632 THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW 



(1874), states that he "considers the assumption to be well 

 founded that the Customs of the Sea in the form in which they 

 have come down to us in the Book of the Consulate of 1494 were 

 not compiled until some time after 1340 A.D." 3 But regardless 

 of the exact date of origin, it is known that the Consulado del 

 Mare was the recognized maritime law of the South European 

 countries for several centuries. 



The Consulado mentions six modes of hiring mariners: (1) 

 for the agreed voyage at a lump sum; (2) by the month; (3) by 

 the mile; (4) at the discretion of the managing owner; (5) for a 

 share in the freight; (6) for the right to load goods on their own 

 account. 4 The contract of hiring was entered into when the 

 mariner's name was entered on the ship's register, or he had 

 shaken hands with the managing owner, a ceremony as binding 

 as if they had gone before a notary. 5 In addition, an oath of 

 loyalty was required from mariners and all who received wages 

 aboard ship. 6 Once the contract was made, the mariner could 

 go nowhere except with the consent of the managing owner. 7 

 And the managing owner, on his part, could not dismiss the 

 mariner unless it was upon one of four conditions: (1) robbery; 

 (2) quarreling; (3) disobedience, and then only upon the fifth 

 occasion; or (4) breach of oath. 8 



The mariner's duties comprised anything he might be ordered 

 to do about the ship and its navigation. In the words of the 

 Consulado, 



. . . the mariner is bound in all things which pertain to the ship, 

 to go to the forest and fetch wood, to saw and to make planks, to make 

 spars and ropes, to bake, to man the boat with the boatswain, to stow 



* Black book, II.lxv. 

 *Ibid., III. 191, note 1. 



6 "Coustumes de la Ville de Barcelone concernant la Marine et diverses Ordon- 

 nances des Hois d'Aragofl en langue Catalane [Consulado del Mare]." Original 

 text and translation in Black book, III. 50-657. Ch. cix. in, Black book III. 217. 

 (Chapter citations refer to both texts ; page citations in the Black book are given 

 only for the English translation. The original text may be found on the 

 opposite page.) 



6 Ibid., Ch. xvi. in Black book, III. 89. 



7 Ibid., Ch. cix. in Black book, III. 217. 



Ibid., Ch. Ixxx. in Black book, III. 187. 



