The merchant navy of Republic of Ragusa engaged in of the trade between the Levant and the ports of Europe. They traded also with Spain and with England. The name of Argosies given by writers of the middle ages to large vessels that carried rich cargoes, which were from Dubrovnik. In the sixteenth century the Ragusan's had three hundred vessels in the Spanish navy. These vessels were lost in the expeditions of Tunis, Algiers and others, under Charles V. and Philip II. These losses and the earthquake of 1667 which destroyed the greater part of Dubrovnik, were the causes of the decay of its maritime trade, which however recovered to a certain extent during the eighteenth century.