Graph Database Analysis of the Trans-Adriatic Trade Records in the Kabužić Brothers’ Ledgers (1426-1433)

• Applicant: Vladimir Aleksic, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Medieval History
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 554223466

The Kabuzic Brothers' Ledger (KBL) from the Archive of Dubrovnik is an excellent example of the earliest European double-entry bookkeeping and provides unprecedented insight into the large-scale trans-Adriatic commercial activities. From the end of 1426 to the middle of 1433, Ser Nicola and Luca`s company shipped 3480 kilograms of silver valued at 100,000 golden ducats to Venice and the north Italian province of Marche, as well as 565 kilograms of gold, approximately 13 wagons of refined wax valued at 30787 golden ducats, and significantly smaller quantities of lead, leather, and homemade woollen textiles acquired in the central Balkans. Several hundred pages of the critical edition of the KBL contain detailed information on hundreds of single business transactions, describing their exact time and duration, merchandise acquisition in the Balkan interior, names of shipowners who transported the goods from Dubrovnik to north Italy, the quality (cerra fina, argento plicho, etc.), quantity, and value of exported or imported items, the identities of numerous business associates and their family members located on both sides of the Adriatic, and much more. We will use Neo4j graph database software to analyze these records in all their complexities. Here, the relationships are preserved natively alongside data components (nodes) in an adjustable structure. Additional flexibility is achieved thanks to properties, that are used for storing data on nodes and relationships. Thus, with the Neo4j, it is possible to observe hard-to-see links between the database`s elements or even the smallest irregularities within patterns without losing the overall picture of the researched topic. Our project's first output will be a graph database whose structure will reflect temporal, numerical, and descriptive information for each business activity recorded in the KBL. The digital annotation tool CATMA will be used for data extraction from the KBL critical edition, which is available since 1999. Thanks to the logistical support of the Center für Digitale Systeme of FU Berlin the complete data set will be publicly and permanently available. The database will also serve as the foundation for the creation of a monography. The book`s content will be primarily based on a series of complex analyses in Neo4J. The preliminary results convince the applicant, that the three-year-long project's findings will go beyond historiographical narratives established by other historical sources or research methods. Our multidisciplinary and innovative investigation will make it possible to A) comprehend the overall organization and activity of a typical late medieval Mediterranean trading company in minute detail; B) in-depth investigate the relationship between the major elements of the Kabuzic brothers' business strategy and the general socioeconomic and political circumstances of the time. The third segment of the planned activities is a dissemination action.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants