Serbian Royal documents at the State Archives in Dubrovnik

Contributed by the Institute of Balkan Studies of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts as part of the European Network on Archival Cooperation (ENArC) project.

The State Archives in Dubrovnik is the largest single repository of Serbian medieval documents, holding over 200 items with a total of around 250 individual copies. More than 80% of these can be described as royal and quasi-royal, since they were issued by individuals who reigned as supreme rulers of the medieval Serbian state or by practically independent regional lords. They span a period of roughly three centuries (late 12th to late 15th) and reflect the complex relations between Serbia and the Dubrovnik city-state, dealing with matters such as grants of trading privileges and land, settlement of disputes, payment of tributes and dues owed by Dubrovnik to the lords of the hinterland, employment of Dubrovnik citizens in the collection of royal revenues, withdrawals of royal treasures deposited in Dubrovnik, and general exchange of information.

This collection includes all such royal documents located in the Dubrovnik Archives today. Document names are composed of the issue date and issuer in the following format: yyyymmdd – name of issuer. In cases of documents with identical issue dates and issuers, numbers 1, 2, etc, are added at the end to distinguish them. Copies of the same document are marked by adding letters (A, B, C, etc). Where issue dates are approximate or uncertain a system of abbreviations has been implemented to provide more precise information. These are inserted after the date and have the following meaning:

• byz – the date given is the first day of the Byzantine year (1 September – 31 August) in which the document was issued
• taq – the date given is the terminus ante quem
• tpq – the date given is the terminus post quem
• cca – circa
• ? – the date given is probable but uncertain; if precise month and day are given the uncertainty refers to the year

Thus, document name 13470828 taq – Dušan 2B means that this is copy B of the second document issued by the Emperor Stefan Dušan whose issue date can be expressed only as “some time before 28 August 1347”.

List of abbreviations used for editions of presented documents:

