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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.

Sultans’ Documents

  • HR-DADU-07-HR-DADU-07.2-HR-DADU-07.2.1
  • Subseries
  • 1458, 1460, 1462, 1468-1469, 1471-1473, 1475-1476, 1478-1493, 1495–1511, 1513-1521, 1523-1534, 1536-1541, 1543-1547, 1549-1687, 1689-1691, 1694-1698, 1701, 1703-1707, 1709-1713, 1715-1746, 1748-1772, 1774-1787, 1789-1795, 1797-1799, 1801, 1803-1805
  • Part of Acta et diplomata (Acts and documents)

The subseries consists of four types of sultans’ documents: charters (Tur. ahdname, ahitname), decrees (Tur. ferman), decrees of special importance (Tur. hatt-ı hümayun) and diplomas (Tur. berat), which were issued in the period from the middle of the 15th to the beginning of the 19th century. The documents of this subseries primarily deal with trade, shipping, customs, or the acquisition of cereals from the Ottoman Empire and other food for the needs of the Dubrovnik Republic. Documents also refer to other topics such as: land and sea bandits, espionage of the Dubrovnik Republic for the Ottomans, exchange of prisoners of war in neutral Dubrovnik, monopoly on the sale of Dubrovnik salt to Ottoman subjects, monopoly of neutral Dubrovnik ports for interstate trade, or transport of Ottoman goods and passengers by Dubrovnik ships. A fairly large number of sultans’ receipts for the tribute that the Republic paid to the Empire has also been preserved, as well as other sultans’ decrees according to which sea captains from the Republic were protected from attacks of North African corsairs in the second half of the 18th century.


An analytical inventory was made for this subseries, which indicates that only fifteen documents refer to Jews. In these documents Jews are referred to as: Ottoman customs officers (vol. 5, no. 214; vol. 8, no. 394; vol. 10, no. 459), as both debtors and creditors (vol. 10, no. 484; vol. 45, no. 1586; vol. 46, no. 1629) and as competitors to Dubrovnik merchants (vol. 59, no. 1952). In the first half of the 17th century and in the 20s of the 18th century, Dubrovnik government complained at the Porte about the Jews who damaged the house in Edirne owned by the Republic. When the house burned down, the Jews occupied the land on which it was located. In four of his decrees, the sultan demanded that the Jews should compensate the damage to Ragusans and return the land they had occupied (vol. 16, no. 799; vol. 20, no. 952; vol. 22, no. 1050; vol. 37, no. 1457). The Sultan Selim II asked the authorities of the Republic to organize a safe trip to Venice for the Jew Menachem and his servant (vol. 6, no. 299). Trade rights and prohibitions on trade for Jewish merchants can also be found in some documents of this subseries (vol. 18, no. 886; vol. 47, no. 1648).

Turkish Chancellery of the Dubrovnik Republic

Orders of the Governors of the Bosnian Eyalet and of Herzegovinian Sancakbeys

  • HR-DADU-07-HR-DADU-07.2-HR-DADU-07.2.2
  • Subseries
  • 1643, 1648-1650, 1654, 1657-1658, 1661, 1663-1664, 1667-1670, 1675-1676, 1679, 1681-1683, 1685-1686, 1691, 1701-1707, 1710, 1712-1716, 1719-1721, 1726, 1728, 1730-1734, 1736, 1738-1758, 1760-1761, 1763-1769, 1774-1781, 1785-1786, 1788-1790, 1792-1793, 1797, 1799-1802, 1805, 1807
  • Part of Acta et diplomata (Acts and documents)

The subseries contains orders (Turkish: buyrultu) of the governors of the Bosnian Eyalet and Herzegovinian sancakbeys, which were issued in the period from the middle of the 17th to the beginning of the 19th century. The orders deal with many issues and problems, from politics and trade to robberies, that were happening on the Ottoman-Dubrovnik border.


