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Venditiones Cancellariae; Vendite Cancellarie (Sale agreements registered at the Chancellery)

The fonds contains data on purchase and sale transactions of real and personal property, such as land, houses, estates, ships, dowries, in the period from the middle of the 13th century to the beginning of the 19th century. The fonds is very important for the research and study of the topographic image of the city of Dubrovnik in that period, the development of urban planning, as well as for the research on trade of living quarters and buildings.


Scarce data available on Jewish people contained in the fonds reveal that in the second half of the 18th century Jews began to buy and sell real estate, i.e., houses that were mostly located near the ghetto, the exception being Abram David Maestro, who at the end of 1641 bought two houses in the street Lučarica, and two years later sold them to two Dubrovnik noblemen. Real estate purchases increased in the 80s of the 18th centuries so much that in 1799 the Senate decided that a Jew who owned several houses could keep only one and should sell the others. Members of Ragusan Jewish families Ambonetti, Coen, Costantini, Janni, Levi Mandolfo, Maestro, Pardo, Russo, Terni (i.e., vol. 135, ff. 180-181) are referenced in this fonds as both: buyers and sellers of houses. In accordance with the regulations of that time concerning the sale of real estate, apart from the name of the seller of the real estate in the document there is also a written consent of the members of his family. Therefore, next to the names of Jewish house-sellers are either the personal names of their wives, sons, and daughters, or the names of their legal guardians.

Fides et attestata; Fedi ed attestati (Certificates and testimonies)

The series contains various documents such as statements proving kinship, legal incapacity, certificates of residence, certificates of citizenship in the Dubrovnik Republic, or certificates issued to sea captains in which it was stated that they, their crew, and their ships had withstood the prescribed quarantine, etc. The registers of the series date from the early 20s of the 17th century to the beginning of the 19th century.


There are not many references to Jewish people in this series. The documents in the series are primarily certificates of citizenship, i.e., documents that state the identity of a bearer, as an identity card or passport, issued by the Dubrovnik Republic to Jewish people that were either born in Dubrovnik or permanently resided there. The fonds contains approximately 15 of similar documents issued to members of Jewish families from the Republic such as Cittanova, Cohen, Janni, Levi Mandolfo, Luzzena, Pardo, Russi, Terni, Vitali (i.e., vol. 2, f. 80v).

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

Diversa de foris (Various agreements settled outside the city walls of Dubrovnik)

The registers of the Diversa de Foris began to be kept in 1593 with the intention of registering the documents created outside Dubrovnik, which were of concern to the citizens of Dubrovnik in any way. There are also entries that should be filed in different fonds, the Diversa Notariae (HR-DADU-9) or Diversa Cancellariae (HR-DADU-15). Therefore, it can be concluded that the registers from this series and from the afore mentioned two fonds contain data on public-law and private-law affairs. The documents filed in these registers provide information on all aspects of political, economic and cultural, public and private life in Dubrovnik.


The series is very important for the research of the history of the Jewish people. It provides relevant data on business and private connections of Dubrovnik Jewish people with other countries in Europe, mostly in the Southeast, then with North Africa and the Middle East, in the period from the end of the 16th century to the beginning of the 19th century. Among the first entries in this fonds is a ketubah registered in 1593, which was translated into Italian by Didacus Pyrrhus (vol. 1, ff. 71-75). According to the data, Jews who wished to register ketubahs in the books of the Public Notary or at the Chancellery would first have those translated into Italian. Almost all translated ketubahs were registered in this series, and they were written in Dubrovnik, Split, Ancona, Sarajevo, Belgrade, Thessaloniki and Sofia. This series also shows record of the will of Mira Alfandrino from 1614 (vol. 30, ff. 55v-62) as well as the record of the only existing translation of a divorce document (gett)) from 1692, between Bianca and Gabriel Valenzin (vol. 125, ff. 39v, 40). In addition to documents of private and legal matters, many business contracts were also registered, whether signed in Dubrovnik or outside of the Dubrovnik Republic. These include, for example, contracts by Dubrovnik shochets contracts on the division of labour, or trade contracts concluded between Jewish merchants and Dubrovnik sea captains. Some of the documents worth mentioning provide evidence to a very lively participation of Jewish people in the maritime affairs of the Dubrovnik Republic, primarily through co-ownership of ships belonging to the fleet of the Republic and through the granting of various maritime loans. As for important people from the history of the Sephardim, names that especially stand out are Abraham Coen de Herrera and the descendants of the famous Dubrovnik rabbi Aron Coen. A very important document from Antwerp from 1612, which was registered in Dubrovnik a year later, at the request of Abraham Coen de Herrera, states that his Christian name was Allonso Nuñes de Herrera (vol. 26, ff. 198-200). The series also references to other members of the Coen de Herrera family, as well as a very large number of other Jews from Dubrovnik, the Apennine Peninsula and the Ottoman Empire.

