occurred between 1510 and 1514 with the Venetians ruthlessly crushing the locals and sending twenty of their leaders to the hangman.The island became prosperous from fishing, the cultivation of rosemary, lavender and olives. The Venetians set up the Diocese of Hvar.
Hvar is important to the history of Croatia as it was one of the centers of Croatian literature during the Renaissance, with writers such as Petar Hektorovi? and Hanibal Luci?. In Stari Grad, tourists can see the Petar Hektorovi? fortress/villa called Tvrdalj Castle, architectonically designed by the poet himself.
Churches on the island contain many important paintings and artworks by famous Venetian artists, including Tintoretto, Veronese, Bellini and others.
In 1797 Hvar was annexed with the fall of the Venetian Republic by the Habsburg Monarchy as per the Treaty of Campo Formio. But forces of the French Empire seized it in 1806 during the Napoleonic wars before finally being taken by British marines and sailors in 1812.
During the Croatian national renaissance, in the age of national awakening in Europe, many leading figures in southern Croatia, and in Croatia as a whole, came from Hvar.
The Austrians regained control of the island in accordance to the 1815 Treaty of Vienna and into the beginning of the 20th century brought a period of relative prosperity. The Italian army occupied the island from 1918 until 1921, when Hvar with the rest of Croatia joined the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In 1939, an autonomous Croatian Banate was formed that included it. During WWII, it was under control of Independent State of Croatia, but under military occupation of Fascist Italy until 1943. After 1945, it became a part of People's Republic of Croatia, a constituent republic of Communist Yugoslavia.
Ivan Vu?eti?, the man who perfected dactylos copy at the turn of the 20th century, came from Hvar island.
In 1992 the Republic of Croatia was recognized as an Independent
