maria, in her haste to avoid falling into ottoman hands, mislaid the relics of saint luke. bosnian franciscan friars retrieved them and headed towards ragusa, but were intercepted in poljice by ivaniš vlatković, a local nobleman and friend of the queen, who refused to let them pass without her permission. this angered ragusa, which demanded that ivaniš surrender the relics to them. on 9 july, the republic's authorities issued a decree allowing the queen to take refuge on one of their islands. the decree also made reference to an important issue the ragusans wanted to discuss with her, most likely the sale of the relics. the republic of venice also expressed interest in maria's heirloom, but she was gravely offended in august when venetian authorities miserly tried to question the authenticity of the relics. the venetians eventually succeeded in concluding a sale through her deputy, ivaniš vlatković. she regretted the transaction after the hungarian king matthias corvinus offered her three or four towns in exchange for the relics, but her attempt to have ivaniš retrieve them in late august failed. both ivaniš and maria were rewarded by venice, with the queen being allowed to settle in the benedictine monastery of st. stephen under the pines near spalato.