Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

USKOKS

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V27, Page 811 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

USKOKS , or Uscocs. During the See also:

early years of the 16th See also:century, the See also:Turkish See also:conquest of Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 Ed. J. R. Lumby, Rolls See also:Series (1886), vol. ix. p. 147. drove large See also:numbers of the See also:Christian inhabitants from their homes. A See also:body of these Uskoks, as they were called, from a Serbo-Croatian word meaning " refugee," established itself in the Dalmatian fortress of Clissa, near See also:Spalato, and thence waged continual See also:war upon the See also:Turks. Clissa, however, became untenable, and the Uskoks withdrew to See also:Zengg, on the Croatian See also:coast, where, in accordance with the See also:Austrian See also:system of planting colonies of defenders along the Military Frontier, they were welcomed by the See also:Emperor See also:Ferdinand I., and promised an See also:annual See also:subsidy in return for their services. Their new strong-hold, screened by mountains and forests, was unassailable by See also:cavalry or See also:artillery, but admirably suited to the See also:light-armed Uskoks, whose excellence See also:lay in guerilla warfare. The Turks, on their See also:side, organized a body of equally effective troops called Martelossi, for See also:defence and See also:reprisals. Thus, checked on See also:land, and with their subsidy rarely paid, the Uskoks turned to piracy.

Large galleys could not See also:

anchor in the See also:bay of Zengg, which is shallow and exposed to sudden See also:gales, so the Uskoks fitted out a See also:fleet of See also:swift boats, light enough to navigate the smallest creeks and inlets of the Illyrian See also:shore, and easily sunk and recovered, if a temporary landing became necessary.. With these they preyed upon the See also:commerce of the Adriatic. Their ranks were soon swelled by outlaws from all nations, and by their own once peaceful neighbours, from Novi, Ottocac and other Croatian towns. After 1540, however, See also:Venice, as See also:mistress of the seas, guaranteed the safety of Turkish See also:merchant vessels, and provided them with an escort of galleys. The Uskoks retaliated by ravaging the Venetian islands of See also:Veglia, Arbe and Pago, and by using the Venetian territories in See also:Dalmatia as an See also:avenue of attack upon the Turks. Meanwhile the corsairs of See also:Greece and See also:Africa were See also:free to See also:raid the unprotected See also:southern shores of See also:Italy; and Venice was besieged with complaints from the See also:Porte, the Vatican, the See also:Viceroy of See also:Naples and his See also:sovereign, the See also:king of See also:Spain. An See also:appeal to See also:Austria met with little success, for the offences of the Uskoks were outweighed by their services against the Turks; while, if Minucci may be trusted, a See also:share of their spoils, in See also:silk, See also:velvet and jewels, went to the ladies of the Archducal See also:Court of See also:Graz, where the See also:matter was negotiated. From 1577 onwards, Venice endeavoured to crush the pirates without offending Austria, enlisting Albanians in See also:place of their Dalmatian crews, who feared reprisals at See also:home. For a See also:time the Uskoks only ventured forth by See also:night, in See also:winter and stormy See also:weather. In 1592 a Turkish See also:army invaded Croatia, hoping to See also:capture Zengg, but it was routed and dispersed in the following See also:year. Austria being thus involved in war with See also:Turkey, the Venetian See also:Admiral Giovanni See also:Bembo blockaded See also:Trieste and See also:Fiume, whither the pirates forwarded their See also:booty for See also:sale. They also erected two forts to command the passages from Zengg to the open See also:sea.

In 1602 a raid by the Uskoks upon See also:

Istria resulted in an agreement between Venice and Austria, and the despatch to Zengg of the energetic See also:commissioner Rabatta with a strong bodyguard. All these See also:measures, however, availed little. Rabatta was murdered, the fugitive Uskoks returned to Zengg and piracy was resumed, with varying fortunes, until 1615, when a grosser See also:outrage than usual led to open war between Venice and Austria. By the treaty of See also:peace concluded at See also:Madrid, in 1617, it was arranged that the Uskoks should be disbanded, and their See also:ships destroyed. The pirates and their families were, accordingly, transported to the interior of Croatia, where they gave their name to the Uskoken Gebirge, a See also:group of mountains on the See also:borders of See also:Carniola. Their presence has also been traced near See also:Monte See also:Maggiore, in Istria, where such significant See also:family names as Novlian (from Novi), Ottocian (from Ottocac) and Clissan (from Clissa), were noted by See also:Franceschi in 1899. See Minuccio Minucci, Historia degli Uscochi (Venice, 16(33); enlarged by P. See also:Sarpi, and translated into See also:French as a supplement to Amelot de la See also:Houssaye's Histoire du gouvernement de Venise (See also:Amsterdam, 1705). Minucci was one of the Venetian envoys at Graz. See also the conciser narratives in C. de Franceschi's L'Istria, See also:chap. 37 (See also:Parenzo, 1879) ; and T. G.

See also:

Jackson's Dalmatia, the Quarnero and Istria, chap. 27 (See also:Oxford, 1887).

End of Article: USKOKS

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
USK, THOMAS (d. 1388) 		[next]
USKUB

Site © 2006 - Net Industries