the Knight Order have disagreed to that, and most local nobility are against that idea as well. My hands are tied, and not even the 270.000 ducats sent as support our war effort have been enough to find support. I think the different factions are already positioning themselves for the next monarch. They are anxious to not risk anything, or be absent when the new king arrives in Jaffa.
I leave it to Venice to negotiate a peace, as I don't see able to lead my men further.

May God continue to bless you.
Aureo Barbarigo

unmerged(29041) · Dec 7, 2005

Senators,

Our war against Sultan Ahmed must proceed quickly even if we have to limit our gains. We have entered the war with a significant war exhaustion, and as always, the Ottoman armies are too numerous to overcome in a short time. In addittion we have a significant weakness. Smyrna and Trabzon are difficult to defend. New commanders will be assigned to the armies next year, but for 1513, Colonel Oranje Verzet has been asked to defend Trabzon to the death, since an attempt to conversion is under way. Fortunately for him, the Ottoman army is for now occupied with the siege of Smyrna and the defense of Levant, where King Barbarigo and Giustiniano have already captured Jordan and Lebanon.

Colonel Suebian was ordered to confront the Ottoman forces in the North shore of the Black sea, but he was unable to reach Kerch before the Turks, so he took the decision of not fighting them in the disadvantageous position of crossing the strait, and instead requested naval support to disembark in Sochi, where his siege is well under way. Once Sochi is conquered, the Ottoman forces at Kerch will not be able to receive reinforcements, and will be dealt with swiftly. Our forces have also occupied all the remaining Ottoman provinces in Europe, trying to tie up as little forces as possible.

Meanwhile our Egyptian forces are attacking from the South. Almoravid captured Quattara and is leading our forces towards Nubia, while the Red Sea fleet makes impossible for The Hedjaz to reinforce that province. Carlec and Arturo Gandolfi are helping our ally the King of Jerusalem, covering Sinai and Samaria, in the hopes that the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre will finally get their act together.

All these successes have been possible because the main Ottoman forces are concentrated in Turkey. I decided that our main task force, leaded by General Pompeo Giustiniano should attack at Lebanon. These decision will inevitably lead to the fall of Smyrna, but we considered that the deployment of Giustiniano at Lebanon would serve two functions, first obviously conquering more Ottoman provinces, and defeating Ottoman armies, but secondly and also very important, protecting Jerusalem armies from a big Ottoman blow.

The provinces of Samaria, Syria, and Sinai, had been labelled as Jerusalem conquests, all the rest we will try to conquer ourselfs.

Capitano Generale Fodoroni

unmerged(29041) · Dec 12, 2005

The war of Gradisca. The Uskok conflict

1. The antecedents. Origen of the Uskoks

Uskok (Uscocco in Italian) is derived from the Serbo-Croatian word uskociti, “to jump away or to jump between.” It describes the origin of this population group, which fled in the face of Ottoman expansion into the Balkan territories occupied by the Habsburgs, rulers as inheritors of the Hungarian king. Their two main strongholds were the city of Senj (Zengg, Segna) and the fortress of Klis (Clissa, Spalato). Racially they were mainly Croatians, with other components, probably Vlachs. What distinguished them from the rest of the inhabitants of Dalmatia was not their race or language, but their way of life, as Uskoks were raiders, pirates, and occasional traders, while the rest of the Dalmatians were mainly farmers.

Klis (thought to be from the Latin clavis meaning 'key') is a village in Croatia 9km north east of Split. It is dominated by a medieval fortress commanding the Klis Pass which is the main route from Split to the Dalmatian hinterland and the town of Sinj (not to be confused with Senj, the Uskoks main base). The earliest records date from 852 when it was a fortified administrative centre for Croatian princes. The medieval castle was improved by local stone masons during the 15th century as the Turkish threat increased.

The fortress of Klis today.
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In the early 1500's it was at the border between Croatia, Venetian Dalmatia and the expanding Ottoman Empire. In 1522 the Imperial Diet awarded a number of border fortresses including Klis to the Habsburg Archduke Ferdinand who five years later was elected King of Croatia. The Military Frontier was organised into Captaincies whose leaders commanded the military colonists, regular troops and the fortresses. The regular standing force of mercenaries*rarely exceeded 500 men which left the bulk of the defence to the colonists.

A significant group of colonists were refugees from Ottoman areas crossing the border and reaching agreement on their conditions of service with Habsburg frontier officials. They were known as Uskoks. Essentially they provided military service rather than paying taxes and other forms of rent. They supplemented their income by trading and raiding.

