In the 16th and 17th century a large proportion of its ethnic population changed dramatically mainly due to various historical events in Europe as the Ottoman Empire advanced into Europe, migrations from the east started (i.e Eastern Croatians - Hercegovci, Serbs, Albanians etc,). From the west Spanish Jews (Spanish-Jews were expelled in 1493 from Spain), plus the devastating inpact of the 1667 Dubrovnik earthquake (around 5,000 people were killed). The Republic became a hub of '''multi-ethnic''' communities. The most numerous of these were the Croatian Slavs. The peoples of the Republic started to merge (including mixed marriages). Additionally the Ragusan-Slavic population were Romanised, meaning they adopted Latin Mediterranean culture. A form of [[Italian language|Italian]] was spoken in the Republic, which was heavily influenced by '''Venetian'''. Books were written in Latin and Italian. Some Ragusans started to write in a Slavic language. | In the 16th and 17th century a large proportion of its ethnic population changed dramatically mainly due to various historical events in Europe as the Ottoman Empire advanced into Europe, migrations from the east started (i.e Eastern Croatians - Hercegovci, Serbs, Albanians etc,). From the west Spanish Jews (Spanish-Jews were expelled in 1493 from Spain), plus the devastating inpact of the 1667 Dubrovnik earthquake (around 5,000 people were killed). The Republic became a hub of '''multi-ethnic''' communities. The most numerous of these were the Croatian Slavs. The peoples of the Republic started to merge (including mixed marriages). Additionally the Ragusan-Slavic population were Romanised, meaning they adopted Latin Mediterranean culture. A form of [[Italian language|Italian]] was spoken in the Republic, which was heavily influenced by '''Venetian'''. Books were written in Latin and Italian. Some Ragusans started to write in a Slavic language. |