Published
The fonds consists of the series _Arboratica_ (HR-DADU-57.1) and _Arboratica et Scarmi_ (HR-DADU-57.2).
Paper. The archival material is well preserved.
The fonds has been linked to the archive since its inception. In times of the Dubrovnik Republic, the books of the fonds were stored in the Rector’s Palace, and they remained there even after the fall of the Dubrovnik Republic in 1808. By 1891, the archival material was consolidated and was made available to researchers. The archive in the Rector's Palace has been functioning as an independent institution since 1920 and it was dislocated to the Sponza Palace in 1952, where it is still located today.
The Office for Maritime Affairs or the Office for the Supervision of Navigation was founded in 1745, at the time of a new increase of maritime affairs in the Dubrovnik Republic. It appears in archival sources under different following names: _Officio della Navigazione, Officio alla Sopraintendenza della Navigazione, Sopraintendenza della Navigazione, Officio della Marina, Magistrato alla Navigazione_. The office was managed by five senators, the so-called _Officiali alla Sopraintendenza della Navigazione_, who were initially elected for a term of five years, and from the 80s of the 18th centuries, for a term of three years. The office supervised the entire maritime affairs of the Dubrovnik Republic. For example, among other things, it conducted investigations and trials in the disputes of Dubrovnik seafarers and cooperated with the consulates of the Dubrovnik Republic in Mediterranean ports. Various maritime taxes were paid into the treasury of the Office, and among them were the tax _arboratica_ and the tax _arboratica et scarmi_.
Description prepared by Vesna Miović (Fonds, Series, Subseries) Croatia [The Institute for Historical Sciences in Dubrovnik, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (CASA)] Translation to English by Zrinka Friganović Sain
State Archives in Dubrovnik
The fonds has been completely transferred to microfilms, but the microfilms are not available to the users of archives.
The fonds is fully accessible to researchers in accordance with the Ordinance on the work in the reading room of the State Archives in Dubrovnik and the Law on Archival Materials and Archives NN 61/18 (_Pravilnik o radu u čitaonici Državnog arhiva u Dubrovniku_ and _Zakon o arhivskom gradivu i arhivima NN 61/18)._
Taking photographs and scanning are allowed, for a fee.
_Građa za generalni katalog Državnog arhiva u Dubrovniku_, box 18, folder 9.
Published
The maritime tax _arboratica_ (Latin _arbo_r: wood, i.e., mast) was mentioned for the first time in the Dubrovnik Statute from 1272. Initially, this tax was paid only by foreign ships that used the port of Dubrovnik, and later it had to be paid also by domestic ships with a carrying capacity of more than 10 _carrus_ (_carrus_: car, approximately 1900 kg). The tax _arboratica_ was calculated according to the afore-mentioned unit of measurement for the carrying capacity of the ship and was paid to the treasury of the Maritime Office. The payment of this tax represented a type of constant state revenue which the Republic invested in the development of maritime affairs. The preserved books of payments of the tax _arboratica_ date from the end of the 16th century to the beginning of the 19th century.
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The series is very important for researching the history of the involvement of Dubrovnik Jews in maritime affairs of the Republic in the 18th century. Many payments made by Jews were recorded in the books _arboratica._ The payments recorded indicate that the Jews in those books were referred to either as leaseholders of the tax _arboratica_ or as co-owners of the ships. In years 1803-1806 the recorded data show that Jews fully took over the responsibility for collection of payment of this tax. Therefore, during that period only Jews were referenced as taxpayers. In one of the books from 1806, it is even specified that the list of tax debtors was entrusted to Jews for collection of _arboratica_ (vol. 16, without numbering). The books of this series reference to Jews from Jewish Ragusan families such as Ambonetti, Campos, Coen, Levi, Levi Mandolfo, Luzzena, Maestro, Pardo, Russo, Tolentino, Valenzin, Vitali.
State Archives in Dubrovnik
_Arboratica et scarmi_ (HR-DADU-57.2)
Jorjo Tadić, »O pomorstvu Dubrovačke Republike u 16. i 17. stoljeću.« (Summary: About the Naval Activity of Dubrovnik in the XVIth and XVIIthe Century), Dubrovačko pomorstvo, Dubrovnik: Odbor za proslavu sto godina nautičke škole u Dubrovniku, 1952. Vinko Foretić, »Pomorska serija starog Dubrovačkog arhiva, I.« _Naše more_ 11 (1954): 597-599.Vinko Foretić, »Pomorska serija starog Dubrovačkog arhiva, II.« _Naše more_ 12 (1954): 664-666. Vinko Ivančević, »Brodske pristojbe u starom Dubrovniku.« (Résumé: Taxes sur les navires dans la République de Dubrovnik) _Anali Historijskog instituta u Dubrovniku_ 4-5 (1956): 545-569. Vinko Ivančević, »Udio Židova u pomorstvu starog Dubrovnika (1751-1808).« _Jevrejski almanah_ 1963-1964 (1965): 67-81.
Published
There are no references to the Jewish people in this series.
The series covers the period from 1729 to 1797, and the volumes have three titles: _Arboracci e scarmi alla Ponta, Arboracci e scarmi alle Pile_ and _Arboracci e scarmi del Porto_. Regardless of these titles, it is evident that these volumes do not contain any data on the payment of the fee _arboratica_, but rather the payments of _scarmi_ fee (Italian: _scarmo_: thumb, a wedge on a boat to which a paddle is attached). This fee had to be paid by smaller domestic and foreign ships that docked in the city port and in the suburbs of Pile.
State Archives in Dubrovnik
_Arboratica_ (HR-DADU-57.1)
Vinko Foretić, »Pomorska serija starog Dubrovačkog arhiva, I.« _Naše more_ 11 (1954): 597-599.Vinko Foretić, »Pomorska serija starog Dubrovačkog arhiva, II.« _Naše more_ 12 (1954): 664-666.Vinko Ivančević, »Brodske pristojbe u starom Dubrovniku.« (Résumé: Taxes sur les navires dans la République de Dubrovnik) _Anali Historijskog instituta u Dubrovniku_ 4-5 (1956): 545-569.