drove large numbers of the Christian inhabitants from their homes. A body of these Uskoks, as they were called, from a Serbo-Croatian word meaning “refugee,” established itself in the Dalmatian fortress of Clissa, near Spalato, and thence waged continual war upon the Turks. Clissa, however, became untenable, and the Uskoks withdrew to Zengg, on the Croatian coast, where, in accordance with the Austrian system of planting colonies of defenders along the Military Frontier, they were welcomed by the Emperor Ferdinand I., and promised an annual subsidy in return for their services. Their new stronghold, screened by mountains and forests, was unassailable by cavalry or artillery, but admirably suited to the light-armed Uskoks, whose excellence lay in guerilla warfare. The Turks, on their side, organized a body of equally effective troops called Martelossi, for defence and reprisals. Thus, checked on land, and with their subsidy rarely paid, the Uskoks turned to piracy. Large galleys could not anchor in the bay of Zengg, which is shallow and exposed to sudden gales, so the Uskoks fitted out a fleet of swift boats, light enough to navigate the smallest creeks and inlets of the Illyrian shore, and easily sunk and recovered, if a temporary landing became necessary. With these they preyed upon the commerce of the Adriatic. Their ranks were soon swelled by outlaws from all nations, and by their own once peaceful neighbours, from Novi, Ottočac and other Croatian towns. After 1540, however, Venice, as mistress of the seas, guaranteed the safety of Turkish merchant vessels, and provided them with an escort of galleys. The Uskoks retaliated by ravaging the Venetian islands of Veglia, Arbe and Pago, and by using the Venetian territories in Dalmatia as an avenue of attack upon the Turks. Meanwhile the corsairs of Greece and Africa were free to raid the unprotected southern shores of Italy; and Venice was besieged with complaints from the Porte, the Vatican, the Viceroy of Naples and his sovereign, the king of Spain. An appeal to Austria met with little success, for the offences of the Uskoks were outweighed by their services against the Turks; while, if Minucci may be trusted, a share of their spoils, in silk, velvet and jewels, went to the ladies of the Archducal Court of Graz, where the matter was negotiated. From 1577 onwards, Venice endeavoured to crush the pirates without offending Austria, enlisting Albanians in place of their Dalmatian crews, who feared reprisals at home. For a time the Uskoks only ventured forth by night, in winter and stormy weather. In 1592 a Turkish army invaded Croatia, hoping to capture Zengg, but it was routed and dispersed in the following year. Austria being thus involved in war with Turkey, the Venetian Admiral Giovanni Bembo blockaded Trieste and Fiume, whither the pirates forwarded their booty for sale. They also erected two forts to command the passages from Zengg to the open sea. In 1602 a raid by the Uskoks upon Istria resulted in an agreement between Venice and Austria, and the despatch to Zengg of the energetic commissioner Rabatta with a strong bodyguard. All these measures, however, availed little. Rabatta was murdered, the fugitive Uskoks returned to Zengg and piracy was resumed, with varying fortunes, until 1615, when a grosser outrage than usual led to open war between Venice and Austria. By the treaty of peace concluded at Madrid, in 1617, it was arranged that the Uskoks should be disbanded, and their ships destroyed. The pirates and their families were, accordingly, transported to the interior of Croatia, where they gave their name to the Uskoken Gebirge, a group of mountains on the borders of Carniola. Their presence has also been traced near Monte Maggiore, in Istria, where such significant family names as Novlian (from Novi), Ottocian (from Ottočac) and Clissan (from Clissa), were noted by Franceschi in 1879.
See Minuccio Minucci, Historia degli Uscochi (Venice, 1603); enlarged by P. Sarpi, and translated into French as a supplement to Amelot de la Houssaye's Histoire du gouvernement de Venise (Amsterdam, 1705). Minucci was one of the Venetian envoys at Graz. See also the conciser narratives in C. de Franceschi’s L’Istria, chap. 37 (Parenzo, 1879); and T. G. Jackson’s Dalmatia, the Quarnero and Istria, chap. 27 (Oxford, 1887).
