Saint Blaise

The man who would become known to Western Europe as Saint Blaise was Bishop Vlasi of Sebastea in Armenia. His life was written about 400 years after his death, in the Acts of Saint Blaise:

Blaise, who had studied philosophy in his youth, was a doctor in Sebaste in Armenia, the city of his birth, who exercised his art with miraculous ability, good-will, and piety. When the bishop of the city died, he was chosen to succeed him, with the acclamation of all the people. His holiness was manifest through many miracles: from all around, people came to him to find cures for their spirit and their body; even wild animals came in herds to receive his blessing. In 316, Agricola, the governor of Cappadocia and of Lesser Armenia, having arrived in Sebastia at the order of the emperor Licinius to kill the Christians, arrested the bishop. As he was being led to jail, a mother set her only son, choking to death of a fish-bone, at his feet, and the child was cured straight away. Regardless, the governor, unable to make Blaise renounce his faith, beat him with a stick, ripped his flesh with iron combs, and beheaded him.

This incident forever joined the saint's name to throat ailments, but he is also the patron saint for infants, animals, builders, stonecutters, carvers, drapers, wool workers, wool industry, veterinarians, physicians, healing, the general sick, choking, and Ear Nose and Throat illnesses.

As well as a plethora of causes for which one might appeal to Blaise, there were numerous locations that claimed his patronage: several towns in Italy, in Sicily, Sebastea, and Dubrovnik, whose Republic of Ragusa even has his likeness on their flag! Dubrovnik and others have parades and festivities on 3 February for the saint's feast day.

Blaise was very popular in the Middle Ages, with many churches and locations named for him. A shrine near where he was martyred was commented on both by Marco Polo and William Rubruck.

Outside of works on saints' lives, he was mentioned by Aëtius of Amida, a medical writer, for his healing abilities. Aëtius is interesting for many reasons, one of which is the typographical error in one of his works that named a near-universal medical issue. But that's a story for tomorrow.

The Siege of Ragusa

A 9th-century Arab dynasty almost ended the city of Dubrovnik in its infancy. At the time, it was called Ragusa, founded about 615CE by refugees fleeing the destruction of the Roman city Epidaurum during the war between the Avars and Slavs. Ragusa/Dubrovnik was an ideal spot, having a sandy shore onto which boats could be dragged when not plying the waves, and a source of fresh water for the inhabitants.

They built their town with the natural timber found all over, namely the Holm Oak, whose name in Croatian, dubrava, gave the town its later name. Mindful of their war-torn origin, they fortified the town against possible invaders.

Invaders came in the form of the Aghlabids of Ifriqiya, functioning as pirates and looking for new territory to conquer. Byzantine records state that the Aghlabids launched a campaign against the south-eastern coasts of the Adriatic in 866. They succeeded in plundering cities along the coast until they reached Ragusa. Finding the city fortified, they set up a siege, intending to wait out the inhabitants.

Ragusa turned out to be better prepared than expected; they withstood the siege for fifteen months! They could not last indefinitely, however, and snuck messengers out of the city to request aid from the Byzantine Empire. Byzantium had once controlled and patrolled the region but had allowed that vigilance to subside; it was their absence that enabled the Aghlabids to invade.

The latest emperor, however, wished to re-assert control over areas to the west. Emperor Basil I sent a fleet of 100 ships under the command of admiral Niketas Oryphas. News of the Byzantine fleet's approach caused the Aghlabids to withdraw. Admiral Oryphas planned future expeditions to push Saracens out of the region, slowly returning the Adriatic and southern Italy to Christian rule.

Every 3 February modern Dubrovnik celebrates with parades and several days of festivities in honor of their patron saint, Sveti Vlaho, or, as he is better known in the West, Saint Blaise. Let me tell you his story next time.

Ragusa to Dubrovnik

The modern city of Dubrovnik began as a town called Ragusa, founded by Romans fleeing war. From its start in the 7th century, it developed into a forward-looking community as well as an important port city on the eastern Adriatic coast.

King Stjepan I of Croatia gave a grant of land that extended Ragusa's rule 16km north along the coast. The region was covered in the Holm Oak, which is significant for two reasons. Holm Oaks can grow close to 100 feet tall, making it suitable for large construction projects like community structures and ship-building.

The second significant point is in the Croatian word for the Holm Oak: dubrava. This evolved into the name of the city, and Ragusa in the late Renaissance became increasingly known as Dubrovnik.