Around 1524 appears in Klis the figure of Petar Kružic, who was the captain and town duke, that organized the defense against the Ottoman raids that incorporated large parts of Croatia to the Ottoman Empire previous to the battle of Mohacs in 1526. By 1527 the Ottoman advance had swept north of Klis leaving it isolated from the rest of the frontier and in particular *from their main base at Senj. Uskoks became the mainstay of garrison during this period and in 1535 one of Captain Petar Kružic's Vice Captains was the Uskok, Toma Gvozdenic.

In this map we can see the advance of the Ottomans in the area of Croatia/Slavonia from 1520 to 1606. The intense yellow area was conquered by 1537, and the pale yellow area was conquered during the 13 year war that ended in 1606. The location of Senj, the main Uskok base, and Klis the fortress that resisted until 1537 are indicated with red arrows, and the position of Gradisca appears as a black dot.
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Kružic regularly urged funds and supplies for the Klis garrison. In 1528 the regular garrison of 50 soldiers had not been paid for nine months and in 1531 he refused to return to the fortress until they were paid, fearing for his life. The Venetian's in Split described Klis and its port at Solin as "Places of the greatest importance and highly valued as being on the pass into Turkish territory and the gates to Trogir and Split", however, Klis was "in the very worst condition, in men, supplies and everything else, so that it is in the most manifest danger."

Despite these difficulties Uskoks and regular troops took part in raids into Ottoman territory. Most notably in 1532 when supported by troops from Senj they destroyed the new Ottoman fortifications in the small port in Solin which had supplied Klis. These raids also disrupted Venetian trade with the Ottomans which ensured little Venetian help for the garrison when they needed it.

The final siege began late in 1536 almost by accident. The Ottoman Sultan, Suleyman*I the Magnificent had entered into an alliance with the French. French troops advanced into northern Italy to take Milan and Genoa whilst the Ottomans would land in southern Italy. The Ottoman Admiral Barbarossa raided Habsburg lands in the western and central Mediterranean during the summer then returned to join the Sultan who was leading an army of 300,000 towards Albania with the intention that the fleet would transport them to Italy. However, the French caved in to Papal pressure and withdrew leaving Suleyman with an army without an objective. As a consequence he advanced up the Adriatic coast and one force*was left to besiege Klis.

Details of the siege itself are sparse and largely based on heroic ballads or less than reliable Venetian accounts. We know it lasted for about a year and a major cause of its final surrender appears to be instructions from the Venetian senate to the authorities in Split not to give aid. An inspection of the fortress today gives the impression of a castle virtually impregnable to direct assault although the walls owe more to later Turkish improvements. The ballads tell of many sorties by the garrison including single combats. A Venetian account tells of Kruzic's page, Milos cutting down a giant Turkish warrior called Bagora in a David and Goliath type struggle. The end came soon after Kružic himself was captured and killed in a sortie. After his head was placed on a pole a negotiated surrender was achieved under which the garrison were allowed to withdraw. Thus the most powerful Croatian fortress in Dalmatia fell into Turkish hands for the next 111 years, except for a brief interval in 1596.

Most of the garrison went to Senj, the main Uskok base in Habsburg lands, although the muster roll of the Venetian Split militia show a number of Klis recruits for that year. Ironically the Venetians needed them as war broke out with the Ottomans in the same year. Senj was an ideal base for piracy, because the narrowness of its bay made it very easy to defend, and prevented the entry of the large Venetian war vessels, when the lighter and faster Uskok pirate ships took refuge inside.

unmerged(29041) · Dec 12, 2005

2. The antecedents. Veneto-Austrian economical and territorial disputes.

Dating from at least the victory over the pirates from Croatia and the Neretva region at the start of the second millennium, Venice had considered the Adriatic as its property-so much so that it was simply referred to as the Gulf of Venice. She exercised a rigid monopoly on the commercial maritime policy of the Istrian towns, laying down that their merchandise should almost exclusively be carried on Venetian ships and to her market. In this way she was able to apply an unusual customs duty. All the goods which left Adriatic ports had to make Venice the first port of call and only if they could not find buyers amongst the Venetian merchants were the owners given a special permit to take their goods for sale elsewhere. Similarly, all goods that originated from outside the Adriatic had to be taken to Venice first for the same routine. Foreign merchants were obliged to spend the profits which they had realised in Venice on the Venetian market, not in the places they came from. Ships could not set sail from Trieste, for example, without first having paid taxes to the podesta' and captain of Koper.

