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Commandamenta et sententiae navigationis; Commandamenti e sentenze della navigazione (Lawsuits and judgments in maritime affairs)

The series contains civil lawsuits, investigations and judgments related to maritime affairs, and covers the period from the 60s of the 18th centuries to the early 19th century. The topics of these of lawsuits are diverse: various types of debts (most often irregular repayments or terminations of maritime loan repayment), disagreements over the payment of crew salaries, damage to merchandise, loss of shipping books, suspicions of misrepresentation of ship maintenance costs, avoidance of maritime insurance payment after shipwreck, etc.


The series contains a considerable amount of information about Jews, which is deemed relevant for researching the involvement of Ragusan Jews in maritime affairs during the 18th century. Most references indicate Jews who were members of some Ragusan Jewish families such as Ambonetti, Cittanova, Levi Mandolfo, Luzzena, Pardo, Terni, Tolentino, Venturra. These Jews are in most cases referenced as providers of so-called maritime loans who filed a lawsuit against those who had borrowed the money from them (e.g., vol. 3, f. 259c). The loans referenced in the series were usually taken by sea captains who wanted to purchase various equipment for their ships. In such a case, and as a guarantee for the regular payment of the loan, the sea captains would sign a bill of exchange by pledging the ship, equipment or shares in that ship (if they owned any of them). Agreements on maritime loans are registered in the fonds Diversa Notariae Fund (HR-DADU-9) and in the series Diversa de Foris (HR-DADU-30.1) and Diversa navigationis (HR-DADU-56.9). In this series, Ragusan Jews sometimes appear as legal representatives of defendants and sometimes as members of insurance companies. The series also records the text of an oath that was taken by the Jews during their testimonies. This specific oath was taken at the request of the French authorities in 1810 by Sabato Vita Levi Mandolfo (vol. 11, ff. 294v-295v).

Sequestra Officii navigationis; Sequestri dell'Offizio della navigazione (Sequestrations of the Office for Maritime Affairs)

The series consists of only two volumes and covers the period from the mid-18th century to the early 19th century containing the data on sequestrations of money and shares that were carried out based on judgments that had been reached by the Maritime Court. Judgments for the period from 1753 to 1757 are written a tergo in the first volume of this series. Sequestrations were usually written in a following format: D'ordine e mandato ut supra e ad istanza di Salamon Terni, Antonio Flori riviere riferi d'aver sequestrato li due caratti di ragione di Giovanni d'Antonio Cresci esistenti nel bastimento al presente diretto da capitano Giovanni Lubislavich (vol. 2, f. 106).


The series is very important for the research of the history of maritime affairs of the Jewish population in the Republic. The data shows that many Ragusan Jews were not only owners of ship shares, that is co-owners of ships, but they would also often grant so-called "maritime loans". Most often these references indicate various members of some Ragusan Jewish families such as Ambonetti, Levi Mandolfo, Luzzena, Pardo, Russo, Terni, Tolentino, Valenzin.

Iudicatus et sententiae Officii navigationis; Giudicati e sentenze dell'Offizio della Navigazione (Presude Magistrata za pomorstvo/Judgements of the Office of Maritime Affairs)

Judgments of the Maritime Court have been preserved for the period from the 40s to the 60s of the 18th centuries. They were reached by senators who managed the Maritime Office (Signori Senatori Officiali alla Sopraintendenza della Navigazione). Their authorities were limited to civil lawsuits, which were mainly related to conflicts between co-owners of the ships, conflicts between crew members and the captain or the owners of the ships, conflicts between the captain and co-owners of the ships, or conflicts concerning the construction of new ships.


In this series, which consists of only one volume, there is only a small number of references to Jews. The data provided in the series are deemed suitable for the research of the involvement of Ragusan Jews in the maritime affairs of the Republic in the 18th century. The references to the Jewish population are primarily to members of Ragusan Jewish families such as Levi Mandolfo and Tolentino. In disputes cited these Jews are referenced as co-owners of ships (e.g., vol. 1, f. 58v-62v).

Diversae terminationes et notae Officii navigationis; Diverse terminazioni e note dell'Offizio della navigazione (Various provisions and notes of the Office for Maritime Affairs)

The series consists of two volumes of various decisions of the Maritime Office made between 1746 and 1811. These decisions are primarily permits for navigating beyond the Adriatic, permits for navigating in times of war, as well as different decisions, and/or regulations for the construction of new ships, decisions on legalizing the purchase of ships in foreign countries, decisions on payment of various maritime taxes, decisions on regulation of financial obligations between sea captains and ship co-owners, decisions on debt collection, or decisions on maritime insurance policies, etc.


There are only some references to Jews in the series, and the data can be used to analyse their involvement in maritime affairs. The Jews referenced in these documents appear in the role of co-owners of ships, owners of marine insurance policies, maritime lenders, and debtors. Certain members of Ragusan Jewish families such as Ambonetti, Cittanova, Curiel, Levi Mandolfo, Luzzena, Pardo are mostly referenced in the series (e.g., vol. 1, f. 41).

