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Officium navigationis; Officio della navigazione (Office for Maritime Affairs; Maritime Court) Series
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Iudicatus et sententiae Officii navigationis; Giudicati e sentenze dell'Offizio della Navigazione (Presude Magistrata za pomorstvo/Judgements of the Office of Maritime Affairs)

Judgments of the Maritime Court have been preserved for the period from the 40s to the 60s of the 18th centuries. They were reached by senators who managed the Maritime Office (Signori Senatori Officiali alla Sopraintendenza della Navigazione). Their authorities were limited to civil lawsuits, which were mainly related to conflicts between co-owners of the ships, conflicts between crew members and the captain or the owners of the ships, conflicts between the captain and co-owners of the ships, or conflicts concerning the construction of new ships.


In this series, which consists of only one volume, there is only a small number of references to Jews. The data provided in the series are deemed suitable for the research of the involvement of Ragusan Jews in the maritime affairs of the Republic in the 18th century. The references to the Jewish population are primarily to members of Ragusan Jewish families such as Levi Mandolfo and Tolentino. In disputes cited these Jews are referenced as co-owners of ships (e.g., vol. 1, f. 58v-62v).

Sequestra Officii navigationis; Sequestri dell'Offizio della navigazione (Sequestrations of the Office for Maritime Affairs)

The series consists of only two volumes and covers the period from the mid-18th century to the early 19th century containing the data on sequestrations of money and shares that were carried out based on judgments that had been reached by the Maritime Court. Judgments for the period from 1753 to 1757 are written a tergo in the first volume of this series. Sequestrations were usually written in a following format: D'ordine e mandato ut supra e ad istanza di Salamon Terni, Antonio Flori riviere riferi d'aver sequestrato li due caratti di ragione di Giovanni d'Antonio Cresci esistenti nel bastimento al presente diretto da capitano Giovanni Lubislavich (vol. 2, f. 106).


The series is very important for the research of the history of maritime affairs of the Jewish population in the Republic. The data shows that many Ragusan Jews were not only owners of ship shares, that is co-owners of ships, but they would also often grant so-called "maritime loans". Most often these references indicate various members of some Ragusan Jewish families such as Ambonetti, Levi Mandolfo, Luzzena, Pardo, Russo, Terni, Tolentino, Valenzin.

Commandamenta et sententiae navigationis; Commandamenti e sentenze della navigazione (Lawsuits and judgments in maritime affairs)

The series contains civil lawsuits, investigations and judgments related to maritime affairs, and covers the period from the 60s of the 18th centuries to the early 19th century. The topics of these of lawsuits are diverse: various types of debts (most often irregular repayments or terminations of maritime loan repayment), disagreements over the payment of crew salaries, damage to merchandise, loss of shipping books, suspicions of misrepresentation of ship maintenance costs, avoidance of maritime insurance payment after shipwreck, etc.


The series contains a considerable amount of information about Jews, which is deemed relevant for researching the involvement of Ragusan Jews in maritime affairs during the 18th century. Most references indicate Jews who were members of some Ragusan Jewish families such as Ambonetti, Cittanova, Levi Mandolfo, Luzzena, Pardo, Terni, Tolentino, Venturra. These Jews are in most cases referenced as providers of so-called maritime loans who filed a lawsuit against those who had borrowed the money from them (e.g., vol. 3, f. 259c). The loans referenced in the series were usually taken by sea captains who wanted to purchase various equipment for their ships. In such a case, and as a guarantee for the regular payment of the loan, the sea captains would sign a bill of exchange by pledging the ship, equipment or shares in that ship (if they owned any of them). Agreements on maritime loans are registered in the fonds Diversa Notariae Fund (HR-DADU-9) and in the series Diversa de Foris (HR-DADU-30.1) and Diversa navigationis (HR-DADU-56.9). In this series, Ragusan Jews sometimes appear as legal representatives of defendants and sometimes as members of insurance companies. The series also records the text of an oath that was taken by the Jews during their testimonies. This specific oath was taken at the request of the French authorities in 1810 by Sabato Vita Levi Mandolfo (vol. 11, ff. 294v-295v).