On the other hand the Austrians, by customs duties along the borders and later by having recourse to force with the groups of so-called liberaiters (from Ueberreiter, superior knight), made all continental trade flow into the city of Trieste which had available products which were in demand, wine, oil, and salt, although at prices slightly higher than in the Venetian cities. Because of this, smuggling was rife, both on the sea and on the mainland, as has been excellently described in a Slovenian account of the character of Martin Krpan.

Friuli had become a Venetian possesion in 1420, when Udine and its surrounding territories were taken from the Patriarchate of Aquileia. Gradisca became the Venetian Oriental border, and was fortified in 1473. The rest of the Patriarchate was incorporated into Habsburg domains in 1500, when the county of Gorizia (Görz) was established. However, following the league of Cambrai wars, when Venice was defeated, Austria incorporated the cities of Cervignano and Gradisca in 1511, moving the border to the river Aussa. This boundary became the subject of endless disputes between the opposite factions, especially as far as the heavy tolls that venetian barges were charged were concerned. Other economical disputes added to the problems, like the tensions between Trieste and Capodistria for the commerce of salt in 1577.

Given the developments that took place, it is clear that Venice desired the restitution of Gradisca, and the Uskoks constituted a good excuse for war.

unmerged(29041) · Dec 12, 2005

3. The appearance of the Uskok problem for Venice

For the remaining of the XVI century after the fall of Klis in 1537, the Uskoks of Senj emerge as a source of problems for both the Ottoman empire and Venice. The raids in the impoverished ravaged lands did not provide as much income to the Uskoks as the piracy in the Adriatic. But the Adriatic was still the Venetian sea, and when the Uskoks attacked Ottoman ships, the Ottomans made Venice responsible for the attacks. During the periods of peace, Venice was eager to not irritate the Ottomans, and to the religiously militant Uskoks, the contemporization of the Republic with their Muslim enemy was equaled to treason. In consequence Venetian merchant ships were also seen as legitimate prey by the Uskoks, increasing significantly the profitability of their operations. Soon the Uskok piracy started to atract adventurers into their ranks, also called false Uskoks or venturini. They were mainly Albanians and Italians, including Venetian renegades. The Venetian response to Uskok piracy was to complain to the Imperial court of the Habsburg, since Ferdinand of Austria was financing the cost of the defense of the Croatian cost (mainly Senj) by agreement with the Croatian nobility, and thus was funding the Uskoks. But the Archducal court did not enforce the agreements between Venice and the Imperial court, as it was using the Uskoks as a cheap defense against both Ottomans and Venetians. The discord between the two Habsburg courts was a source of constant worry for the Venetian ambassadors who were trying to negotiate an agreement on the Uskok topic.

As a consequence of the failure of a negotiated solution, Venice stepped up her operations against pirates in the Adriatic. Already in 1570 the Morlakian channel (canale della Morlacca), that separates the Croatian coast from several islands, was blocked with chains.

The Uskok irregulars around 1600.
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But it is only after the peace treaty of 1573 between the Ottoman Empire and Venice that ended the war of Cyprus, that Venice tried to prevent Uskok piracy. In fact, the Venetians had employed Uskok irregulars during the conflict over Cyprus before the treaty. But the peace treaty obliged the Venetians to ensure the safety of Ottoman shipping in the Adriatic as a condition of Venice’s dominium golfi— its rule over the Adriatic. If Venice did not prevent raids on Ottoman vessels, the Ottomans would have legitimate grounds for military action in the Adriatic. Two years later, Venice organized an anti-Uskok piracy esquadron that under command first of Ermolao Tiepolo, will engage in activities along the Dalmatian coast, blockading the port of Senj in 1576, capturing the next year several citizens of Zara (Zadar) and Sebenico (Sbenik) for spying in favor of the Uskok pirates, and occupying the island of Carlopago temporarily. These activities, led for the first time to a direct confrontation between Venice and the Uskoks.

unmerged(29041) · Dec 12, 2005

4. The Austrian-Ottoman war of 1593-1606

The period following the Treaty of Adrianople, concluded between the Habsburgs and the Ottomans in 1568, never produced a state of complete peace at the border dividing the two spheres of influence. It was characteristic of Ottoman-border warfare to keep the enemy in a constant state of alarm by raids led by mobile cavalry troops, the akinci. This pattern of Ottoman military tactics reveals the aggressive character of the Ottoman foreign policy during this period. But the raids initiated by Bosnian beglerbeg Hassan Pasha in 1591 were part of a plan to conquer Croatia, as suggests the peace treaty signed between the Ottoman and Persian empires the year before, following the Ottoman policy of avoiding two-front wars. The conquest by Hassan Pasha of Ripac in 1591, and Bihac in 1592, opened the door to a full assault on Sisak in 1593 (see map) that ended in his defeat and death and triggered the war.

