Original scientific paper
In taberna quando erant (Life in Dubrovnik Taverns According to Fourteenth-Century Criminal Records)
Gordan Ravančić
; Croatian Institute of History, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
A brief glance at the normative sources of the Dubrovnik Republic is
sufficient enough to reveal the fact that wine played a most prominent role in the general affairs of the state both as an important food and trade product. One of the public places in town where wine was retailed were the taverns. In addition to their distributive function, taverns could primarily be regarded from the social aspect - as public houses which were (and still are today) places colure the most diversified groups and individuals gathered and therefore, spots where information was being regularly exchanged. It is this social aspect of inns that had scarcely been approached in our historiography, most likely due to the lack of data. Criminal records of the Dubrovnik Republic, documents from the series Libri de maleficiis and Lamenta deforis in particular, provide an insight into the tavern milieu and are spiced with accounts of excesses which most commonly took place in such places. Thus, we can trace all the tavern
visitors and their exact doings, whether they came for a drink, in search of merry company, a game of cards, or making contracts. At the same time, these documents enable us to make an approximate estimation of tavern attendance throughout a year.
Keywords
tavern; Dubrovnik; Middle Ages
Hrčak ID:
239408
URI
Publication date:
20.7.1998.
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