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Minutae litterarum veterum; Minute di lettere per Levante (vecchie) (Rough drafts of precedent state letters addressed to the Eastern countries)

The series contains the drafts of letters and instructions of the authorities of the Republic to Dubrovnik emissaries, tribute ambassadors, consuls, administrators of Dubrovnik consulates, chargé d'affaires, or merchants in the cities of the Ottoman Empire. The preserved registers date from the middle of the 17th century to the 60s of the 18th century.


The series contains a small number of letters addressed to some Jewish people from Sarajevo, such as Abram Meramet, Abram Levi, and others (e.g., vol. 1, no. 25).

Litterae et relationes; Lettere e relazioni (Letters and reports)

The series contains the correspondence between the authorities of the Dubrovnik Republic and Ottoman dignitaries and administrative officials from the neighbourhood of the Dubrovnik Republic in the period from between the 40s and the 70s of the 18th century.


There are very few references to Jews in the series, and the references found provide some insight into the connections between Dubrovnik and Bosnian Jews. For example, several Jewish merchants are listed in the inventories of foreign merchants who transported different goods to Dubrovnik (vol. 1, no. 27, 28). Some Jewish people also appear in several letters that these merchants wrote. For example, a Bosnian Jew, Abram Pardo, wrote to his relatives in Dubrovnik and asked them for financial help because he had recently gotten married (vol. 2, no. 236). Joseph Danon from Travnik, on the other hand, wrote to Raphael Costantini and informed him of the important role of the Bosnian governor in the current Venetian-Dubrovnik conflict (vol. 1, no. 114).

Litterae et relationes comitum et capitaneorum territorii; Lettere e relazioni di conti e capitani del territorio (Letters and reports of rectors and captains who served in the territory of the Republic)

There is no information about any Jews in the series.
The series contains letters and reports written to the Dubrovnik authorities by the local counts and captains from the territory of the Republic of Dubrovnik in the 18th century.

Litterae et commissiones Ponentis; Lettere di Ponente (State letters and instructions addressed to the Western countries)

The series contains letters from the authorities of the Republic to foreign rulers and other politicians, popes, and cardinals, as well as letters and instructions to Dubrovnik ambassadors, consuls, administrators of Dubrovnik consulates, charges d'affaires, and to merchants from different Western European countries and cities. Mostly referenced cities are those from the Apennine Peninsula such as Venice, Rome, Ancona, Naples, Genoa, Barletta, as well as other European cities (Vienna, London, Madrid, Paris) and the cities of Morocco, Tripoli (present-day Libya), Tunisia and Algeria. The documents in the series date from the 60s of the 16th century until the beginning of the 19th century.


The series is very important for the research of the history of converts and Jewish people of North Africa. It contains many letters sent by the authorities of the Republic to certain Jews, such as Abram Bussara, Raphael Jacob Bussara and Naftali Busnaco, who were administrators of the Dubrovnik Consulate in Algeria (vols. 76-78, 89, 90, 108, 109, 119, 125-127, 129 -131, 133-137; 1763, 1770, 1778, 1779, 1790-1792, 1794-1802). Some letters of the authorities of the Republic to the Dubrovnik consul in Vlora, Jacob Coduto can also be also found in this series (vol. 1, 2). There are other references to Jews in state letters to popes, cardinals, and Dubrovnik diplomatic representatives in Rome. Jewish physicians, who had their practice in Dubrovnik in the 16th century, are the primary topic of these letters. The data indicate that this was the reason why the Holy See would protest to the authorities of the Republic (i.e., vol. 4, ff. 242-245v). Ragusan authorities had to justify themselves to the Holy See also because of converts who returned in Dubrovnik to their original faith, as well as because of Christian maids who served in Jewish families (i.e., vol. 3, ff. 157-157v).

Minutae litterarum Ponentis; Minute di lettere di Ponente (Drafts of state letters to the Western countries)

There is no mention of Jews in the series.
The series contains drafts of letters from the authorities of the Republic to foreign rulers and other politicians, as well as drafts of letters and instructions to Dubrovnik ambassadors, consuls, administrators of consulates of the Republic, charge d’affairs, and merchants in the countries and cities of Western Europe. These cities are mostly cities of the Apennine Peninsula, some Dalmatian cities under Venetian rule, as well as some local territories of the Dubrovnik Republic. The documents of the series date from the 60s of the 17th century to the mid-18th century.

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).

Diversa Notariae (Various documents of the Public Notary)

  • HR-DADU-09
  • Fonds
  • 1310-1320, 1324-1330, 1339-1341, 1352-1358, 1362-1369, 1387-1391, 1402-1462, 1485-1530, 1533-1559, 1563-1683, 1687-1811

The fonds provides general information on political, economic, cultural, public, and private life in the Republic for the period from the beginning of the 14th to the beginning of the 19th century. According to the division of administrative affairs, notaries recorded private-law contracts, such as debit notes, dowry contracts, purchase contracts, powers of attorney, wills, agrarian contracts. However, the fonds also contains documents of a public-legal character for which the Chancellery was in charge.


