Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 14th century - 19th century (Creation)
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and medium
36 volumes; 2.2 linear metres; textual records
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Archival history
Until the 13th century, public notaries were private persons (Dubrovnik priests) who were recognized by the public as having legal and credible authority. The public notary office was established in 1278, when an Italian Tomasino de Savere was employed as the public notary. From that moment on, the Republic began to keep the records of the official activities of its services and store uninterruptedly books and documents which lasted until the fall of the Republic in 1808. During the 15th century, the authorities made several key decisions on the organization of the central administration of the Republic, the offices of which were in the Rector's Palace. Based on the decisions that were made at that time, the central administration consisted of the following offices: The Public Notary (legal private affairs), the State Chancellery (legal public affairs), the Judicial Chancellery (criminal justice affairs), the Office of the State Secretary (legal state affairs) and the Slavic Chancellery, which would eventually be transformed into the Turkish Chancellery.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
The fonds has been linked to the archive since its inception. In times of the Dubrovnik Republic, the books of the fonds were stored in the Rector's Palace. They remained in the Rector’s Palace after the fall of the Republic (1808). In 1891, the archives were consolidated and became available to researchers. The archive in the Rector's Palace has been functioning as an independent institution since 1920, and it was dislocated in 1952 to the Sponza Palace, where it is still located today.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
The fonds consists of the series Libri dotium Notariae (HR-DADU-13.1) and Pacta matrimonialia (HR-DADU-13.2).
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
The fonds is fully accessible to researchers in accordance with the Ordinance on the work in the reading room of the State Archives in Dubrovnik and the Law on Archival Materials and Archives NN 61/18 (Pravilnik o radu u čitaonici Državnog arhiva u Dubrovniku and Zakon o arhivskom gradivu i arhivima NN 61/18).
Conditions governing reproduction
Taking photographs and scanning are allowed, for a fee.
Language of material
- Italian
- Latin
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Parchement. The archival material is well preserved.
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
State Archives in Dubrovnik
Existence and location of copies
The fonds has been completely transferred to microfilms, but the microfilms are not available to the users of archives.
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Old reference code
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Descriptions of fonds, series and sub-series are made according to the ISAD (G) standard (general international standard archival description).
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
2021
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
Sources
Archivist's note
Description prepared by Vesna Miović (Fonds, Series, Subseries) Croatia [The Institute for Historical Sciences in Dubrovnik, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (CASA)] Translation to English by Zrinka Friganović Sain