The mobility of builders in medieval port cities : the foreign masters of Dubrovnik cathedral

Study of the foreign magistri and protomagistri of the medieval cathedral of Ragusa (Dubrovnik) (ca 1130–1350, rebuilt after 1693) reveals the social dynamics of artists' travel in Mediterranean ports. Building on previous research of the builders' artistic contexts and references, this analysis combines close reading and comparison of contract documents, discussion of Ragusa's foreign citizenship law, and questions informed by the sociology of mobility. The study concludes that the governor patrons of Ragusa Cathedral exploited the increased physical and occupational mobility of Adriatic builders, then arrested that mobility by offering the builders social advantages in the form of professional security and a path to citizenship. This balance of mobility at multiple levels manifested in the cathedral's cosmopolitan and openended design.