USKÜB, Uscup, or Skopia (anc. Scupi, Turk. Üshküb,
Slav. Skoplye), the capital of the vilayet of Kossovo, European
Turkey; on the left bank of the river Vardar, and at the junction
of the railways from Nish and Mitrovitza to Salonica. Pop.
(1905) about 32,000, consisting chiefly of Slavs (Serbs and
Bulgars), Turks, Albanians and a few gipsies. Usküb occupies
a picturesque and strategically important position at the foot
of a valley which severs two mountain ranges, the Shar Planina
and Kara Dagh. Main roads radiate N.W. to Prizren, W. to
Gostivar, an important centre of distribution, E.N.E. to Kumanovo,
and thence into Bulgaria, and S. to Koprülü and Monastir.
The city is the headquarters of an army corps, and the see of
an Orthodox Greek archbishop, of the archbishop of the Roman
Catholic Albanians and of a Bulgarian bishop. Its principal
buildings are the citadel, the palace of the vali or provincial
governor, the Greek and Bulgarian schools, numerous churches
and mosques and a Roman aqueduct. The industries include
dyeing, weaving, tanning and the manufacture of metal-work,
wine and flour, but Usküb is chiefly important as the commercial
centre of the whole vilayet of Kossovo (q.v.). The
Imperial Ottoman Bank and the Banque de Salonique have
branches in the city, and French is to a remarkable extent
the language of commerce. Usküb retains in a modified
form the name of Scupi, one of the chief cities of northern
Macedonia. A few unimportant ruins mark the ancient site,
about 112 m. N.W. Scupi was destroyed by an earthquake in
A.D. 518, but was rebuilt by Justinian under the name of
Justiniana Prima. Up to the 14th century it was at times the
capital of the Servian tsars.
USTARANA, a Pathan tribe who inhabit the outer hills opposite
the extreme south portion of Dera Ismail Khan district in the
North-West Frontier Province of India. Originally the Ustaranas
were entirely a pastoral and trading tribe; but a quarrel
with their neighbours, the Musa Khel, put a stop to their annual
westward immigration, and they were forced to take to agriculture,
and have since acquired a good deal of the plain country
below the hills. Their territory includes only the eastern slopes
of the Suliman mountains, the crest of the range being held
by the Musa Khel, Isots and Zmarais (see Suliman Hills).
The Ustaranas are venturesome traders, carrying goods from
Kandahar as far as Bengal. They are a fine manly race, quiet
and well-behaved, and many of them enlist in the Indian army
and police.
USTICA, an island off the N. coast of Sicily, 4112 m. N.N.W.
of Palermo. Pop. (1861) 2231; (1901) 1916. It is the Osteodes
of the Greeks, but in Roman times was known as Ustica.
The island is entirely volcanic and subject to earthquakes,
and is fertile. There is a considerable penal colony. There
are some Roman tombs excavated in the rock.
USTYUG VELIKIY, a town of Russia, in the government of Vologda, 216 m. N.E. from the city of Vologda, on the navigable
Sukhona river, near its confluence with the Yug. Pop. (1885)
8119; (1897) 11,309. It manufactures hosiery, woollens and
linens, has sawmills, and carries on an active trade in corn,
hemp, flax, bristles and butter, which it exports. It has two
important yearly fairs. Its artisans are famous for their
jewelry, for engraving upon silver and the fabrication of boxes
with secret locks.
USURY. An ancient legal conception, it has been said, corresponds not to one but to several modern conceptions;
and the proposition is equally true when economic is substituted for legal. Until quite recent times the term “usury” (Lat. usura, use, enjoyment, interest, from usus, use) covered a
number of essentially different social phenomena. “Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of anything that is lent upon usury. Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury; but unto thy
brother thou shalt not lend upon usury, that the Lord thy God
may bless thee” (Deut. xxiii. 19, 20). In this sentence we find
interest of all kinds blended together, and the natural economic
tendencies directly counteracted by the moral and religious law.
At the present day, “usury,” if used in the old sense of the term,
would embrace a multitude of modes of receiving interest upon
capital to which not the slightest moral taint is attached.
