Assicurazioni e diritto marittimo nel cantiere dell’Alto Adriatico di fine Settecento

The drafting of a Habsburg maritime code is an essential part of the extensive institutional programme for the development of navigation and trade in the Adriatic, inaugurated by the licences of Karl VI and the declaration of the free port of Trieste. More generally, the work can be inserted in the reawakening of mercantile life that affected the Italian Mediterranean area in the late 18th century, leading to a series of projects of complete and autonomous maritime codes. The complex drafting begun with Maria Theresia ended in 1785 with the Progetto del Codice per l’Austriaca Mercantile Marina. Despite the exhaustive regulation of the fundamental insurance sector, due to the expertise of Giacomo de Gabbiati, the project was not promulgated by Joseph II. However, it remained an important reference point for Domenico Rossetti’s subsequent contribution.