Based on the published sources of the University of Bologna, as well as the archival material housed in the State Archives in Dubrovnikand the Dubrovnik Diocese Archive, the article provides data on the students from Dubrovnik who studied at the University of Bologna in the eighteenth century. Each of the seven students is provided with a biographical account with the hitherto unknown details, with emphasis on those related to the studies and their funding. The article comes forward with the conclusions on the social background of the Ragusan students, scholarships granted by the Dubrovnik Republic, choice of academic subject (medicine, law), course of studies and employment. Also, published for the first time are the two student diplomas from the holdings of the Library of the Franciscan Monastery in Dubrovnik.
This article examines four works by the Portuguese poet Didacus Pyrrhus dedicated to the city of Dubrovnik. Although these texts have often been treated primarily as valuable sources for reconstructing the cultural and intellectual life of the Republic of Ragusa in the second half of the sixteenth century, this study adopts a different interpretative lens. By approaching the works within the framework of imagology and situating them in the tradition of urban encomia (laudationes urbium), the article explores how Pyrrhus constructed an image of Dubrovnik and its surrounding landscape. Beyond their descriptive value, Pyrrhus' poems offer a subtle reflection of his integration into the social and cultural life of Dubrovnik, where he resided for five decades. His works reveal a conscious effort to suppress his foreign identity and assimilate into the local community, evidenced by his praise of prominent individuals, religious and civic symbols. Of the works analysed, Ad Paulum provides the most vivid and structured vision of both urban and rural landscapes, while others, such as De urbe Rhacusa and De illustribus familiis, are more concerned with hagiographic and genealogical themes. Together, these texts form a complex literary portrayal of Dubrovnik before the 1667 earthquake, offering a largely overlooked narrative source that enriches our understanding of early modern urban representation and identity formation.
This article analyses four paintings by an unknown artist depicting scenes from the life of King David in the Old Testament, dating probably from the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century, today kept in the storage unit of the Dubrovnik Diocese. In the early years of the twentieth century, the paintings were the property of the noblewoman Malvina Dorotka von Ehrenwall, n & eacute;e Bonda, who sold them to Bishop Josip Mar & ccaron;eli & cacute;, which he eventually donated to the Seminary. Analysis has shown that the paintings Saul throws his spear at David, David mourns for Saul and Jonathan and Saul pursues David in the wilderness have been executed after the copper engravings of Aegidius Sadeler II(1579-1629), which are based on the drawings of Maerten de Vos. For the painting David and Goliath the author, however, leaned on several prints, among which those of Ugo da Carpi and Cornelis Massijs can be recognised, as well as an unknown author after a drawing by Maarten van Heemskerck. Considerable resemblance with the painting Adoration of the Magi, exhibited in the Bishop's Palace in Dubrovnik and attributed to Petar Mattei by Radoslav Tomi & cacute;, points to the possibility that the mentioned painter might also be the author of the four paintings depicitng the motifs from the life of King David.
Located at the periphery of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, close to the front lines, through the entire World War I Dubrovnik Hospital fulfilled its task in providing medical service to the population of the county of Dubrovnik and Kotorand its surroundings. The hospital's service also extended to the soldiers if the two military health facilities in Dubrovnik, due to their overcapacity, could not provide the necessary treatment. This article addresses the circumstances in which the hospital operated during and after the war, and how the hospital management coped with various situations and challenges. Data on Dubrovnik Hospital in the given period has been derived from diverse sources. Hospital material pertaining to medical case histories is filed in the register of hospitalisations in the fond HR-DADU-186, Op & cacute;a bolnica Dubrovnik (DubrovnikGeneral Hospital). An insight into the newspapers and the minutes of the Municipal Council of Dubrovnik for the period 1913-1921 has largely contributed to a fuller picture. Hospital capacity did not change during the war years, 150 beds with two physicians, and an average of appoximately 1,200 to 1,500 patients per year.The two physicians were assisted bytwenty-four nurses and a varying number of the supporting ward and domestic staff. Various infectious and non-infectious diseases were treated at the hospital, such as tuberculosis, typhus, Spanish flu, diphtheria, dysentery, trachoma, while at the infectious ward smallpox, measles and the spotted typhus fever were treated. Adverse general conditions-famine, cold weather conditions, restrictions and limitations-hampered the medical efforts and rehabilitation as the hospital was forced to ration food and as a result produced its own food and soap, using the labour force of the war prisoners and soldiers. The end of war was marked by corruption and disorder, while the hospital's mechanical equipment and sanitary material was confiscated by the Serbian army. Due to difficult economic circumstances and poverty, the hospital staff was occasionally offered food at factory prices and provided with material seized by war requisition.
