REIP(UBLICAE) RAGUSI(NAE) EIUSQ(UE) OPTIMATUM INSIGNIA. Зборник Знамења Дубровачких Породица
Reip(Ublicae) Ragusi(Nae) Eiusq(Ue) Optimatum Insignia. A Collection of Insignia of Ragusan Families

Summary/Abstract: The article discusses a manuscript book entitled Reip(ublicae) Ragusi(nae) еiusq(ue) optimatum insignia, which is preserved in the collection of Cyrillic manuscripts and early printed books in the Archives of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. The book was discovered by Đorđe (Georgije) Nikolajević, who sent it from Dubrovnik (Ragusa) to the Serbian Learned Society in 1856. It is a collection of insignia, which contained originally, according to the table of contents, 40 insignia of noble and 136 insignia of middle-class Ragusan families. Today four leaves are missing, and one has been added. The collection is a work of exceptional importance for the study of Ragusan and South Slavonic heraldry. It includes, in addition to the heraldic symbols of the Ragusan aristocratic families, which are known to us from other sources as well, a number of coats of arms of middle-class families which are for the most part unknown. An analysis of the collection indicates that it was probably compiled between 1746 and 1856. This conclusion is based on the study of the first part of the collection, which contains the devices of the noble families. It is to be hoped that the future studies, primarily those focused on the part dealing with the insignia of the middle-class families, will contribute to a better understanding of this collection and provide answers to many of the questions which still remain open.

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