Dohana (Customs duties and taxes)

The series consists of various books that can be divided into following groups according to the content of registers: registers of customs duties on merchandise (including name of the trader and the amount of customs; avere and dare), registers of collection of fees for the use of warehouses on the premises of the Customs House (name of the trader and the amount of fee per month; avere and dare), registers of debtors to the Customs House (name of the trader and the amount of the debt; avere and dare), registers of taxes on meat (gabella di carne); registers for the collection of duties and fees to owners of pubs, registers of goods disembarked from ships (including data on the port from which the ship sailed, the list of goods, the amount of customs duty), registers of customs duties on money deposits in Italian banks, registers of trade of goods stored in the warehouses of the Customs House, registers of collection of fees for selling ship shares, books of investigations kept by customs officers and judgements that were reached, books of expenditures of the Customs House, and various indexes made according to the first name of the person involved in the case (with a reference to the page number, but without information on the book these indexes refer to). Most registers contain documents on collection of customs, lists with names of debtors to the Customs House and documents providing data on collection of fees for the usage of customs warehouses. The first volume of this series is the Customs Statute of the Dubrovnik Republic from 1277.


The series is very important for researching trade affairs of Jews and for reconstructing their business network in the Balkans and on the Mediterranean Sea. References to Jewish merchants can be found in most of the above-mentioned registers of the series. The data provided in the registers of the series are very diverse: identifying the type of goods, ports, and cities from which the goods were delivered, amounts of customs duties, and amounts of collected fees for the use of warehouses, as well as the names of traders. There are many references to Jewish traders, especially in the documents that date from the 60s of the 16th centuries, and among various Jewish families referenced to in this period there are families such as Abeatar, Abensaxen, Abenun, Abuaff, Amariglo, Baruch, Cabiglio, Catinella, Cidi, Cussi, Coen, Danon, Del Rei, Dios, Ergas, Esperiel, Finzi, Lindo, Maestro, Miranda, Membre, Moscato, Oef (Ohev), Pappo, Pardo, Rodriga, Samaria, Sasso, Zacharia. Notable Jews from that period also referenced to in the series are Daniel Rodriga, Didacus Pyrrhus (Isaiah Coen) (e.g., vol. 10, ff. 108v, 109), Isac Ergas (the legal representative of Gracia Mendes) and his brother Samuel. An important fact that needs to be pointed out regarding this fonds is that some members of the Jewish community in Dubrovnik are identified in these documents as leaseholders of the warehouses belonging to the Customs House since the end of the 16th century. The community paid an annual rent in the amount of 750-770 perpers for these premises (e.g., vol. 21, f. 34). The data revealed in another study on Jewish families living in that period (1546-1940) also confirm that some Jewish families cease to be referenced, and names of other Jewish families begin to be referenced in the 17th century. The data of this series from the 17th century thus show references to Jewish family surnames (last names) such as Abeatar, Abenun, Abudente, Baruch, Coen, Consolo, Danon (Bendanon), Esperiel, Lanciano, Luzzena, Oef, Macchioro, Maestro, Miranda, Pappo, Penso, Ribera, Sages, Saralvo, Senior, Zevi. Very notable Jewish merchants among the above mentioned were Aaron, David, Elazar and Raphael Coen, and Jacob and Tsadik Danon. The name of a Jewish merchant Isaac Jeshurun (vol. 22, f. 81v) particularly stands out: he was a merchant who was accused in 1622 of committing a ritual murder of a girl from Dubrovnik. The records show that the books of this series from the 18th century provide multiple data on different members of some other Jewish families such as Ambonetti, Baraffael, Campos, Costantini, Fermi, Janni, Levi, Levi Mandolfo, Luzzena, Maestro, Nahas, Pardo, Penso, Russo, Valenzin, Vitali.

Cassa comunis (Communal treasury)

  • HR-DADU-40
  • Fonds
  • 16th century - 18th century

The books of this fonds contain documents that indicate payments of salaries to state employees and other payments made in accordance with the orders of the Senate. The registers consist of so-called general ledgers with accompanying journal and directories. The books of this fonds have not been sufficiently researched and many are found to be missing. The documents in the fonds cover the period from the 16th to the 18th century.


There are very few references to Jews in the fonds, and the references found mainly refer to Jewish people who were state employees, such as e.g., Jacob Coduto, the consul of the Dubrovnik Republic in an Albanian city of Vlora (1557-1572), and a surgeon by the name of Abraham (1558-1590) (e.g., vol. 8a, letter A).

Office of the communal treasury

Giumruch (Advance fees paid by the Dubrovnik Republic to the Ottomans)

There are no references to Jewish people in the series.
Starting in 1521, the Dubrovnik Republic paid customs duties at a flat rate (i.e. in advance) to the Ottomans on behalf of Dubrovnik merchants who traded in the European part of the Ottoman Empire. This customs duty was called giumruch (Turkish: gümrük) and amounted to 100,000 akches (aspers) per year. Special customs officers, so-called giumruchi, would travel around the trading settlements and colonies to collect this duty giumruch. The series consists of books that were kept based on the reports done by these officials and each book contains lists of merchants and the amounts of customs duties these merchants paid, or were obliged to pay, in several ten-year periods of the 16th and the 17th centuries.

Diplomata et acta (Documents and acts)

The series consists of subseries Diplomata et acta, until 12th century (HR-DADU-7.3.1), Diplomata et acta, 12th century (HR-DADU-7.3.2), Diplomata et acta, 13th century (HR-DADU-7.3.3), Diplomata et acta, 14th century (HR-DADU-7.3.4), Diplomata et acta, 15th century (HR-DADU-7.3.5), Diplomata et acta, 16th century (HR-DADU-7.3.6), Diplomata et acta, 17th century (HR-DADU-7.3.7), Diplomata et acta, 18th century (HR-DADU-7.3.8) and Diplomata et acta, 19th century (HR-DADU-7.3.9)

Office of the Secretary of the Dubrovnik Republic

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