Series HR-DADU-08.1 - Litterae et commissiones Levantis; Lettere di Levante (State letters and instructions to the Eastern countries)

HR-DADU-8.1 image 01

Identity area

Reference code

HR-DADU-08-HR-DADU-08.1

Title

Litterae et commissiones Levantis; Lettere di Levante (State letters and instructions to the Eastern countries)

Date(s)

  • 1358-1462, 1464-1466, 1468-1470, 1472-1479, 1481-1483, 1485-1490, 1492-1569, 1571-1667, 1670-1671, 1673-1687, 1692-1694, 1697-1802 (Creation)

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Series

Extent and medium

110 volumes; textual records

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Scope and content

The series contains state letters and instructions to Ragusan ambassadors, tribute ambassadors, consuls, administrators of Dubrovnik consulates, charges d’affairs, and merchants in the cities of the Ottoman Empire in the period from the middle of the 14th to the beginning of the 19th century. The cities that are mostly referred to in the series are: Istanbul, Jedrene, Belgrade, Vlora, Volos, Alexandria, Banja Luka, Sarajevo, Travnik, Mostar and Pljevlja. The series also includes letters from the authorities of the Dubrovnik Republic to various Ottoman dignitaries and officials, from Grand Viziers in Istanbul to kadis in the Dubrovnik neighbourhood.


The series is very important for the research of the history of the Jewish people in the Ottoman Empire, as well as for any attempted analysis of their cooperation with the Jews from the Republic. The series contains state letters to the consuls of the Republic in Vlora, who were Jewish (16th and 17th centuries). The following names of the consuls are referenced: Isach Trincha, who is only referenced to in one letter (vol. 20, f. 15v), Jacob Coduto, Daniel Coduto, Zacharia Graziano, Angiolo Coduto (vol. 28-34, 37, 42-45, 47-50). In addition to the names previously mentioned, there are several other Vlora Jews that are mentioned in the documents from the 16th century. The series also contains several letters from the authorities of the Republic to their tribute ambassadors, in which there are references to Gracia Mendes. In 1552, she travelled to Istanbul via Dubrovnik. The data shows that she conducted her business from Istanbul, using the port of Dubrovnik to trade with Western countries till she died. The ambassadors of the Republic would regularly visit her and bring her letters from the authorities. According to the records, she would lend money to the ambassadors and the authorities of the Republic would then reimburse the money to her representatives in Dubrovnik, Isaac Ergas and Abner Alfarin (vol. 26-29). Other Istanbul Jews also lent money to Dubrovnik tax collectors, and the authorities would then reimburse it to their relatives in Dubrovnik. For example, in 1576, Samuel Ergas wrote a letter of recommendation to two Jews from Istanbul, Judi Algasi and Samuel Celef, asking them to lend money to the emissaries of the Republic if that was deemed necessary (vol. 33, f. 67v). Dubrovnik merchants owned real estate in some Ottoman cities and would often rent it, especially in Sofia, to Jewish merchants. Related to this fact, there are several references to conflicts that occurred among those merchants. Even though the series provides evidence to some other conflicts in which Jewish merchants were involved, it also provides evidence of different forms of successful cooperation with Jewish merchants. The authorities of the Dubrovnik Republic evidently cooperated with Jewish merchants who were influential at the sultan's court (e.g., vol. 31, ff. 25v-26v). One of those merchants, Conort, whose name is not referenced in this series, worked in the 80s of the 18th century as a dragoman of Dubrovnik ambassadors at the Sublime Porte (vol. 103, ff. 113v, 121v).

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Finding aids

Građa za generalni katalog Državnog arhiva u Dubrovniku, box 9, folder 1; box 10, folder 1. Josip Gelčić, »Catalogus i. r. Archivii Ragusini.« Glasnik Zemaljskog muzeja u Bosni i Hercegovini 22 (1910): 537-588.

