Consolato del mare

CONSOLATO DEL MARE, (IL). The name of a code of sea laws compiled by order of the ancient kings of Aragon. Its date is not very certain, but it was adopted on the continent of Europe, as the code of maritime law, in the course of the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries. It comprised the ancient ordinances of the Greek and Roman emperors, and of the kings of France and Spain; and the laws of the Mediterranean islands, and of Venice and Genoa. It was originally written in the dialect of Catalonia, as its title plainly indicates, and it has been translated into every language of Europe. This code has been reprinted in the second volume of the "Collection de Lois Maritimes Anterieures au XVIII. Siecle, par J. M. Pardessus, (Paris, 1831)." A collection of sea laws, which is very complete.