Dalmatia

A narrow strip of territory extending along the Adriatic Sea; bounded north by Istria and Croatia, and east by Bosnia and Herzegovina. In ancient times Dalmatia was a considerable kingdom, and, after many unsucce ful attempts, was first subjugated by the Romans in the time of August us. After the fall of the Western empire, Dalmatia, which had formed the most southern part of the province of Illyricum, was captured by the Goths, from whom it was taken by the Avari (490), who in their turn yielded it to the Slavonians about 620. It continued under the rule of the Slavonians until the beginning of the 11th century, when King Ladislaus of Hungary incorporated a part of it with Croatia, while the other part, with the title of duchy, placed itself under the protection of the Venetian republic. The Turks afterwards made themselves masters of a small portion, and by the peace of Campo-Formio (1797), the Venetian part, with Venice itself, became subject to Austrian rule, and when Austria, in 1805, had ceded this part to Napoleon, it was annexed to the kingdom of Italy; afterwards (1810) to Illyria. Since 1814, excepting the Turkish portion, it has been reunited with Austria.