Original scientific paper
Loot and Prey While You May: Thefts in the Aftermath of the 1667 Great Earthquake of Dubrovnik
Petrica Balija
; Ministarstvo kulture, Konzervatorski odjel u Dubrovniku, Dubrovnik, Hrvatska
Abstract
This article is part of a broader study examining the plunder and looting that took place in the aftermath of the Great Ragusan Earthquake of 1667 based on the records of the Criminal Court of Dubrovnik from the restoration of the judicial order on 21 June 1667 until the end of the year 1676. By analysing the theft reports of valuables, household items and other belongings from the ruins immediately after the earthquake or during the excavations, the article traces the degree of social disorder after the disaster and the course of the stabilisation process. Close encounter with death, series of quakes, fires and large-scale plunders had an overnight impact on the general moral norms and the popular attitude towards authority. The article also focuses on the behaviour of different social groups in the aftermath of the Great Earthquake, notably their attitude towards private and communal property. Special emphasis has been placed on the role of the patriciate as the sole authority in the protection of the citizens’ property and the prevention of looting as a major prerequisite in the stabilisation of power and authority of the legal system. Many cases of theft have remained unreported, as opposed to those in which the whereabouts of the stolen items could be accurately traced as hidden or buried, sold or taken out of the Republic. Descriptions of precious pieces of jewellery, silverware and other valuables clothes, household items, tools and merchandise afford insights into the inventory of the Ragusan households and the content of the merchant warehouses, contributing to a panoramic overview of everyday life of Dubrovnik’s inhabitants in the seventeenth century.
Keywords
Republic of Dubrovnik; 17th century; 1667; earthquake; plunder; money; valuables; household items; serfs; servants; soldiers
Hrčak ID:
137821
URI
Publication date:
13.4.2015.
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