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Procurae Cancellariae; Procure de Cancellaria (Powers of attorney registered at the Chancellery)

  • HR-DADU-17
  • Fonds
  • 1470-1475, 1580-1815

The fonds contains books of various types of powers of attorney registered in the period from the 15th to the beginning of the 19th century, in which, in addition to citizens residing in the Dubrovnik Republic, citizens from other countries are also referenced either in a role of authorised proxies or principals. The topics of these documents are mainly related to the conduct of various types of business both in Dubrovnik and in other, foreign countries, mainly in the Ottoman Empire and in the countries of the Apennine Peninsula.


The fonds is very important for the reconstruction of the Jewish business network in the Mediterranean and the Balkans. There are many references to Jewish people in the fonds: some references relate to the Jews who lived in Dubrovnik at the time, while others relate to those from other countries. The data show that many of the powers of attorney that were registered at the Chancellery were written in various cities of the Ottoman Empire (Belgrade, Sarajevo) or Italy (Ancona, Venice). The main topics of these documents are the collection of debts, the conducting of business affairs, and the representation at in-court and out-of-court settlements of commercial disputes. To illustrate, the following is an example of a power of attorney signed by the principal and written in Hebrew letters. The document refers to a certain Jew by the name of Solomon Barelia from Belgrade who came to Dubrovnik in 1674 and, at the Chancellery, authorized Jakob Almoslino to collect debts for him in Dubrovnik, Ancona, Venice, and in other cities in Italy (vol. 59, ff. 194-195v). Principals would often give a so-called general power of attorney in which they would declare the people they authorised as their alter ego. It is important to point out that a significant number of Jewish women are also referenced to in this fonds, most often also in the function of principals or of those who gave a power of attorney to someone else. Judita Luzzena is one of the few women to appear as a proxy: her husband Samuel Luzzena declared her to be his alter ego in 1795 (vol. 82a, f. 173). References can be found in this fonds to some members of Dubrovnik Jewish families, such as Ambonetti, Campos, Cohen, Fermo, Levi Mandolfo, Luzzena, Maestro, Pappo, Pardo, Russo, Terni, Tolentino, Valenzin, Vitali; to some of their relatives who lived abroad; as well as to members of some other Jewish people from foreign countries, such as Barrafael, Bianchi, Della Tomba, Mucciaccio.

Chancellery of the Dubrovnik Republic

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).

Aptai de misericordia; Aptagi de misericordia (Promissory notes of mercy)

Aptai de misericordia is a very interesting institution of law that is specific to the Dubrovnik Republic. References to Aptai can already be found in 1272, in the Dubrovnik Statute. The term itself stands for a specific tribunal fee collected by the Rector. Later, the meaning of the term itself changed and aptai started to indicate a civil court proceeding in which that fee had to be paid. Finally, in the second half of the 14th century, the term aptai started to stand for a mode or process that was used to ensure the fulfilment of the debtor's obligation. That obligation was made, i.e., signed in the Chancellery, and it became official after the expiration of the deadline entered in the document. Based on the evidence, it is therefore clear that the entries in the books of the Aptai de misericordia had the power of a judgment and that there was no need to pursue further legal action against the debtor. The entries contain the following information: name and surname of the donor of the charity promissory note, name and surname of the recipient of the charity promissory note, and payment deadline. Valuable items nominated by the borrower to be mortgaged were also sometimes indicated, together with the details of instalment payments. In the margin, along with singular entries, data on debt repayment, were specified. Most of the records in this series follow this model: Jacobus d'Abram Pardo hebreus dedit aptaii de misericordia supra Vitum Michaelis, Andream Pasqualis Vuchotich, et Demetrium Mihailovich calceolarius presentibus simul et in solidum de ducati sexaquinta de g. totius summae (vol. 4, f. 14).


