THE TURKISH CONQUEST 223
against the Turks. He requested the Ragusan Senate to try to induce the chief princes of Servia and Bosnia, whether schismatics or Bogomils, to send envoys to Basel. The attempt was actually made, but the whole country was in such a state of anarchy and rebellion that none of them were able to pay any attention to the matter.1
   A war had broken out between the King of Bosnia and Stephen Lazarevic, Despot of Servia, which was destined to last for thirty years. All the Slave princes were fighting amongst themselves, and Ragusa had another opportunity of extending her dominions far into the interior had she been so minded. But according to Resti, the reason why she abstained was that she realised that the Turks had earmarked all that country, and that for her to occupy it would be to court annihilation, and Trebinje, which was now offered to her, was refused. It seemed more prudent to content herself with a small compact territory and with acting the part of intermediary between East and West, civilisation and barbarism, Christianity and Islam, than to aspire to dangerous conquests. The Ragusan despatches for the next few years are full of the Turkish advance. In 1432 Isak Beg invaded Croatia, passing through Bosnia with 3000 men, and raided the territory of Zara, while another army entered Wallachia and Transsilvania, forcing the lord of Wallachia to recognise the Sultan’s supremacy. Two years later, however, the Turks met with a serious check in Albania, where a native force under Arneth Spata defeated the invaders several times; in 1435 1 Matkovic, Rad., 235-36; Klaic, 351-52.