« 220 THE REPUBLIC OF RAGUSA being. The long civil war in Croatia and Dalmatia between the partisans of Sigismund and those of Ladislas had resulted in the acquisition of the littoral by Venice, and the only prince who remained independent of the Republic was Ivan Nelipic, Count of £etin, Klissa, and Rama. His estates comprised Western Bosnia and some districts of Hlum and Dalmatia. He could not, of course, face the Venetians on the sea, but he managed to hold his own on the mountain ridges.1 The Venetians and Tvrtko were ready to come to an understanding on this matter, and a war against Nelipic was under discussion when the Turks again invaded Bosnia. There were 4000 Ottomans in the country all through the summer of 1426, and they seized a number of towns and raided Croatia, Usora, and Srebrnica, while King Tvrtko did not dare to do anything against them.2 The Ragusan colonies in Novobrdo and Priesrinac were besieged by the Turks and in great danger. The Venetians conducted further operations against them in Albania, the Morea, Achaia, and round Salonica. The routes through Albania, Bosnia, and Slavonia were interrupted,3 and the inland trade at a stand-still. Sandalj Hranic for a moment seemed to appreciate the danger, and after a visit to Ragusa in 1424, made peace with Radosav Paulovic, who now seemed ready to sell his share of Canali to Ragusa for 13,000 ducats down and 600 a year. The Republic created him and his son Ragusan nobles, and gave them a palace in the 1 Klaic, 337-40. 2 Dipl. Rag., 202, June 8, 1426. 3 Ibid., 206, July 31, 1427.