The series gives relevant data for the research of credit transactions of Dubrovnik Jews, who mostly are referenced in the documents of the series as donors, or providers of charity. All the Jews referenced to in this series were permanent residents of Dubrovnik. The first references to their names in the documents date to the end of the 16th century, and many more Jewish names can be found in the documents since the middle of the 17th century. The names of some members of Jewish families such as Abeatar, Abenun, Amadio, Azubi, Coen, Danon, Franco, Israel, Maestro, Oef (Ohev) and Tobi were recorded. Some of them very often cited as creditors, or those who lent money, and the names of Solomon Maestro, and a well-known Dubrovnik merchant Raphael Coen especially stand out among those names. Other Jews that should also be pointed out for their importance are two brothers: Jacob Coen de Herrera (Martin de Marchena), a brother of a famous Jew Abraham Coen de Herrera (Allonso Nuñes de Herrera). The records show also references to other Jewish people of that time, such as: Ambonetti, Ascoli, Asser, Baraffael, Bueno, Cagli, Campos, Coen, Costantini, Forte, Gaon, Levi, Levi Mandolfo, Luzzena, Maestro, Nachas, Navarro, Pappo, Pardo, Russi, Saralvo, Terni, Tolentino, Valenzin, Vitali.

Legata (Legati/Legacies)

There is no reference to Jewish people in the series.
The series includes legacies from the late 15th century and in the period from the mid-16th century to the early 17th century. Volume 4 is entitled: Indice di legati fatti da diverse persone ad Comune, while volume 5 concerns a legacy by Zamagna from the end of the 17th century.

Proclamationes venditionum Cancellariae (Declaration of sales registered at the Chancellery)

There is no reference to Jewish people in the series.
The series contains declarations, or public announcements of the sale of real estate and personal property. These declarations were publicly shouted by the municipal crier, who would announce the names of the sellers, the subject of the sale and the price of the property sold.

Diversa et possessio de criminalibus; Diversi e possesso di criminale (Various disputes and disputes over possession)

  • HR-DADU-24
  • Fonds
  • 1513-1526, 1543-1550, 1570-1577, 1581-1586, 1592-1596, 1609-1611, 1615-1627, 1634-1636, 1642-1815

From the 70s of the 16th centuries, the Criminal Court (established in 1459) began to systematically keep the registers Diversa et possessio de criminalibus and they were kept until the beginning of the 19th century. The registers contain court decisions made in accordance with the request submitted by the plaintiff, and sometimes ex officio. The fonds is characterized by decisions in which the court forbade the defendant to communicate with the plaintiff, either in person or through an intermediary, either by actions or with words (Ital. né per sé, né per interposte persone, né in fatti, né in parole), which was done to prevent escalation of the conflict. Until the judgement was publicly announced, the court would often confiscate disputed items or documents from the defendants. These facts were also recorded in the volumes of this fonds.


The fonds contains a large variety of information about Jews. The research shows that in slightly more than one third of the recorded cases the content of the documents indicates the existence of court prohibition of the communication between a defendant and a plaintiff. These decisions were made in equal numbers at the request of Jews against Jews, or at the request of Jews against other non-Jewish citizens. Also, the fonds contains orders for the eviction of tenants, bans of activities which could cause any damage to neighbour, bans on construction work and orders to maintain peace and order in the Jewish community. The fonds also contains lawsuits for physical and verbal violence. If the defendant did not comply with the court decision registered in the fonds Diversi e Possesso de Criminale, the plaintiff could sue the defendant again in regular proceedings by invoking that decision. Some notable Jewish people who are referenced to in this fonds are: Didacus Pyrrhus, David Coen de Herrera - father of Abraham Coen de Herrera, Zvi Esconasi, a famous rabbi of the Ashkenazi Jewish community in Amsterdam, who also was a rabbi in Sarajevo for a certain period (c. 1686- c. 1697) (vol. 19, f. 220v). The fonds also contains the will of Samson from the Peloponnese, which he registered in Dubrovnik in 1571 (vol. 4, f. 16). Generally, the fonds mainly references to members of Dubrovnik Jewish families such as: Abenun, Ambonetti, Angiolo, Asser, Azubi, Baruch, Bencastiel, Bensassen, Bueno, Campos, Chabiglio, Cohen, Costantini, Ergas, Esperiel, Fermo, Franco, Israel, Janni, Levi Mandolfo, Lima, Luzzena, Maestro, Miranda, Nahmias, Oef, Pappo, Pardo, Penso, Russo, Salama, Saralvo, Terni, Tolentino, Valenzin, Vitali, Volterra.

Chancellery and the Judicial Office of the Dubrovnik Republic

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