Żegluga Dubrownika (Raguzy) w XIII-XIV wieku (do 1358 r.) w świetle statutów i traktatów

From earliest times, the life of inhabitants of Dubrovnik (formerly Ragusa), was tied to the sea. First a defensive barrier against invaders, it later became a window onto the outside world, permitting contact with the highly developed lands of the Mediterranean world. The article proposes to present the principles of navigation in the area and the range in which Dubrovnik fleet operated in the 13th and early 14th centuries based on diplomatic and legal sources: naval and commercial treaties and internal Ragusan laws as recorded in the city’s statutes. In the years 1204-1358 the city was dependent on Venice, which had great impact on Dubrovnik fleet’s conditions and range of operation and was reflected in local laws. An analysis of the extant material yields a conclusion that diplomatic and legal sources provide ample base for studies on Dubrovnik marine in the 13th and 14th centuries. Their prescriptive nature notwithstanding, they allow a scrutiny of how Dubrovnik’s maritime contacts developed (particularly in Italy and Dalmatia). They suggest that, in the period in question, Dubrovnik fleet was highly active in the whole east coast of the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, and all the Dalmatian Adriatic coast down to Epirus and the island of Corfu. Dubrovnik ships called in at ports in the Levant and on the Black Sea. An incomparably greater wealth of information is provided by Dubrovnik statutes, especially book seven of the 1272 set of laws. There we leant about 1) preparing a ship for voyage; 2) ships’ tonnage and equipment; 3) agreements between patron skipper and sailors, their rights and duties; 4) weights and measures in use; 5) subdivisions of shipping according to its range; and 6) the functioning of the Dubrovnik port and arsenal. Later additions such as book eight of the Statutes and the Libri reformationes supply information on the armament and numbers of crew on board ships. They also permit an observation of how marine law evolved. Given the nature of the so-called Statua doane, the financial aspects of commerce lend themselves to closer scrutiny then shipping itself. The author believes that Dubrovnik sea law is comparable with that of Italian states with an established naval reputations like Genoa, Venice, or Pisa. In the 13th and 14lh centuries, Dalmatian Dubrovnik, therefore, can be held among the leading centers of shipping organization in the Mediterranean.