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

State Archives in Dubrovnik

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

Acta Consilii Maioris (HR-DADU-2), Consilium Rogatorum (HR-DADU-3), Consilium Minus (HR-DADU-4), Acta Turcarum (HR-DADU-7.2), 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), Diplomata et acta, 19th century (HR-DADU-7.3.9), Minutae litterarum veterum (HR-DADU-8.4), Copia litterarum diversarum (HR-DADU-8.5); Litterae et relationes (HR-DADU-8.7)

Related descriptions

Publication note

Medo Pucić, Spomenici srpski, I, Beograd, 1858. Jovan Radonić, Acta et Diplomata Ragusina, II.1, Beograd: SKA, 1935. Jorjo Tadić, Litterae et commissiones Ragusinae, Beograd: SKA, 1935. Ivan Božić, Dubrovnik i Turska u XIV. i XV. veku (Zusammenfassung: Dubrovnik und die Türkei im XIV und XV Jahrhundert), Beograd: SAN, 1952. Jovan Radonić, Acta et Diplomata Ragusina, II.1, Beograd: SKA, 1935. Jovan Radonić, Acta et Diplomata Ragusina, II.2, Beograd: SKA, 1938. Jovan Radonić, Acta et Diplomata Ragusina, III.1, Beograd: SKA, 1939. Jovan Radonić, Acta et Diplomata Ragusina, III.2, Beograd: SKA, 1939. Jovan Radonić, Acta et Diplomata Ragusina, IV.2, Beograd: SKA, 1942. Radovan Samardžić, Borba Dubrovnika za opstanak posle velikog zemljotresa 1667. g. (arhivska građa 1667-1670), Beograd: SAN, 1960. Vuk Vinaver, Dubrovnik i Turska u XVIII veku (zusammenfassung: Die Republik Dubrovnik und die Türkei im XVIII Jahrhundert), Beograd: SAN, 1960. Toma Popović, Turska i Dubrovnik u XVI veku (résumé: La Turquie et Raguse au XVIe Siecle), Beograd: Srpska književna zadruga, 1973. Ilija Mitić, Konzulati i konzularna služba starog Dubrovnika (summary: The Consuls and the Consular Service of Old Dubrovnik), Dubrovnik: Historijski institut JAZU, 1973. Lucio Lume, L'archivio storico di Dubrovnik con repertorio di documenti sulle relazioni della repubblica di Ragusa con le città marchigiane, Roma: Archivio di Stato, 1977. Radovan Samardžić, Veliki vek Dubrovnika, Beograd: Prosveta, 1983. Vesna Miović, Dubrovačka diplomacija u Istambulu (summary: Diplomatic Activities of the Republic of Dubrovnik in Istanbul), Zagreb - Dubrovnik: Zavod za povijesne znanosti HAZU u Dubrovniku, 2003. Lovro Kunčević, »Janus-faced Sovereignity: The International Status of the Ragusan Republic in the Early Modern Period.«, in: The European Tributary States of the Ottoman Empire in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, ed. Gábor Kármán and Lovro Kunčević. Leiden - Boston: Brill, 2013: 91-121. Vesna Miović, »Diplomatic Relations between the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Dubrovnik.«, in: The European Tributary States of the Ottoman Empire in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, ed. Gábor Kármán and Lovro Kunčević. Leiden - Boston: Brill, 2013: 187-208. Vesna Miović, Relja Seferović, »Gracia Mendes in Dubrovnik.« Dubrovnik Annals 18 (2014): 65-94. Vesna Miović, Židovski rodovi u Dubrovniku (1546-1940) (summary: Jewish Families of Dubrovnik (Ragusa), 1546-1940), Zagreb-Dubrovnik: Zavod za povijesne znanosti HAZU u Dubrovniku 2017.

Notes area

Note

The first 29 volumes of this series also contain state letters and instructions to the West.

Alternative identifier(s)

Old reference code

Fonds of the Dubrovnik Republic and the territory of the former Republic under the French Administration, series 27.1

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Dates of creation revision deletion

2021

Language(s)

  • English

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