The joining of the Croatian and Hungarian crowns had automatically made Hungary and Venice rivals for domination of Dalmatia.

Hungary seeks access to the sea, while Venice wishes to secure its trade routes to the eastern Mediterranean and to use Dalmatian timber for shipbuilding.

Between 1115 and 1420, the two powers will wage twenty-one wars for control of the region, and Dalmatian cities will change hands repeatedly.

Serbia and Bosnia also compete for Dalmatia.

Serbia seizes the coast south of the Gulf of Kotor on the southern Adriatic around 1196 and holds it for one hundred and fifty years; Bosnia dominates central Dalmatia during the late fourteenth century.

Dalmatian cities struggle to remain autonomous by playing off one power against the others.

Most successful in this strategy is Ragusa (today Dubrovnik), whose riches and influence at times rival those of Venice.

In the fourteenth century, Ragusa becomes the first Christian power to establish treaty relations with the Ottoman Empire, which is at this time advancing across the Balkans.

Ragusa will prosper by mediating between Europe and the new Ottoman provinces in Europe and by exporting precious metals, raw materials, agricultural goods, and slaves.

After centuries as the only free South Slav political entity, the city will wane in power following a severe earthquake in 1667.