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This article is based mainly on the letters and instructions written by the Ragusan government to its tribute ambassadors to Istanbul. Also used are the scanty surviving letters that the ambassadors addressed to their government in Dubrovnik. Although only a few Ottoman documents touch upon this topic, the information they provide has proved invaluable for this research. Emphasis has been placed on the Ragusan business dealings with Mihrimah Sultan, famous daughter of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent, as well as the relations of the Ragusan diplomats and the imperial harem.

On her flight from the Apennine Peninsula to the Ottoman Empire Gracia Mendes made a stopover in Dubrovnik, as evidenced by four recently discovered documents that she had registered at the Ragusan notary on 20 September 1552. Sparse data in the Dubrovnik Archives on a distinguished figure such as that of Gracia Mendes does strike as odd, considering that the city authorities kept detailed record of the political, economic, private and public life. This fact along with the content of the mentioned documents spurred us to investigate deeper and find the reasons underlying her stay in Dubrovnik and her business affairs with the Ragusans.