The books in this series were not kept by the Public Notary, but by the Chancellery.
Published
_Aptai de misericordia_ is a very interesting institution of law that is specific to the Dubrovnik Republic. References to _Aptai_ can already be found in 1272, in the Dubrovnik Statute. The term itself stands for a specific tribunal fee collected by the Rector. Later, the meaning of the term itself changed and _aptai_ started to indicate a civil court proceeding in which that fee had to be paid. Finally, in the second half of the 14th century, the term _aptai_ started to stand for a mode or process that was used to ensure the fulfilment of the debtor's obligation. That obligation was made, i.e., signed in the Chancellery, and it became official after the expiration of the deadline entered in the document. Based on the evidence, it is therefore clear that the entries in the books of the _Aptai de misericordia_ had the power of a judgment and that there was no need to pursue further legal action against the debtor. The entries contain the following information: name and surname of the donor of the charity promissory note, name and surname of the recipient of the charity promissory note, and payment deadline. Valuable items nominated by the borrower to be mortgaged were also sometimes indicated, together with the details of instalment payments. In the margin, along with singular entries, data on debt repayment, were specified. Most of the records in this series follow this model: _Jacobus d'Abram Pardo hebreus dedit aptaii de misericordia supra Vitum Michaelis, Andream Pasqualis Vuchotich, et Demetrium Mihailovich calceolarius presentibus simul et in solidum de ducati sexaquinta de g. totius summae_ (vol. 4, f. 14).
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The series gives relevant data for the research of credit transactions of Dubrovnik Jews, who mostly are referenced in the documents of the series as donors, or providers of charity. All the Jews referenced to in this series were permanent residents of Dubrovnik. The first references to their names in the documents date to the end of the 16th century, and many more Jewish names can be found in the documents since the middle of the 17th century. The names of some members of Jewish families such as Abeatar, Abenun, Amadio, Azubi, Coen, Danon, Franco, Israel, Maestro, Oef (Ohev) and Tobi were recorded. Some of them very often cited as creditors, or those who lent money, and the names of Solomon Maestro, and a well-known Dubrovnik merchant Raphael Coen especially stand out among those names. Other Jews that should also be pointed out for their importance are two brothers: Jacob Coen de Herrera (_Martin de Marchena_), a brother of a famous Jew Abraham Coen de Herrera (_Allonso Nuñes de Herrera_). The records show also references to other Jewish people of that time, such as: Ambonetti, Ascoli, Asser, Baraffael, Bueno, Cagli, Campos, Coen, Costantini, Forte, Gaon, Levi, Levi Mandolfo, Luzzena, Maestro, Nachas, Navarro, Pappo, Pardo, Russi, Saralvo, Terni, Tolentino, Valenzin, Vitali.
State Archives in Dubrovnik
_Diversa Notariae_ (HR-DADU-9), _Debita Notariae_ (HR-DADU-10.1), _Debita Notariae pro Comuni_ (HR-DADU-10.2), _Aptai Stagni_ (HR-DADU-68.1), _Aptai di misericordia Breni_ (HR-DADU-70.3)
_Građa za generalni katalog Državnog arhiva u Dubrovniku_, box 13, folder 5.
Konstantin Vojnović, »Sudbeni ustroj republike dubrovačke.« Rad JAZU 108 (1892): 99-181. Ivo Puhan, »'Aptagi' dubrovačkog prava.« _Istorijsko-pravni zbornik_ 3-4 (1950): 200-213. Jelena Danilović, »O pravnoj prirodi i razvoju ustanove 'aptagi' dubrovačkog prava.« (résumé: De la nature et du développement de l'institution de droit ragusain 'Aptagi') _Istorijski časopis_ 12-13 (1963): 31-90. Ignacij Voje, _Poslovna uspešnost trgovcev v srednjeveškem Dubrovniku_ (summary), Ljubljana: Znanstveni inštitut Filozofske fakultete, 2003.