• V. Bogišić, Pisani zakoni :: V. Bogišić, Pisani zakoni na slovenskom jugu, Zagreb 1872.
• G. Čremošnik, Glasnik SND 21 :: G. Čremošnik, Studije iz srpske paleografije i diplomatike, Glasnik Skopskog naučnog društva 21 (1940) 1–18. (cyr)
• Diplomatički zbornik :: Diplomatički zbornik kraljevine Hrvatske, Dalmacije i Slavonije II–XIV, Zagreb 1904–1916; XV, 1934; I, 1967; XVI, 1976; XVII, 1981; XVIII, 1990.
• Diplomatički zbornik. Dodaci :: Diplomatički zbornik. Dodaci I, Zagreb 1998.
• LJ. Đidić, Kruševac :: LJ. Đidić, Kruševac, Kruševac 1991. (cyr)
• P. Đorđić, Istorija srpske ćirilice :: P. Đorđić, Istorija srpske ćirilice – paleografsko-filološki prilozi, Beograd 1971. (cyr)
• V. Foretić, Rad JAZU 283 :: V. Foretić, Ugovor Dubrovnika sa srpskim velikim županom Stefanom Nemanjom i stara dubrovačka djedina, Rad Jugoslavenske akademije znanosti i umjetnosti 283 (1951) 51–118.
• V. Jagić, Priměri :: V. Jagić, Priměri starohèrvatskoga jezika iz glagolskih i cirliskih književnih starinah, Zagreb 1864.
• K. Jireček, Glasnik SUD 47 :: K. Jireček, Ugovor Stefana Prvovenčanog s Dubrovčanima, Glasnik Srpskog učenog društva 47 (1879) 304–311. (cyr)
• K. Jireček, Spomenici srpski :: K. Jireček, Spomenici srpski, Spomenik SKA 11 (1892). (cyr)
• P. Karano-Tvrtković, Srpski spomenici :: P. Karano-Tvrtković, Srbskii spomenici ili stare risovule, diplome, povele i snošenia, Beograd 1840. (cyr)
• I. Kukuljević-Sakcinski, Diplomatički sbornik :: I. Kukuljević-Sakcinski, Diplomatički sbornik kraljevine Hrvatske s Dalmacijom i Slavonijom I–II, Zagreb 1874, 1876.
• S. Ljubić, Listine :: S. Ljubić, Listine o odnošajih izmedju južnoga slavenstva i Mletačke republike I–X, Zagreb 1868–1891.
• R. Mihaljčić, Prilozi za KJIF 39/3–4 :: R. Mihaljčić, Prilog srpskom diplomataru. Povelje i pisma cara Uroša i kneza Vojislava upućene Dubrovniku, Prilozi za književnost, jezik, istoriju i folklor 39/3–4 (1973) 226–234. (cyr)
• F. Miklosich, Monumenta Serbica :: F. Miklosich, Monumenta Serbica spectantia historiam Serbiae, Bosnae, Ragusii, Viennae 1858.
• A. Mladenović, Lazar :: A. Mladenović, Povelje kneza Lazara, Beograd 2003. (cyr)
• A. Mladenović, Stefan :: A. Mladenović, Povelje i pisma despota Stefana, Beograd 2007. (cyr)
• Monumenta Ragusina :: Monumenta Ragusina. Libri reformationum I–V, Zagreb 1879–1897.
• V. Mošin, Arheografski prilozi 3 :: V. Mošin, Povelje cara Stefana Dušana o Arhanđelovom manastiru u Jerusalimu i o manastiru Sv. Nikole na skadarskom ostrvu Vranjini, Arheografski prilozi 3 (1981) 7–36. (cyr)
• V. Mošin, Paleografski album :: V. Mošin, Paleografski album na južnoslovenskoto kirilsko pismo, Skopje 1966. (cyr)
• S. Novaković, Zakonski spomenici :: S. Novaković, Zakonski spomenici srpskih država srednjega veka, Beograd 1912. (cyr)
• M. Pucić, Spomenici srpski II :: M. Pucić, Spomenici srpski II, Beograd 1862. (cyr)
• F. Rački, Prilozi :: F. Rački, Prilozi za sbirku srbskih i bosanskih listina, Rad Jugoslavenske akademije znanosti i umjetnosti 1 (1867) 124–164.
• J. Radonić, Dubrovačka akta :: J. Radonić, Dubrovačka akta i povelje I–1, Beograd 1934. (cyr)
• A. Solovjev, Odabrani spomenici :: A. Solovjev, Odabrani spomenici srpskog prava, Beograd 1926. (cyr)
• SSA :: Stari srpski arhiv 1–, Beograd 2002– (annual academic journal, abbreviation accompanied by names of individual authors). (cyr)
• Stefan Prvovenčani, Sabrani spisi :: Stefan Prvovenčani, Sabrani spisi, Beograd 1988. (cyr)
• Stefan Prvovenčani, Sabrana dela :: Stefan Prvovenčani, Sabrana dela, Beograd 1999. (cyr)
• LJ. Stojanović, Povelje i pisma :: LJ. Stojanović, Stare srpske povelje i pisma I–1, Beograd 1929; I–2, 1934. (cyr)
• P. J. Šafařík, Památky :: P. J. Šafařík, Památky dřevnǐho písemnicství Jihoslovanův, Praha 1873.
• B. Šekularac, Dukljansko-zetske povelje :: B. Šekularac, Dukljansko-zetske povelje, Titograd 1987. (cyr)
• Ć. Truhelka, GZM 23 :: Ć. Truhelka, Tursko-slovjenski spomenici dubrovačke arhive, Glasnik Zemaljskog muzeja u Sarajevu 23 (1911) 1–160.
• A. Vučetić, Spomenici dubrovački I :: A. Vučetić, Spomenici dubrovački I, Dubrovnik 1907.
• A. Vučetić, Srđ 5 :: A. Vučetić, Spomenici dubrovački, Srđ 5 (1906) passim.
• G. Wenzel, Arpadianus :: G. Wenzel, Codex diplomaticus Arpadianus continuatus I– XII, Budapest 1860–1874.
• Zbornik I :: Zbornik srednjovekovnih ćiriličkih povelja i pisama Srbije, Bosne i Dubrovnika I, Beograd 2011. (cyr)