Between 1593 and 1606 the confrontation between the Habsburgs and Ottomans came to a virtual standstill. Every victory was being presented as a great step towards the final victory for both sides, but never led to a decisive loss or territorial victory for either side. One could speak of a “territorialization” of the conflict, manifesting itself in the frontier zone of the military border, which existed until the breakdown of the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire. Seldom did two regular armies meet. The majority of the skirmishes were military actions with no significant results. The most important outcome was that for the first time the expansive movement of the Ottoman troops was stopped, less because of the excellence of the Habsburg troops than from the inner crisis from which the Ottoman society suffered at the end of the sixteenth century.

The Uskoks briefly recaptured Klis in April 1596 by bribing the garrison. However, the overland relief column leaded by general Juraj Lenkovic was defeated by the Turks and the Venetians stopped supplies from reaching Klis. Thus, in no small part thanks to the Venetians, the Ottomans retook the fortress in May. During the brief Turkish siege of Klis in 1596 the Dalmatian population under Venetian rule identified more and more with the goals of Habsburg warfare, because it lacked, like the Uskoks, any understanding of why Venice did not openly support Habsburg military aims.

The main result of the long conflict was the complete ravaging of the lands that served as battlefield. After thirteen years of bloody war the Turks had only gained Erlau (Eger) and Kanizsa in Hungary, while conquering another part of Croatia (see map) that was now rendered useless.

The treaty of Zsitva-Torok (1606) marked a new beginning for Habsburg-Ottoman relations. For the first time, Ottoman political agents were willing to accept the legitimacy of the Habsburgs’ status and demands. For example, it was concluded that both rulers should regard each other as having the same status. Now, the Ottomans would call Rudolph II and the inheritors of his title “the Habsburg Emperor” instead of “the King of Vienna,” and the Austrian would only pay the tributes to the Ottomans one final time.

The Long War with the Turks and the peace-treaty of Zsitva-Torok of 1606 can be interpreted as signs of change in the relationships between the Habsburg and the Ottoman Empires because they showed the inability of the Ottoman expansion to penetrate further into Habsburg territory. This circumstance made it necessary for the Ottoman political agents to start accepting the equal status of their opponent—as the change of title demonstrates. The end to further aggression accelerated the emergence of more clearly defined military and territorial borders, which made it more and more possible to rely on a juridical basis for confirming the state of relations with the Ottoman Empire. Warfare on the Adriatic Sea and in Croatian territory thus became a more “modern,” more calculable, part of a formalized relationship in which antagonistic and anarchic elements, like the Uskoks, did not fit.

But during the war, and as a result of Venice neutrality or even pro-Turkish stance, the Uskoks increased their attacks on the Serenissima, with the added problem that they were helped by the city of Fiume. An indication of the importance of the problem is the naval position of "Capitano contro Uscocchi", created in 1588, and renewed in 1597 and 1599 to tackle with the problem created by the sporadic Uskok assaults on Venetian cities like Rovigno, Veglia, Albona, Fianona and Monfalcone, that led to reprisals against Fiume, Laurana, Buccani and Senj. In the assault of Fianona and Albona, the Venetian flag was taken down and substituted by the Austrian flag.

But Venice did not only rely on her navy to fight the Uskoks, and in October 1593, the construction of a star-shaped fortress under design of Giulio Savorgnan was started at Palma (today Palmanova), a town very close to Gradisca. It was clear the menace over the nearby county of Goritza where the borders between Venice and Austria were not well defined, and the Austrian government protested energically its construction.

