Paladino Gondola

Paladino Gondola was a Ragusan diplomat and merchant. He traded cereals from Southern Italy and Sicily, and was granted by two consecutive rulers of the Kingdom of Naples, Alfonso (r. 1442 – 1458) and Ferdinand (r. 1458 – 1494), with privileges to trade in cereals from Italy.

As a part of the Ragusan aristocracy, Gondola served the Republic in various official capacities. Probably his most important mission was the one in 1458, when the Republic of Ragusa sent him and Paladin Lukarić to Skopje to negotiate with Mahmud Pasha Angelovic, the grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire. They were able to negotiate Ragusan autonomy within the Ottoman Empire, in return for a tribute of 1500 ducats. The treaty guaranteed safe conduct for Ragusan merchants throughout the Ottoman Empire, placing them in superior position to other Christian nations.