Consolato Del Mare

Ital. [Fr. consulat de la mer.] The consulate of the sea. The title of a collection of European sea laws, now generally considered the most ancient extant. As to its origin, different opinions have been entertained by the most learned jurists; some, with G-rotius and Emerigon, ascribing it to the ancient kings of Arragon; others contending, with Azuni, that it was framed at Pisa, in Italy. The precise date of its compilation is not knowi^ but it seems to be certain that it was completed and in force as early as the eleventh century, and that during a succession of the ages that followed, it was received and obeyed as law by all the nations of Southem Europe. It has formed the basis of most of the subsequent collections of maritime laws, and is supposed to have still the force of law in the tribunals of Italy. 1 Buer on Ins. Introd.

Discourse, lect. il 3 ITenfs Com. 10—12. Story, J., 3 Story's R. 465, 479.