The fonds is very important for the research of the history of the Jewish people. It provides data on business and private connections of Jews in Europe, mostly southeast, then North Africa and the Middle East, in the period from the 15th to the beginning of the 19th century. The earliest references are from the beginning of the 15th century. For example, in 1405, Simon, a coral merchant, son of Isaac of Marseille, was referenced as one of the first, perhaps even the first Jew to live in Dubrovnik for several years (vol. 11, f. 116). Among the most important documents in the fonds, four contracts can be found in which Gracia Mendes terminated business relations with her Italian partners. In 1552, Mendes had these contracts registered with the Dubrovnik Public Notary Office. These are the only documents that can serve as a proof that she stopped in Dubrovnik on her way to Istanbul (vol. 112, ff. 90-91v, 93v-94v). Until her death, her representative in Dubrovnik was Isac Ergas, so he himself, as well as some members of his family, were referenced several times in the books of this fonds. The data on other well-known figures of that time such as Daniel Rodrigues, Solomon Ascenasi, Solomon Oef (Ohev), Aaron Coen, David Pass (Passo), Abraham and Jacob Coen de Hererra. Many members of large Dubrovnik Jewish families of Ambonetti, Campos, Fermo, Levi Mandolfo, Luzzena, Maestro, Pardo, Russo, Terni, Tolentino, Valenzin, Vitali are also frequently referenced. In addition, there are many references to Jews who either stayed in Dubrovnik for a very short time, or who only passed through it. Some of them never actually came to Dubrovnik but did business through Dubrovnik with the help of their intermediaries. Overall, the fonds preserves sales contracts, powers of attorney, debt contracts, maritime insurance contracts, receipts and disbursements, waivers of inheritance rights, exercise of rights acquired by will, settlement of trade and other disputes in which Jews also appear as both: parties to the dispute and as arbitrators. Only one will is registered in the fonds, and it was composed by the Benevenisti Nasci, who was sentenced to death in 1571 for the murder of Menachem Maraz (vol. 118 ff. 114-115). Italian translations of two ketubahs made in Dubrovnik in 1763 and 1769 were also registered in notarial books 25 years later (vol. 146, ff. 28-29, 81v-83v).

Public Notary of the Dubrovnik Republic

Debita Notariae (Debts registered with the Public Notary)

The series mainly contains data on commercial credits, which were registered in the period from the end of the 13th to the beginning of the 19th century. The records include date of the credit agreement, name of the creditor, name of the borrower, amount of the credit, duration of the credit, and contractual clauses of the credit agreement. The interest amount is not entered. Those who wanted to take a loan and did not reside in the Republic, and still wanted to register the credit agreement at the Public Notary of the Republic, could do this through their legal representative.

The series is very important for researching business transactions of Jewish people in the Balkans and the Mediterranean, as well as for a possible historical reconstruction of their commercial network, especially since the period of the early 70s of the 16th centuries, when the Jewish population in Dubrovnik significantly increased. Some well-known and very prominent members of the local Jewish community are referenced to in the series, such as Aron Coen and Abraham Coen de Herrera (i.e., vol. 96, f. 20v). In general, the series refers to members of the Dubrovnik Jewish community such as Abenun, Coen, Danon, Lanciano, Maestro, Miranda, Oef. Some Jews who were referenced did not live in Dubrovnik, but, overall, all Jews who are referenced in the documents occur in both functions: as creditors and as borrowers. In an attempt to better understand the significance of this series for the overall history of the Sephardim, it is advisable to refer to the doctoral thesis of Benedetto Ligorio (Roma, Sapienza, 2017), in which the author analysed the existing archival data on credits referencing the Jewish population between 1560 and 1654. The analysis of Ligorio provides relevant data that prove that in most of these documents Christians (primarily Dubrovnik noblemen) were stated as creditors for Jewish people.


Debita Notariae pro Comuni (Debts to the Dubrovnik commune registered at the Public Notary)

The series contains data on various debts and other types of obligations of individual citizens towards the Republic, which were registered in the period from the middle of the 15th to the beginning of the 17th century.


The only reference to Jewish people in this fonds dates to 1503. Benedict Levi, Aron Alemanus and Abraham Alemanus confirmed in this document that they had received 126 and 3/4 of gold Venetian ducats from the Rector of the Dubrovnik Republic and the Minor Council as the equivalent of 130 ducats (gold coins) they had previously lent to the Dubrovnik archbishop John (de Sacchis) (vol. 1, f. 110).

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