There is only one buyrultu in which Jews are mentioned. Referring to trade rights from an existing treaty between the Ottomans and the Republic, Dubrovnik authorities complained in 1807 to the governor of the Bosnian Eyalet and the Herzegovinian Sancakbey, Husrev Mehmed Pasha, stating that Jewish merchants in Sarajevo were interfering with the business of Dubrovnik merchants. Pasha issued an order to the kadi of Sarajevo to prevent such actions (no. 321).

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

Diplomata et acta (Documents and acts), 17th century

The subseries contains correspondence between the authorities of the Republic and the authorities of Spain, Austria, the Ottoman Empire, and the states of the Apennine Peninsula during the 17th century. It also contains correspondence between the authorities of the Republic and Dubrovnik consuls, confidants and diplomatic representatives in Italian, Spanish, Austrian and Ottoman cities, mostly in Rome (The Holy See), Ancona, Naples, Vienna, Madrid, Istanbul, Edirne, and Sofia. In addition, the subseries includes correspondence between the authorities of the Republic and local authorities in the territory of the Republic. Most letters sent by the Dubrovnik authorities to the fore mentioned addressees are also in the series Litterae et Commissiones Levantis (HR-DADU-8.1) and Litterae et Commissiones Ponentis (HR-DADU-8.2).


The subseries also contains a collection of judicial investigations and a small number of documents with references to Jewish people. Nevertheless, it is considered to be important for further research offering data about Jewish trade networks in the Mediterranean and the Balkans, the relationship of the civil and judicial authorities of the Republic towards the Jewish people, and the data on the types of cooperation of the Jewish people with the Dubrovnik Republic in general. The subseries contains a small number of letters written by Daniel Coduto and Angiolo Coduto, who were Dubrovnik consuls in an Albanian city of Vlora (e.g., vol. 1936, no. 1). Several Jewish merchants wrote to the authorities of the Republic from Venice, such as David and Samuel Abeatar, Michael Penso, Gabriel Habibi, Daniel Valenzin, and some letters from Jewish merchants from Sofia have also been preserved. There are also some references to Jewish people in approximately ten judicial investigations, three of which concern the families of Venetian converts Banchieri (Sulhani), who, on their way to Sarajevo, spent a short period of time in Dubrovnik. While in Dubrovnik, they declared themselves as Jewish, and were given hospitality by a Dubrovnik Jewish family Cavaliero (e.g., vol. 2051, no. 189). One judicial investigation was conducted against a well-known Jew, Nehemiah Hia Hayon, a former Sarajevo rabbi and Kabbalistic scholar, accused of forcibly extorting money from his debtors (vol. 2053, no. 55). Some court investigations also reference to other Jews such as Raphael Cohen, Samuel Pappo, Jacob Saralvo, Samuel and Muscia Maestro, and the Penso family. Other references to Jewish people are expected to be found also in the correspondence of the authorities of the Republic and the Holy See, as well as in the correspondence of the authorities with the emissaries of the Republic in the Ottoman cities.

Strapazzo delle polizze (Drafts of monetary transfers)

There are no references to Jewish people in the series.
All the series of the fonds Apolitiae have not been fully researched and it is very difficult to establish the connection between them. The only possible connection found so far is to the documents of the Apolitiae series (HR-DADU-45.1). For each entry in the Apolitiae series a certain number is recorded indicating the existence of a more detailed description of the type of compensation made to state employees of the Dubrovnik Republic at the end of the 17th century, and in certain periods of the 18th century.

Apolitiae bullatae (Stamped monetary transfers)

There are no references to Jewish people in this series.
The series of the fonds Apolitiae have not been researched so far and it is difficult to establish the connection between the documents in these series. Similar to the first three series of the fonds Apolitiae, this series also contains entries of salaries of state employees as well as records of other various state expenditures. It is not evident why these monetary transactions are singled out and named as "stamped monetary transactions". Some volumes of this series are named Polizze bulate che si stracciano.

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