Open AccessGift-Giving in Dubrovnik’s First Diplomatic Contacts with the Sublime Porte / Dubrovački diplomatski pokloni odaslani na Visoku Portu (1430. – 1458.)
Author(s) -
Valentina Šoštarić
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
historijska traganja
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2744-1180
pISSN - 1840-3875
DOI - 10.51237/issn.2774-1180.2021.20.67
Subject(s) - sublime , value (mathematics) , politics , sign (mathematics) , interpretation (philosophy) , ideology , sociology , state (computer science) , rhetoric , identity (music) , law , aesthetics , media studies , history , political science , art , philosophy , linguistics , mathematical analysis , mathematics , algorithm , machine learning , computer science
In 1430 Dubrovnik’s authorities decided to send ambassadors tothe Sublime Porte for the first time. An important part of the preparatoryactivities was to decide to whom gifts should be presented, and what shouldbe the nature and value of the gifts presented to the various recipients.Gifts were carefully wrapped diplomatic messages that their recipientscould interpret in various ways. Gift rhetoric was used primarily toachieve strategic interests and was an ideological tool used both as a signand an instrument. An analysis of the nature and value of the objectsthat ambassadors gave to their hosts reveals the “collective identity” ofthe community that preoccupied the City fathers, offers an insight intoDubrovnik’s trade connections and local production of luxury goods, aswell as their reception in a different cultural landscape.Sources kept in the Dubrovnik State Archive allow us to reconstruct thelist of Dubrovnik’s diplomatic gifts presented to various individuals atthe Sublime Porte from the time of the establishment of the first officialdiplomatic contacts until the City became a tributary state. The gifts canbe categorized according to the political and social rank of the recipients.Interpretation of the reasoning underlying the selection of gifts offers aninterdisciplinary approach to the analysis of their pragmatic purposes, theirorigin and production, their value (economic, social, cultural, practical,emotional), and manipulation of their usage. As well as influencing bothcontemporary and future Ragusan – Ottoman relations, the gifts encouragedsymbolic, material, and cultural exchanges between diverse civilizations.