Dubrovnik was no ordinary medieval city. Roman architectural knowledge enabled them to fortify the city that would allow them to withstand long sieges by Arabs in the early days of the city's development. During war between Byzantines and Normans, when Venice started expanding its authority over the region, the annoyed Ragusans fought for more and more independence from other distant powers. When Pope Calixtus II elevated their bishop's diocese to an archbishopric in 1120, they gained more autonomy in the region.

In 1358, Dubrovnik finally freed itself from Venetian rule when war between Venice and Hungary-Croatia forced Venice to relinquish influence over its possessions in Dalmatia. A few years later, Venice tried to get revenge by forbidding its boats from trading with Dubrovnik and other Dalmatian ports. This merely prompted Dubrovnik to seek trade elsewhere, building even larger ships that could manage longer voyages along the wider Mediterranean routes. In 1365 Dubrovnik negotiated a trade deal with the Ottomans, since they were now sailing to Egypt and the Levant. Dubrovnik even grew strong enough to start expanding its territory, annexing some islands in southern Dalmatia. In the 1500s, Dubrovnik was trading with India and even the Americas.

One of their impressive achievements was a very early one: resisting an Arab siege for 15 months. Next time I'll tell you about the Siege of Ragusa, and how it might have ended the Republic of Ragusa and the growth of Dubrovnik when it was still in its youth.

The Pearl of the Adriatic

The oldest apothecary in Europe was founded in Dubrovnik, in southern Dalmatia in Croatia. At the time, it was called Ragusa; to be fair, it was called both names for centuries, "Ragusa" being used since the 10th century (it was the center of the "Republic of Ragusa") and "Dubrovnik" showing up a century later as the town name and widely used in the 16th and 17th centuries up to now. 

It was founded in the 7th century by Romans from the south fleeing fighting between Slavs and Avars. Byzantium initially protected this part of the world, but later it would fall (like much of the Adriatic coast) under control by Venice.

One of the things Ragusa became known for was ship-building; in fact, they built their ships indoors because their methods were so innovative that spies wanted to copy them.

A very forward-thinking city, they adopted a code of laws and public services that sound very modern. A medical service was started in 1301, the apothecary mentioned above was established in a monastery in 1317 and still functions today. In 1347 they opened an almshouse (just in time for the Bubonic Plague which arrived a year later), and a quarantine hospital in 1377. Ragusa established a separate town outside the walls for those suffering from leprosy. 

Their law only allowed a doctor to be paid when the patient was healed. A female doctor was mentioned in records in 1325. A service for removing garbage from the town was first recorded in 1415. The city paved the streets, and shop-owners were required to sweep the area in front of their shop. Aqueducts and sewage systems were installed in 1436. Underground silos were built that could hold 1200 tons of grain (which they had to import). They voted to abolish slavery in 1416.

Ragusa/Dubrovnik has so much fascinating history that I want to continue this tomorrow.

The Plague Continues

The Bubonic Plague, also called the "Black Death," first hit the European Middle Ages primarily in 1348-1351, but that wasn't the end. To be fair, it was revving up to the east long before 1348. It was responsible for deaths in the 1200s in China. In the 1340s it was killing people living around the Black Sea. In fact, we know that it existed among rodent populations high up in the Alps.

How do we know this?

The spread of the plague has been better understood in recent decades thanks to modern science and the sequencing of genomes. The bacterium Yersinia pestis has been sequenced, and modern science can detect it from bones of the long-dead. In many cases, those bones are easier to identify because the plague killed so many so fast that the corpses were thrown into mass graves quickly. In fact, the approach of the plague did prompt preparation: the mass graves in London were dug before the plague actually arrived. (The illustration shows a mass grave of plague victims in France.)

Therefore, by examining skeletons from different eras, we can track the spread and durability of the plague, which was endemic in Europe after the mid-14th century appearance. Plague returned approximately every decade or so for centuries. Whatever the cause (see the link in the first paragraph), folk realized they should try to stay away from those who were infected. This led to quarantining when news of a plague resurgence came to a community. You could either barricade yourself in your house or escape the town. In 1377, the town of Ragusa on the Adriatic initiated the first wide-spread, mandatory quarantine. In the second half of the 1400s, quarantines were common around the Mediterranean, whose warm weather and coastal ports allowed plague to thrive and spread.

Ragusa actually had a reputation for doctors. If you search for Ragusa on a map today, it will show you a city in southern Sicily, not on the coast of the Adriatic. That's because it's got a different name now: Dubrovnik. Let's talk about its medieval history tomorrow.