Razočarani notar: iz kasnog dubrovačkog prijepisa djela Historia Ragusii Giovannija Conversinija

Humanist Giovanni Conversini alias Ivan Ravenjanin (1343-1408) spent his life in seeking a specifi c teaching or high-ranking state post – that is, he could not decide between family happiness on one side and retirement into seclusion and contemplation on the other. His personal meanderings prevented him from achieving his life goals: for years he remained at the court of the Carrara family in Padua, despite hostile intrigues against him, yet the fall of this dynasty after the Venetian invasion forced him to look for shelter elsewhere. He accepted an offer from Dubrovnik, where he worked as a public notary in the 1380s. He described his Dubrovnik experience in a writing today known as Historia Ragusii, composed in the form of a letter addressed to an unnamed friend on the inner Venetian territory. While the Ragusan Commune was still constructing its independent administrative apparatus, in the fi rst decades following the end of Venetian rule, an expert such as Conversini (who attended a specialised course in Bologna, obtained a notary degree, in addition to twenty years of work experience) was more than welcome. Unfortunately, he found the work diffi cult for a number of reasons: the daily routine was wearing him out, he was not accustomed to frequent contacts with the clients and showed little understanding for the specifi c political system in Dubrovnik, in which a new rector was chosen every month. Monarchy was more to his liking, and he looked back nostalgically to the days spent in Padua where he served a single lord, as contrasted to the work of the Ragusan councils and their incessant discussions during the sessions to which he was offi cially appointed as notary. In his text he recurrently emphasised how frustrated he was with the backward environment he found himself in, considering that his contribution to the community was not credited accordingly. He regretted not having given proper consideration to the Ragusan offer before taking it, allowing himself to be driven “among the barbarians”. Conversini’s complaints may be viewed as justifi able since they do refl ect a marked difference between the humanistic circle of the Italian north, to which he himself belonged and prided with his acquaintance with Petrarch, and Dubrovnik of the day. His discontent spilt over into general social issues, notably those related to religion and moral. Grounding his conclusions on a succession of selected works, from classical authors of the Antiquity to the Old