An aerial view of Palmanova still shows the star shaped fortifications of Savorgnan.
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Since the Uskoks usually retreated further inland into Austrian territory when attacked by the Venetians, and given the border dispute between Austria and Venice in Istria, the scenario was ripe for an escalation into a full war between both nations with the Uskok problem as the trigger.

unmerged(29041) · Dec 12, 2005

5. The war of Gradisca or the "Friauler krieg". 1615-1617

By 1612, the hostilities between Venice and the Uskoks were escalating. Provveditore Girolamo Marcello was captured by the Uskoks and taken to Senj, and despite pleads to the Austrian authorities, he had to be ransomed. Provveditore generale della Dalmazia e dell’Albania, Agostino da Canal was in charge of the reprisals, attacking Moschenizza and burning Lanzano, spearing only the churches, but he died at Zara in September. During the winter, conversations with the Austrian authorities were under way to solve the problem, but the Uskoks had their own plans, and on the next season, in May 1613, near the island of Lesina, a Venetian galley was attacked by Uskok pirates, and his commander Cristoforo Venier was killed. According to Venetian historiography, the Uskoks opened his chest and devoured his heart after soaking bread in his blood. Other accounts speak only of his head being cut. In any case Venice decided to conduct full military activities against the Uskoks, as their activities were now seeing as intolerable to Venice.

Senj was a heavily fortified city protected by a fortress and very difficult to besiege. The Uskoks could resist there forever.
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During the seasons of 1613-1615, the actions against the pirate bases continued, but without apreciable results, as the pirates refused a direct fight, and retired to Austrian territories, only to take their boats from their hidings and attack where they were not expected. The Uskoks were conducting the type of war that they had perfected against the Ottomans, of hitting and retreating behind Austrian borders or inside Senj, and the Venetians were as powerless against them as the Turks.

But in November 1615, Giovanni Bembo was elected Doge of Venice. He was a hero from the battle of Lepanto, where he was only 12 years old and was able to surrender a Muslim galliot. He was probably the Doge most inclined to war in 200 years, since Francesco Foscari, although the Venice of 1615 was not as powerful as the Venice of 1425. Nevertheless he took two important decisions that were going to shake Venice. The first was to transform the Uskok conflict into a war against the Archduke Ferdinand with the goal of recovering Gradisca, and the second was to support the war of Charles Emmanuel of Savoy for the Marquisate of Mantua and Montferrat against the Gonzaga, and Pedro de Toledo, the Spanish Viceroy of Milan. The strategy was clear. Venice was asphyxiated between the Spanish Habsburgs in Milan, and the Austrian Habsburgs in the Alps and Gorizia, but she was not alone in that situation, and the continent was starting to be split into pro-Habsburg and anti-Habsburg leagues in the prelude of the thirty years war. Finding the Spanish Habsburgs distracted with the war over Mantua against Savoy and France, and the Austrian Habsburgs with the turnmoil in Bohemia, Giovanni Bembo thought that the time was ripe to recover Gradisca, lost in 1511 after the league of Cambrai war. The Uskok hostilities were the perfect excuse, as Austria was doing nothing to curb the attacks coming from her territory.

A month later, in December 1615, Venetian land forces crossed the Isonzo river by surprise and laid siege to Gradisca. By March, Pompeo Giustiniano had completed the siege works and started the bombardments and attacks, but by the end of the month the Venetian loses were over 4,000 men, including the famous astronomer and mathematician Daniele Antonini, and the senate ordered the lift of the siege and removed Giustiniano from general command. That spring, the countries enemies of the Habsburgs sent help. Count John Ernest of Nassau-Siegen sent forces totaling 5,000 men from the Dutch Republic, and twelve warships, while England sent ten warships. The ships were to assist in the Adriatic against a possible attack from the effective fleet of Spanish Naples. The war continued for several months bloody and fragmented. The Venetian forces now under MarcAntonio di Manzano suffered grave loses, and Swiss mercenaries had to be enlisted, together with the Dutch. In June 1617, both MarcAntonio di Manzano and the Austrian commander fell in the field, and Francesco Erizzo, future Doge of Venice, was named commander with orders of taking Gradisca. But Gradisca resisted, and the marquis of Osuna, viceroy of Naples, freed from the war with Savoy, sent his personal fleet to the Adriatic, burning and pillaging the islands and attacking the merchant traffic. Despite her support for Savoy and her attack on Austria, Venice was not at war with Spain, and the actions of Osuna were protested at Madrid, but king Felipe III, while publicly deploring the attacks, privately supported them, for as long as they were conducted under Osuna's personal banner.

The only hope for Venice of winning the war was the conquest of Gradisca, and the city, heavily fortified a hundred years before by the Venetians, and even by Leonardo da Vinci himself at the Republic's service, resisted. However at the end of the summer, food was very scarce, and Erizzo felt the city could be induced to surrender before the winter.

