Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 15th century - 19th century (Creation)
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and medium
202 volumes; 6.5 linear metres; textual records
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Archival history
The lower judicial and administrative authorities of the Dubrovnik Republic were organized in two types of administrative units: captaincies and districts. The size of the territory and the number of captaincies and districts changed throughout history according to the needs and discretion of the authorities of the Dubrovnik Republic. In the 18th century there were eleven administrative units: eight districts and three captaincies. The island of Mljet was joined to the Dubrovnik commune in 1410 and was ruled by a rector who resided in a village of Babino Polje. Among other things, the Rector served as a judge and, like the role of other rectors and captains who ruled locally, he was not empowered to pass sentences for the most serious crimes committed in the territory under his supervision.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
The fonds has been linked to the archive since its inception. In the times of the Dubrovnik Republic, the books of the fonds were stored at the Chancellery of the Autonomous Commune on the island of Mljet, and by 1891 they were transferred to the Rector’s Palace, when the archives were consolidated and were 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.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
The fonds consists of the series Diversa Meledae (HR-DADU-65.1), Testamenta Meledae (HR-DADU-65.2), Venditiones Meledae (HR-DADU-65.3), Lamenta Meledae (HR-DADU-65.4), Sententiae Meledae (HR-DADU-65.5), Intentiones Meledae (HR-DADU-65.6), Libro della Cancellaria di Meleda (HR-DADU-65.7), Libro delle procure di Meleda (HR-DADU-65.8) and Varia Meledae (HR-DADU-65.9).
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
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).
Conditions governing reproduction
Taking photographs and scanning are allowed, for a fee.
Language of material
- Croatian
- Italian
- Latin
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
Croatian (Slavic language)
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Paper. The archival material is well preserved.
Finding aids
Građa za generalni katalog Državnog arhiva u Dubrovniku, box 18, folder 14.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
State Archives in Dubrovnik
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Publication note
Bernard Stulli, »Zbirka dubrovačkih propisa za otok Mljet iz godine 1791.« Zbornik za narodni život i običaje 45 (1971): 663-678. Ante Marinović and Ivo Veselić, Mljetski statut, Split: Splitski književni krug, 2002. Nella Lonza, Pod plaštem pravde, Kaznenopravni sustav Dubrovačke Republike u XVIII. stoljeću (Summary: Criminal Justice in the Eighteenth-Century Republic of Dubrovnik), Dubrovnik: Zavod za povijesne znanosti HAZU u Dubrovniku, 1997. Konstantin Vojnović, »Sudbeni ustroj Republike dubrovačke.« Rad JAZU 105 (1891): 1-48; 108 (1892): 99-181; 114 (1893): 159-220; 115 (1893): 1-36. Nenad Vekarić, »Sud Janjinske kapetanije.« (Summary: The Court of Janjina Captaincy) Anali Zavoda za povijesne znanosti HAZU u Dubrovniku 27 (1989): 133-147.
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Old reference code
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Descriptions of fonds, series and sub-series are made according to the ISAD (G) standard (general international standard archival description)
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
2021
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
Sources
Archivist's note
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