Informal Power Structures and Godparent Networks of the Ragusan Nobility in the Second Half of the Eighteenth Century

Abstract

This article examines the impact of clan division within the Ragusan noble rank on the choice of godparents in the latter half of the eighteenth century. The here established clan affi liation of the baptised children and godparents elucidates as to what extent informal social divisions manifested through the institution of godparenthood, and to what point, if any, clan affi liation spilt from the political domain over into that of inter-family relations based on godparenthood.

Keywords

• Dubrovnik
• 18th century
• nobility
• clan
• baptism
• godparents