Deliberations of the Major Council of the Republic of Ragusa on the Serbian Despotate (1417-1478)
Deliberations of the Major Council of the Republic of Ragusa on the Serbian Despotate (1417-1478)

Summary/Abstract: The paper contains a complete transcription of the unpublished deliberations of the Major Council of the Republic of Ragusa that are related to the Serbian Despotate, prominent people, and various events from this state. Considering the fact that the courts of the Lazarević and Branković families were often visited as part of the same diplomatic missions, deliberations concerning Đurađ Branković and his possessions before he began to govern Despotate were also recorded. The period from 1415, when the Ragusan authorities made decisions on recording the deliberations of the Major Council separately, and the end of the 15th century were taken into account. It is a fund of the Dubrovnik State Archives called Acta Consilii Maioiris. For the purposes of this paper, an analysis of 17 volumes of this fund covering the period from 1415 to 1506 was conducted. The first deliberation related to the Serbian Despotate and prominent people from this state dates from 1417, and the last from 1478. The fact that the Serbian Despotate, as a state organization, ceased to exist from 1459, was also taken into account, however, certain prominent people from the ruling family were mentioned in later times through the deliberations of this council. The paper outlines the competences of the Major Council, and provides a brief analysis of the nature of the deliberations related to the Serbian Despotate. The analysis that was carried out indicates that the largest number of deliberations refer to diplomatic missions from Ragusa sent to Serbian despots Stefan Lazarević and Đurađ Branković, giving gifts to despots and their wives, permits for renting boats when traveling across the sea, and the import of certain products through Ragusa.

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