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Grassia; Grassa (Food supplies)

  • HR-DADU-36
  • Fonds
  • 1500-1590, 1595-1609, 1616, 1622-1625, 1627-1655, 1662-1809

The fonds contains registers of expenses related to the purchase of various types of cereals (sorghum, millet, wheat, barley), as well as the purchase of olive oil, rice, or beans. Some registers in the fonds provide information on the distribution and sale of these food products to the inhabitants of the Republic. Among other documents in the fonds, there are also registers of debtors, and various transcripts of Senate decisions regarding the purchase and delivery of food products. According to the data, domestic and foreign traders would deliver food to the Republic and the authorities of the Republic would then organize the purchase of food abroad (primarily on the Apennine Peninsula and in the Ottoman Empire) as well as its delivery to Dubrovnik. One of the responsibilities of this office was also to provide food to the poor at lower prices, either on loan or even free of charge.


There is very little information about Jews in the fonds. The data in the fonds demonstrate how Jews participated in food procurement and provide information on different ways how they benefited from the services of this office. According to the data, some members of Dubrovnik Jewish families such as Cittanova, Levi Mandolfo and Terni were involved in the acquisition and delivery of food to Dubrovnik in the 18th century. The sons of a renown Dubrovnik merchant Raphael Coen, Aron, Abram and Moshe, distinguished themselves in the process of food acquisition from Ancona. The data show that Dubrovnik Jewish community procured food using the services of this office (e.g., vol. 28, under the letter S).

State office for food supplies of the Dubrovnik Republic

Officiales rationum; Officiali delle cinque ragioni (Main state accountants)

  • HR-DADU-35
  • Fonds
  • 15th century - 19th century

The series contains various accounting books and lists of state revenues from the 15th to the 19th century. In six volumes, the costs of missions to the sultan and Ottoman dignitaries from Bosnia to Istanbul were recorded, as well as the costs of missions to the Venetian general provider of Dalmatia (18th century). After a thorough consideration, accounting officers either accepted or rejected the costs, and recorded accordingly those expenditures in notebooks bearing the names Partite accetate and Partite ributtate. Rejected expenditures were sent to the Senate for further consideration.


There are only few references to Jews in this series. Those references can be only found in volumes no. 11 and 12, entitled Riscossioni dell'Officio (recoveries of state revenues, 1711-1740). In these references Jews are referred to mostly as tenants of residential and commercial premises belonging to the foundation Opera pia. A very prominent Dubrovnik merchant Raphael Coen, as well as his sons Abram and Aron (e.g. vol. 11, f. 28) are those Jewish people mostly referred to in these volumes.

Office of the main state accountant

Vineae; Vigne (Vineyards)

  • HR-DADU-34
  • Fonds
  • 16th century - 18th century

The fonds does not contain any data on Jews.
The fonds consists of registers covering the period from the 16th to the beginning of the 19th century, which were kept by the Wine Office and a commission in charge of controlling the planting of vines. The registers contain entries on cutting of the over-planted grape vines, on taxes on wine (gabella de vinni), data on wine smuggling and similar information (related to wine harvesting).

Wine office

Cathasthicum (Land Registry)

  • HR-DADU-33
  • Fonds
  • 13th century - 19th century

The fonds contains books on the distribution of land done among the nobility (and more prominent citizens) after the acquisition of new areas (Pelješac, Dubrovačko primorje and Konavle) in the 14th and the 15th centuries, as well as books containing documents on the collection of rental fees for state houses in the Republic. The system of renting real estate owned by the state was established at the end of the 13th century and was improved during the 14th century. The preserved volumes of the fonds enable researchers to obtain uninterrupted monitoring of data on renting state immovable property until the earthquake in 1667. The data shows that the reconstruction of the city after the earthquake in 1667 began precisely with the reconstruction of state-owned buildings. At the same time, the authorities tried to renew the system of rent collection. However, financial difficulties forced them to sell most of the renovated houses and thus raise funds for the renovation of the main buildings of the most important secular and ecclesiastical institutions in the Republic.


One of the volumes of the fonds is found to be relevant for determining exactly the places where the Jews in Dubrovnik lived and where their shops were located. This is volume 4, entitled Tute le chase del comun de Ragusa e tereni e fiti che apartinien al ditto comun 1481-1722. The volume contains data on shops, and, to a lesser extent, on residential premises, which the Jewish people of Dubrovnik held in property during the period from 1608 till 1716, on the main city street Placa, in Kovačka ulica (Street Kovačka), on the corner of Zeljarica (Street Zeljarica) and on the ground floor of the Archbishop's Palace. Residential and business premises in the ghetto are also referenced in the documents of this fonds. According to the data, most real estate properties were leased for a period of five years. The rental amount is stated next to each property.

State officials of the Dubrovnik Republic

Fabricae; Fabbriche (Constructions)

  • HR-DADU-32
  • Fonds
  • 16th century - 18th century

There are no references to Jewish people in the fonds.
Since the establishment of the Dubrovnik commune, the authorities have undertaken various construction projects, and the fonds contains data on public construction in the period from the 16th to the 18th century. The information provided is related to the construction, upgrading and repair of waterworks, fortresses, mills, churches, monasteries, and state-owned town houses, Lazarettos in the suburbs of Ploče, as well as of the town bell tower, and the slaughterhouse. Volume 131 is entitled Fabbrica della casa in piazza apresso il Gheto, 1687 and it refers to a palace located in front of the ghetto, on the main city street called Placa. The volume contains no information either about the ghetto, or about the Jewish people.