Litterae Officii navigationis; Lettere dell'Offizio della Navigazione (Official letters from the Maritime Office)

The series contains official letters from the mid-18th century to the early 19th century sent by the Maritime Office to consuls and representatives of the Dubrovnik Republic in Italian, Ottoman, African, Spanish, and Portuguese ports. Due to a new increase of maritime affairs in the Republic at that time, the Republic of Dubrovnik had established about 80 consular offices in these ports. The series also contains circular letters and instructions to Ragusan sea captains, to all consuls of the Republic, and specifically to all consuls in the Ottoman Empire and to all consuls in the countries in the Western Mediterranean parts of Europe.


The series contains a small number of letters sent to Jewish people by the officials of the Maritime Office. Among those people, in the second half of the 18th century, there are references to the administrators of the consulates of the Dubrovnik Republic in Algeria, Abram and Raphael Jacob Bussara, (e.g., vol. 8, f. 3). There is also another reference to Abram Aruch, who was responsible for Ragusan ships in Alexandria at the time when there was no Dubrovnik consul in the city (vol. 1, f. 110).

Ruoli (Popisi brodskih posada i vlasnika brodova/ Lists of crews and shipowners)

When leaving Dubrovnik, sea captains were obliged to hand over to the Office of Maritime Affairs the list of crew members. It was also mandatory to list the names of co-owners of the ships. The ownership of the ship was divided into 24 shares (karats). The value of one share was between 100 to 1600 ducats of the Ragusan ducats depending on the age, size, and equipment of the ship. The co-owners of the ship, that had to be identified by the captain of the ship in the Office for Maritime Affairs, were obliged to testify under oath and declare the exact number of shares in their ownership. All this information was recorded in specialized books called Ruoli. Preserved Ruoli books contain data for the period from the mid-18th century to the early 19th century, and only some years of that period are missing.


This series is very important for the research of the maritime affairs of Dubrovnik Jews in the 18th century because the existing data give evidence that almost all Jews were co-owners of Ragusan ships. Therefore, references to many Ragusan Jewish families, such as Ambonetti, Barafael, Campos, Costantini, Conort, Janni, Levi, Levi Mandolfo, Luzzena, Maestro, Pardo, Russi, Terni, Tolentino, Valenzin, Venturra, Vitali can be found in the archival material. The data also show that it was extremely rare that the co-owners of the ships were Jews who did not reside in the Dubrovnik Republic. One of those rare cases refer to a Jew by the name of Danon, from Sarajevo (vol. 1, f. 4). Most Jews owned between one half of the share to 3 shares in one or more ships. Less common are those cases in which Jews owned the half of one ship or more (12 shares) (e.g., vol. 1, f. 81). The data also show that Ragusan Jews very rarely owned the entire ship, which was recorded in the fonds Diversa de Foris (HR-DADU-30).

Provedimenta navigationis; Provedimenti della navigazione (Terms of navigation)

There are no references to Jewish people in this series.
After a new increase of the maritime affairs in the Dubrovnik Republic in the 40s of the 18th centuries, basic provisions for navigation were published in a so-called Book of Rules on National Navigation (Regolamenti della Republica di Ragusa per la navigazione nazionale; 1745). Over time, these provisions changed and were supplemented. This series, which consists of one volume, contains the Senate's provisions on navigation adopted for the period between 1745 and 1806 and specify working conditions of sea captains and crew members, working conditions of Dubrovnik consuls in the Ottoman ports, conditions for obtaining a citizenship of the Dubrovnik Republic, conditions for the navigation outside of the Adriatic, payments of port, customs and other maritime taxes, and conditions for the construction of new ships. The provisions of the Maritime Office for the period 1747 - 1804 were written a tergo.

Patenta, Concessiones navigationis et Renovationes concessionum; Patenti, Congedi, Proroghe dei Bastimenti (Permits for navigating beyond the Adriatic Sea)

Ragusan sea captains that sailed on the ships of the Republic had to have a document called patente for legal navigation. They also needed a special license (congedo) to navigate beyond the Adriatic Sea, which was usually issued for a period of three and a half years. The consent to extend that permit was called a proroga and was usually issued for a period of six months. In the first volume of this series the records show different prorogas which were issued on the basis of congedos in the period from 1744 to 1807. On the left page of the book, congedos are recorded, and on the right page, prorogas. The format is the following: Antonio Brateglich Capitano del Brighentino nominato S. Catterina ha avuto il primo Congedo per tre anni e sei mesi di rispetto da computarsi dal adi 10 Marzo 1799 (left page); Ad istanza di Reuben Vita Ambonetti adi 27 Giugno 1802 avuta la proroga in iscritto per sei mesi dallo spirare del contranotto primo congedo, cosiche li scorrono li quatro anni (right page; vol. 1, ff. 9v, 10). The second volume of this series contains documents patenti and congedi.


The first volume of this series is important for researching the role of Jews in maritime affairs of the Dubrovnik Republic. Requests for the extension of the permit to sail outside the Adriatic were requested by the co-owners of the ships, among whom there was a large number of Ragusan Jews from different families such as Ambonetti, Costantini, Levi Mandolfo, Maestro, Pardo, Terni, Tolentino.

Aptai di misericordia Breni (Promissory notes of charity registered at the Chancellery in the territory of Župa dubrovačka)

There are no references to Jewish people in the series.
The series contains various promissory notes of charity registered at the Chancellery in the territory of Župa dubrovačka between the middle of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century.

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