- RULES ON LEASE
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RULES ON LEASE
Already on 29 January 1427, shortly after having established its authority over Konavle, the Government of Dubrovnik made an important decision about the mandatory lease of mills to the best benefit of the state. The decision originally applied for only one year but, already the next year, a regulation was passed detailing the way of renting mills.
According to that ordinance, mills could only be leased by a Rector, in cooperation with the Small Council, and thus by the way of public bid for the period of a maximum of two years. Mills were leased individually and never to a single tenant but, instead, to several individuals. Likewise, a tenant could not have shares in several mills, but only in two. Any abuse or some other kind of illicit act would be punished by very severe monetary penalities.
All damages and repairs to a mill were made at the cost of the lessee. For that reason, each lessee was obliged to provide a guarantee, not only for the lease, but also for the possible costs he could be responsible for as a lessee.