Venezia, 30th June 2021 – From July 1st on the Padua State Archive website, the Ducali – a series of official documents that used to be issued by the Doge - will be accessible online. These documents contain resolutions in which the will of the central government of Veneto was expressed and had to be respected by the public administrators. The registers now available online, are a precious tool for researchers who already had access to these documents through the study room. This initiative, which has been implemented for the celebrations of the birth of Venice, will remain online, at people’s disposal, even after the celebrations.
The series of Ducali proves the relationship between the peripheral judiciary of Padua, representing the State of Land and the central bodies of the venetian government. It includes 120 volumes, and it is divided in subseries, any of which is related to a specific office: the Cancelleria civica, Cancelleria pretoria, Camera fiscale, Ufficio capitaniale, Camerlenghi da Co-mun, Riformatori allo Studio (bodies of the venetian government).
The documents include an extended chronological timeline which goes from 1391 to 1805, long after the fall of the Serenissima. The series is made up of 12 original scroll envelopes dated from 1487 to 1797. The documents record moment of local daily life considered as relevant by the Repubblica: from stream maintenance to the management of thermal complexes in Abano (Ducali of the 13th August and 13th October 1487) and again, from the regulation of gambling to the measures used in order to tackle the plague (Ducali of the 16thAugust to the 12th March 1530).
The digital version of the documents allows anyone to scroll the different subjects and see the accessible documents by date. To maximize the time allotted to the pursuit of new sources, the tool can be accessed both remotely and by digital workstations located inside the State Archive.
Moreover, to celebrate the birth of Venice, the Padua State Archive will organize, from September 18th to October 2nd in the room of the Archive, an exhibition that will show a wide selection of the best documents of the collection. This exhibition will be open to the public and access will be free of charge, although booking in advance is mandatory (information about how to welcome people and when, will follow, and will be notified through the institutes’ social media). From October 2nd, the exhibition will be online.
To know more: https://www.aspd.beniculturali.it/