24. Welcome to Dubrovnik - Turistička zajednica grada Dubrovnika

A Souvenir and Something To be Proud of
The Statute of
Dubrovnik of
translated into the English language
A
recent publication
by the Dubrovnik
State Archives
entitled The Statute of Dubrovnik of
1272 – includes an English translation
alongside the Latin text, introductory
analyses The Statute of Dubrovnik of 1272:
Between Legal Code and Political Symbol
by Nella Lonza and The Language in
the Medieval Manuscripts of the Statute
of Dubrovnik by Vesna Rimac, and a
Glossary with explanations of special
terms. It is the result of many years’
effort by a number of experts, starting
with Vesna Rimac’s demanding
translation from Medieval Latin
into English, through Vesna Baće’s
comprehensive terminological research
and polishing up of style, to my legal
explanations of unclear passages and
editorial coordination.
The point of translating medieval
statutes into modern languages is based
on the belief that they are not silent
witnesses to an ancient time - with
which only connoisseurs of the code
of the history of law can communicate
– but that they can convey inspiring
thoughts about law and social values
to anyone who is interested, and tell of
identity, tradition and bygone times.
Today the English language
is what Latin once used to be – the
universal language of all educated
people. Therefore, the aim of this
translational edition is to remove the
unnatural language barrier which the
modern age has put up between us and
our heritage.
The Statute of Dubrovnik
represented the foundations of the legal
system for more than five centuries
(1272-1808), having become a powerful
symbol of Dubrovnik’s collective
identity and statehood. It contained all
elements typical of local circumstances.
For instance, it was customary that the
Rector presented a gift of money to the
first ship which sailed into the Port of
Dubrovnik at Easter or Christmas. It
also included legal measures derived
from contact with the nearby Croatian
provinces and Slavic countries in the
hinterlands, such as the stanak (a kind
of international arbitration). Some
institutes and terms reveal Byzantine
influence, while others clearly show
signs of Venice’s supreme authority at
the time when the Statute was written.
Most important among all
these different elements is a threefold
tradition: the urban culture of the
Mediterranean cities, the principles of
prudent administration articulated in
the political thought and practice of
the thirteenth century, and primarily,
the rich European legal heritage which
in the Middle Ages developed on the
legacy of Roman and canon law.
However, the Statute of
Dubrovnik is not merely a legal code.
There is no other written evidence from
the thirteenth century that tells so much
about the institutions, society, family
relationships, trade, urban development,
and many aspects of everyday life as
the Statute does. It portrays a time
when most of the houses in Dubrovnik
were made of wood and when theft was
punished by death, but also tells of the
Dubrovnik seamen who bought and
sold fabrics from Florence and Verona,
Arras and Ypres, and from Stamford, as
well as expensive Byzantine textiles and
the local coarse cloth.
Although not an easy reading
in modern translation either, the Statute
of Dubrovnik is a colourful source of the
everyday life of a medieval city in the
Mediterranean and an ideal companion
to the early centuries of European legal
culture.
12 Dobrodošli u Dubrovnik Zima 2012./13.