After the death of the powerful Croatian-Hungarian King Louis I, who gained the entire Adriatic coast from Rijeka to Kotor in persistent battles with Venice, his country was weakened and exhausted by long-lasting struggles for heritage (late 14th century), as at that time. frequent incursions of the Turks. These circumstances finally decided the fate of Dalmatia in favor of Venice. Rab and Zadar were directly involved in these battles for supremacy and the throne between the Croatian-Hungarian King Sigismund of Luxembourg and his opponent Ladislav of Naples. In order to secure his supremacy and possession on Pag, he recognized Zadar, as the first of the Dalmatian cities, Ladislav as king, so in 1403 he was crowned in Zadar.
When Rab was ready to recognize Ladislav as king, provided he confirmed his right to Novalja, Caska and Lun, there was a serious conflict in the city between supporters of both kings. In the end, the victory was won by Sigismund’s supporters, and the consequences of that were bitter disputes with Zadar, which kidnapped Rab from Novalja. In the battles for the Croatian-Hungarian throne, Ladislav could no longer survive, so in 1409 he sold to Venice what he had left: Zadar, Novigrad, Vrana and the island of Pag, as well as all his rights to Dalmatia. And all for 100,000 ducats. In the same year, Rab, out of strong concern for the properties on Pag, recognized the doge’s authority. After that, Venice in constant battles with Sigismund until 1420 conquered almost all of Dalmatia and thus became the proud owner of the Adriatic Sea for almost 400 years.
Only Dubrovnik could preserve its independence and develop into a republic. Venetian Dalmatia now had to submit completely to the political and economic interests of Venice. The autonomy of the cities was very limited; administrative, judicial and military power placed centrally in the hands of the city prince appointed by Venice. The nobility in the cities, trying at all costs to preserve their privileges, deftly adapted to new opportunities and managed to get many concessions from the Venetians, while the vast majority of people in the city and countryside lived without rights, subjected to oppression and exploitation.
