Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1558-1755 (Creation)
Level of description
Series
Extent and medium
63 volumes; textual records
Context area
Name of creator
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Scope and content
The series contains records of maritime insurance for merchandise that mainly arrived from the area of the Ottoman Empire and was primarily transported to Italian ports (mostly Ancona and Venice). The records contain the following data: the name of the sales representative, the name of the merchant, i.e., the owner of the merchandise, sometimes the name of the city where the merchant lived, details of the merchandise (type and quantity), place of loading, name of ship, name of captain, place of unloading, name of insurer and price insurance. The records of the series are from the middle of the 16th century to the middle of the 18th century.
Between 1564 and 1646, the record shows that approximately 4,000 maritime insurance contracts were registered with references to Jewish population. The series is, therefore, very important for the research of business affairs of Jews and for reconstructing their business network in the Balkans and the Mediterranean. Jews appear in this series both as merchants and as trade representatives. It is also apparent that Jewish merchants who sent their goods through Dubrovnik, would choose, almost always, Jewish trade representatives. Most of these sales representatives, who were in charge of securing the goods and of shipping these from Dubrovnik, were members of Jewish families such as Abeatar, Abendana, Abenun, Azubi, Benmelech, Cabiglio, Coen, Cusi, Danon, Ergas, Maestro and Oef. Among them, Samuel Ergas, the consul of the Ragusan Jews, Aron Coen, a famous Dubrovnik rabbi, and David Coen de Herrera, the father of Abraham Coen de Herrera (vol. 49, ff. 92, 92v) stand out as famous sephardim of that period. Jewish merchants came from Ottoman cities such as Sofia, Vlora, Sarajevo, Belgrade, Skopje, Bitola. The goods that were sent via Dubrovnik to Italian ports (Ancona and Venice), were usually wool, wax, various types of leather, raw silk and spices. The significance of this series for the history of the Sephardim, can be better understood taking into consideration a doctoral thesis written by Benedetto Ligorio Le reti economiche e sociali degli ebrei nella Repubblica di Ragusa e la diaspora commerciale sefardita, 1546-1667 (Roma, Sapienza, 2017).
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Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
State Archives in Dubrovnik
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Publication note
Jorjo Tadić, »Pomorsko osiguranje u Dubrovniku XVI stoljeća.«, in: Zbornik iz dubrovačke prošlosti: Milanu Rešetaru o 70-oj godišnjici života prijatelji i učenici,ed. Vladimir Ćorović et al. Dubrovnik: Naklada knjižare "Jadran", 1931: 109-112. Vinko Foretić, »Pomorska serija starog Dubrovačkog arhiva, I.« Naše more 11 (1954): 597-599.Vinko Foretić, »Pomorska serija starog Dubrovačkog arhiva, II.« Naše more 12 (1954): 664-666. Branislava Tenenti, »Noli ragusei per Venezia nella seconda metà del cinquecento.« Studi Veneziani 16 (1974): 227-241. Alberto Tenenti and Branislava Tenenti, Il prezzo del Rischio; L'assicurazione mediterranea vista da Ragusa (1593-1591), Roma: Società Editricale Jouvence, 1985. Bogumil Hrabak, Dubrovačka osiguranja robe i brodova balkanskih i anadolskih Jevreja (Introduction), Banja Luka: Istorijski institut, 2007. Benedetto Ligorio, Le reti economiche e sociali degli ebrei nella Repubblica di Ragusa e la diaspora commerciale sefardita, 1546-1667, Sapienza - Università di Roma, 2017, doctoral thesis.
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Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
2021
Language(s)
- English