The fortifications of Gradisca, also protected by the river, made the city very difficult to capture.
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To the help of Archduke Ferdinand II was going to come Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein, also known as Waldstein. He was a Bohemian militar that had become rich through marriage and wanted to start a career at the service of the emperor. He equipped 200 horsemen out of his own pocket and came to the emperor's help in the Friulian war. At night, he conducted a surprise attack on the Venetians laying siege to Gradisca, and taking advantage of the confusion caused, a convoy with supplies entered the city. Thanks to him, Gradisca was now in conditions of resisting for a long time. Ferdinand was generous and made Wallenstein count, appointing him colonel of the Mährischen militia. Starting with this command, Wallestein would give a lot to talk about in the upcoming thirty years war.

For the Venetians it was the end. Their casualties were big. They could not chase Osuna out of the Adriatic although he had retired for the winter. They could not conquer Gradisca. Only the Uskok problem could be solved, and to the Habsburgs the Uskoks were no longer a valuable asset, and thus peace negotiations proceeded rapidly.

For the Archdukal court, the Uskoks were an anachronism, a source of problems in the new international situation. The Sultan of the Ottomans had recognized the Emperor as his equal after the 13 years war, instead of his inferior, accepting the Austrian possessions as legitimate, and the relations between both countries were those of mutual recognition on a juridical basis. There was also turmoil in Bohemia that would lead to the defenestration of Prague the next year. The area of Gorizia and Austrian Istria had been devastated by war. Karl von Harrach negotiated the peace treaty in the name of the Emperor, and accepted the relocation of the Uskoks towards the interior and the burning of their ships. The peace was concluded at Paris on September 27, and the treaty signed at Madrid on November 6, 1617.

The conquest dreams of Doge Giovanni Bembo were shattered, but at least he could present the end of the Uskoks as a triumph to the Venetians. But Doge Bembo had other plans, and the Arsenal of Venice was busy with a secret operation. To avoid leaks, mostly foreigners were employed, mainly French and Spaniards. It was obviously going to be an amphibious assault, but where?

For the Uskoks it was the end of their history. Still some traditions remain, and even today some consider themselves Uskoks in the Croatian areas of Zengg and Spalato. But deprived of their way of leaving, the Uskoks disappeared from history.

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6. Curiosities of Croatian Senj: The Glagolitic alphabet.

The Glagolitic alphabet or Glagolitsa is the oldest known Slavonic alphabet. The name comes from the Old Church Slavonic glagolu, meaning word (which was also the name for the letter "G"), and litic, meaning stone. Since glagolati also means to speak, the Glagolitsa are poetically referred to as "the marks that speak".

Rastislav, the Prince (King) of Great Moravia, wanted to weaken the dependence of this Slavonic empire on East Frankish priests, so in 862 he had the Byzantine emperor send two Slavonic missionaries, Saints Cyril and Methodius, to Great Moravia. Cyril created a new alphabet for that purpose - the Glagolitic. The alphabet was then used in Great Moravia between 863 (when Cyril and Methodius arrived there) and 885 for government and religious documents and books, and at the Great Moravian Academy (Ve?komoravské u?ilište) founded by Cyril.

From there, the students traveled to various other places and spread the use of their alphabet. Some went to Croatia and Dalmatia where the squared variant arose and where the Glagolitic remained in use for a long time. In 1248, Pope Innocent IV gave the Croats the unique privilege of using their own language and this script in liturgy. Formally given to bishop Philip of Senj, the permission actually extended to all Croatian lands using the Glagolitic liturgy, mostly along the Adriatic coast. The Vatican had several Glagolitic missals published in Rome. It was eventually replaced with the Latin alphabet.

The Baska tablet in Glagolitic, dated from 1100, is considered as the birth certificate of the Croats, as that name is mentioned here for the first time.
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Nowadays, Glagolitic is only used for Church Slavonic and, sometimes, vernacular in the service-books of the Catholic Eparchy of Križevci in Croatia.

In Western Europe, Glagolitic is one of the least known Eastern European alphabets. It also has a particularly exotic appearance to Western eyes, as (unlike Cyrillic or Greek) none of the letters bear any resemblance to Roman letters. It may be for this reason that Glagolitic was selected as the script used by an extraterrestrial species in the 3-D IMAX movie, Alien Adventure. Not only did the aliens write in Glagolitic, but their leader was called "Cyrillus"! (However, the alien language was unrelated to Slavonic, as in fact they spoke the Walloon language, a rare dialect from the production company's homeland, Belgium.)

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