State officials of the Dubrovnik Republic in charge of construction projects

Dicta Domini Rectoris; Detta (Expenditures of the Rector's Palace)

  • HR-DADU-29
  • Fonds
  • 1543-1549, 1575-1580, 1583-1589, 1618-1640, 1653-1665, 1667, 1670-1682, 1684-1719, 1621-1626, 1628-1757, 1760-1761, 1763, 1765-1774, 1776-1777, 1779, 1782, 1804, 1808

The fonds covers the period from the middle 16th century to the beginning of the 19th century, and the data in the fonds are related to the expenditures of the Rector's Palace, i.e., the costs for which the Rector personally was accountable for. Since his term of office lasted only a month, the expenses listed were shown monthly. The expenses were checked by the so-called Deputati alla Detta, or elected members of the Minor Council. The list of ongoing permanent costs of the Palace changed over time and the expenses mostly concerned the related costs of Holy Masses held in the Chapel of the Rector's Palace, alms for various purposes, as well as the expenses for the organization of processions, Holy Masses, and celebrations of religious holidays. The data shows that the money was regularly allocated from the treasury of the Rector's Palace for the costs of lighting and various repairs. According to the data regarding prison expenses, the Rector's Palace would pay for the expenses of the arrest and escort of suspects, the treatment and maintenance of prisoners in need, the execution of sentences, and the burial of deceased prisoners. The soldiers of the Rector's Palace received salaries and compensation for clothes and straw mattresses from the treasury of the Palace. The expenditures of the state offices were also covered, such as the expenses for paper, parchment, bookbinding, ink, candles, and lighting oil. The expenses of the Republic stated in the last three decades show data on the financial support that was given to both Christianised Jewish and Orthodox believers. So-called Separate section of the volumes of this fonds lists the expenses of locksmiths, mostly related to the dungeons, and the extraordinary expenses, which mostly refer to the expenses of the stay of distinguished Ottoman guests in Dubrovnik. The treasury of the Rector's Palace also paid for the cleaning of the streets from various impurities and for the removal of dead animals, as well as for the costs of the postal service (couriers and shipping). Money was also allocated for the costs of anti-plague measures.


The fonds contains only a small amount of data on Jewish people. The references mainly relate to financial support provided for the maintenance of Christianised Jews and of those Jews who worked as state bookbinders. The information on the financial support that the state provided for Christianised Jewish women and men can be found in the documents from the last three decades of the 18th century. For example, according to the data, a certain Jewish woman Mande, the daughter of a Christianised Jew Antun Ambonetti (Samuel Ambonetti), also referred to in the documents as Mande Bonette, received through 1776/1777 the financial support of two grossetti per day (e.g., vol. 78, f. 41). There is also reference that a stretcher was paid once from the state treasury on which an unnamed Jewish woman was taken first to the archbishop and then to a convent (vol. 53, ff. 6v, 8). Moshe and Vital Fermi, and Baruch and Solomon Vitali are also referenced to as state bookbinders. The data shows that the Palace treasury also supplied offices at the Rector's Palace with paper and bound sheets of paper for writing as well as restored damaged books and documents between the late 17th century and the 80s of the 18th centuries. As for other data on Jewish people in this fonds, there are some minor references to Jewish craftsmen who, on several occasions, carried out various repairs in the Rector's Palace, (e.g., covering the table in the office of the Public Notary with leather and window repairing). The documents also show evidence that, while they were quarantined in Lazarettos and other quarantine areas, prominent Ottoman guests were treated by the Dubrovnik state and supplied with daily necessities. According to the data, the Jewish community of Dubrovnik were also involved in this custom, providing necessary pieces of furniture and other items for their stay. Several records showed that Jews received compensation for destroyed items from the treasury of the Rector's Palace. The money from the Palace treasury was also used to pay for the repairs of the keys and the entrance door to the ghetto.

Office of the Secretary of the Dubrovnik Republic

Appellationes (Appeals to the Minor Council and the Senate)

  • HR-DADU-28
  • Fonds
  • 15th century - 18th century

The fonds contains appeals submitted to the Senate and the Minor Council. According to the data available in volumes 2, 3 and 5, the fonds contains data on appeals accepted by the Senate or the Minor Council. The judgments appealed were mainly in the field of civil law. Other volumes contain very brief information: the date of the decision of the Minor Council or the Senate, the names of the parties in the dispute to whose judgment has been appealed, and the names of judges (consuls) and other civil officials, such as customs officers, who issued the judgment on appeal. The volumes cover the period from the 40s till the 60s of the 15th centuries and from the mid-16th century to the 30s of the 18th century.


There is only a small number of Jews referenced in this fonds. These are mostly members of Jewish families permanently residing in Dubrovnik, such as Abendana, Abuaf, Altarac, Ambonetti, Cabiglio, Cohen, Cohen Camargo, Costantini, Danon, Esperiel, Ferro, Franco, Levi, Luzzena, Maestro, Nahmias, Oef, Pappo, Pardo (i.e., vol. 7, ff. 3v). No further details of verdicts and appeals that were submitted were recorded.

Office of the Secretary of the Dubrovnik Republic

Sequestra (Confiscations)

  • HR-DADU-27
  • Fonds
  • 1766-1815

The fonds contains records of confiscations ordered by the Civil Court at the request of the plaintiff. The preserved registers of these decisions were created in the period from the 60s to the beginning of the 19th century. The fonds contains various data on Jewish people, and there are approximately thirty references per volume, which are relevant for the analysis of their business in Dubrovnik. The records primarily reference to confiscations that were made, at the request of Jews, and were ordered by the court to either Jews or Christians. The fonds contains references to some members of Dubrovnik Jewish families such as Baraffael, Campos, Cohen, Costantino, Levi Mandolfo, Luzzena, Pardo, Russo, Terni, Tolentino, Venturra, Vitali. According to the data, money, jewellery, and merchandise were the most confiscated items.

Chancellery of the Dubrovnik Republic

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