85
Roman numeral X, the symbol of the Council of Ten. Since
we know today that the
Gagliana grossa
was not entered in
the Venetian registers, and that of the eight cannons found
none of thembore this designation, the hypothesis that this
was a galley can no longer be deemed tenable.
As opposed to the long and narrow galleys propelled
mainly by oars, merchant ships were considerably wi-
der, with rounded hulls (Ital.
nave tonda
), and they used
sails as their primary means of propulsion. The archival
data thus far gathered, as well as those elements of the
ship’s structure recorded in photographs, all point to the
conclusion that this was a round merchant ship propelled
mainly by the wind.
The main causes of shipwrecks, which Venice attempted
to alleviate with laws and regulations, were the overloa-
ding of ships with goods, and bad weather, particularly
outside of the sailing season. Shipwrecks were someti-
mes also blamed on the poor quality of the ships built
abroad. An attempt to eliminate the perceivedshortco-
mings of such ship hulls, which were held together so-
lely by wooden nails, was reflected in the procedure to
add iron nails (Venet.
reficare
), which with time was
even formalized by law.
In the autumn of 1583 Venice was obviously undergoing
a severe crisis, so it was essential to resort to political pra-
gmatism instead of enforcing all administrative and legal
requirements. It had become common policy for Veneti-
an insurers to cover the goods of foreign merchants, re-
siding either in Venice or abroad, against all risks on any
route. This practice gradually extended to ships of foreign
origin. It was only in 1586 that an attempt was made to
put a stop to this, but in the meantime insurers insured
ships that would sink at the first forceful gale, often insu-
ring goods at overestimated values.
Several days after the shipwreck of the
Gagliana grossa
, a
ship named
Bonaventura
, carrying goods of the da Gagli-
ano family, sank near Gallipoli in Turkey. Soon afterward,
the
Santa Trinità
sank in the harbour of St. Nicholas on
the island of Cythera en route to Acre, while near the Io-
nian island of Zakynthos the merchant ship
Ema
and the
galleon
Garzaruolo di Candia
sank that same winter. The
list of shipwrecks with a tragic end included the
marci-
liana
ship of Captain Domenico Tobiolo, which sank in
the waters off of Zadar en route to Apulia, and the
Santa
Caterina
, which sank next to Chiefallo (probably Cefalù
on northern Sicily). The already mentioned
bailo
Moresi-
ni commented that irresponsible merchants may finally
“learn at their own expense to refrain from sailing in the
heart of winter”. Not long after this statement, on 13 De-
cember the Venetian ship
Moresina
en route to Alexan-
dria sank in the waters off of Zakynthos.
It is obvious that the end of 1583 was particularly dan-
gerous, and it was precisely during this time when the
shipwreck at Gnalić occurred. Thus far it is still impossi-
ble to ascertain the cause of the shipwreck, but it would
appear that it was not due to north-eastern (bora), but
Apuliju potonula u zadarskim vodama, te brod
Santa Ca-
terina
koji je nastradao kraj mjesta Chiefallo (vjerojatno
Cefalù na sjeveru Sicilije). Već spomenuti
bailo
Moresini
komentirao je kako bi neodgovorni trgovci napokon mo-
gli “na svoj trošak naučiti kloniti se plovidbe u srcu zime”.
Nedugo nakon njegove izjave, dana 13. prosinca u voda-
ma Zakinta potonuo je na putu za Aleksandriju i mletački
brod
Moresina
.
Očigledno je kraj 1583. godine bio izrazito pogibeljan, a
upravo u tom vremenu dogodio se i brodolom kod otoči-
ća Gnalića. Za sada još nije moguće reći što je uzrokovalo
brodsku havariju, ali se čini kako nije u pitanju sjeveroi-
stočni (bura), već južni (oštro) ili jugoistočni vjetar (jugo).
Možda je brod zahvatilo nevrijeme (nevera) ili je njegovo
potonuće uzrokovao požar. U svakom slučaju netko je u
brodolomu nastradao, o čemu svjedoče dvije ljudske kosti
pronađene tijekom istraživačke kamapanje 1973. godine.
Iz očuvanih dokumenata proizlazi, međutim, kako je dio
ljudstva uspio izbjeći pogibelji, jer postoji više podataka o
kasnijimdogađajima u koje su uključene osobe iz brodske
posade. Kapetan Alvise Finardi otpušten je iz službe obi-
telji da Gagliano, a 29. veljače 1584. godine s petoricom je
poduzetnika ušao u zajednički posao, osnovao pomorsko
trgovačko društvo i ponovo postao zapovjednikom jed-
nog trgovačkog broda.
Spomenimo, također, i slučaj Šimuna Fazanića (tal.
14. Nadgrobna ploča kapetana broda
Gagliana grossa
, Alvisea Fi-
nardija u crkvi sv. Josipa (San Iseppo) u Veneciji (foto: M. Nicolardi)
14. Gravestone of Alvise Finardi, the captain of the
Gagliana grossa
, in the
Church of St. Joseph (San Iseppo) inVenice (photograph byM. Nicolardi)