This article examines the reasons for the centuries-long survival of the Republic of Dubrovnik, seeking to answer how this small polity managed to preserve its independence, despite being situated at the borderlands of three empires (the Ottoman,Venetian and Spanish). The text begins by analysing Dubrovnik's specific international position, i.e., the fact that it enjoyed the simultaneous patronage of several major powers-Spain, the Ottoman Empire, and the Papacy. As the article demonstrates, it was precisely this multiplicity of patrons that enabled Dubrovnik to ensure space for its own independent policy. More specifically, the Republic skilfully used the ambitions of one great power to shield itself from those of another (or others), exploiting the differing, even conflicting, interests of its patrons to carve out space for its own independent policies. However, this multiple patronage also raises the question of why the great powers consistently supported and protected the Republic throughout the Early modern age. The answer lies largely in the valuable services which Dubrovnik provided to them, supplying intelligence, manpower, resources, acting as a commercial intermediary, and assisting in the redemption of captives. Taking into account this "utility" of Dubrovnik to the major powers, the article rethinks the conventional explanation for the Republic's prolonged independence-namely, the oft-cited claim regarding its exceptionally effective diplomacy-suggesting that it should be complemented with the considerations of its usefulness to the great powers.
The paper analyses the content of a business contract drafted by Nikola Vitov Gozze (Gu & ccaron;eti & cacute;) in 1602, along with the circumstances underlying its creation and the characteristics of the social connections of the parties involved. Registered on 23 January 1610, the day before his death, the document is today kept in the State Archives in Dubrovnik.This business document, recorded almost as an idiograph, is an example of Gu & ccaron;eti & cacute;'s bilingual business expression in Croatian and Italian integrated in a single document. The document was registered by notary Luka Primi at the request of Kate, daughter of the late Petar Spagnul. It was authenticated by Nikola's son Vito, in an unusual manner, at the door of the family home, testifying before the notary that the document was written in his father's handwriting and that his father Nikola confirmed the content of the document. The contract between Kate, daughter of Petar Spagnul, and Nikola Gozze skilfully combined elements of two legal relationships: a bill of exchange of Paul Intriga in Kate's favour for the amount of 340 scudi, in which Nikola appears as the drawee, and a contract for a commercial loan of 300 scudi with a yield of 6% per annum (eighteen scudi), in which Gozze, in addition to the intermediary role, also has that of a guarantor. The contract lasted at least eight years, from the moment the contract was drawn up in 1602 until its relatively late registration and authentication in 1610, and in all likelihood continued after Gozze's death. Genealogical analysis has shown that family ties were hidden behind this business transaction, as Kata, daughter of the late Petar Spagnul, was a descendant of the non-noble branch of the Gozze patrician family through the female line. Kata's mother, with whom she shared the name, was an illegitimate daughter and only child of Marin Ivanov Gozze, uncle of Nikola Vitov Gozze. The record of the very last, premortem business and legal act of Nikola Vitov Gozze sheds light, on the one hand, on a hitherto lesser-known dimension of his personality, and on the other hand, points to the value of business documents and the need to investigate them as a source of knowledge beyond the (too) narrow framework of specialised economic or legal research.
The article explores the foundation of the fish processing factory in Uble (island of Lastovo) in 1930-1931, and its operation until the end of Italian administration. Based on archival documentation, photographs and the testimonies of the narrators, the article provides a description and purpose of particular facility units as well as the fish processing itself, focusing on the distinct stages of its construction. The launch of fish processing in Uble is analysed within the context of the history of fishing industry in the eastern Adriatic. Apart from the economic aspect, its foundation and operation also includes specific social and political circumstances. The initially latent presence of the state in the factory's foundation in 1930 would become clearly visible after the decision on the foundation of the settlement in 1935, when the factory evolved into an important factor in the fascist colonisation of Lastovo.
