86
rather southern (ostro) or south-eastern (sirocco) win-
ds. Perhaps the ship was caught in a storm, or its sinking
was due to a fire. In any case, the wreck did result in
casualties, to which two human bones found during the
research campaign in 1973 testify.
The preserved documents, however, indicate that a por-
tion of the crew managed to escape, because there are
numerous data on later events involving individuals
from the ship’s crew. Captain Alvise Finardi was dismi-
ssed from the da Gagliano family’s service, and on 29
February 1584 he entered a joint venture with five en-
trepreneurs, establishing a maritime trade company and
once more becoming commander of a merchant ship.
We should also mention the case of Šimun Fazanić (Ital.
Simone Fasaneo), originally from a well-known noble
family on the island of Hvar, who at one time held a
very high post in his home town, perhaps even harbour
admiral. He was the son of Petar Fazanić, a successful
merchant and businessman in Venice in the mid- and
early latter half of the sixteenth century. The small squ-
are (
corte
) in Venice, today a small street, was actually
named after him (
Corte Pietro da Liesina
); it is situated
at the periphery of the Castello section, in which many
Croatian émigrés lived in the past. From Petar’s will,
written not long before his death in 1566, we learn about
Petar’s son Šimun and his participation in a trade voyage
to Sicily.
Opposite the square named in honour of Petar Fazanić
is the S. Iseppo (S. Giuseppe) Church, in which Ivan
from Vrana is buried; he was an admiral in the Battle
of Lepanto on the war galley of the Venetian navy’s su-
preme commander, Sebastian Venier. Alvise Finardi, the
captain of the
Gagliana
, was a good friend of Ivan’s. After
the Battle of Lepanto, he replaced him at the post of ad-
miral, and they were even interred in the same church.
Šimun Fazanić encountered problems with the Venetian
authorities under circumstances that are still not entire-
ly clear. Already prior to his dismissal from his post in
Hvar, he was mentioned in the documents as a ship’s no-
tary (Ital.
scrivano
) in the
Gagliana
’s crew. In 1584, the
Senate acquitted him of any culpability, which is the best
evidence that Fazanić also survived the wreck. The role
of a ship’s notary was certainly important, for in that era
of general illiteracy, he was sometimes the sole literate
person aboard. His basic task was to record the goods
in the ship’s register, and like a notary on land, he was
a person with public trust (Lat.
persona credibilis
). The
maritime theorist Josip Balović of Perast mentioned an
old sailor’s saying, “On a ship the commander is God,
and the notary is his prophet”, which indicates the high
reputation of a person performing that duty.
It was noted above that the Flemish merchant Gugliel-
mo Helman brought two valuable packages aboard just
prior to launch. Fazanić recorded a small chest conta-
ining gems in the ship’s register, while the mysterious
sealed roll without registration was stored in his trunk.
Simone Fasaneo), podrijetlom iz poznate hvarske plemić-
ke obitelji, koji je svojevremeno u rodnom gradu obnašao
neku vrlo visoku funkciju, možda čak lučkoga admirala.
Bio je sin Petra Fazanića, uspješnog trgovca i poduzetnika
u Veneciji sredinom i početkom druge polovice 16. stolje-
ća. Mali trg (
corte
) uVeneciji, danas u funkciji manje ulice,
upravo je po njemu dobio ime (
Corte Pietro da Liesina
),
a smješten je na rubnom dijelu predjela Castello u kojem
je tijekom prošlosti živjelo najviše hrvatskih iseljenika. Na
osnovi podataka iz Petrove oporuke, napisane nedugo pri-
je smrti 1566. godine, saznajemo o Petrovom sinu Šimu-
nu i njegovom sudjelovanju u trgovačkom putovanju na
Siciliju.
Nasuprot trga posvećenog Petru Fazaniću nalazi se crkva
S. Iseppo (S. Giuseppe) u kojoj je pokopan Ivan iz Vra-
ne koji je u Lepantskom boju bio admiral na ratnoj galiji
vrhovnog zapovjednika mletačke mornarice Sebastiana
Veniera. Alvise Finardi, kapetan
Gagliane
, bio je dobar
Ivanov prijatelj. Nakon Lepantskog boja zamijenio ga je
na dužnosti admirala, a čak su i pokopani u istoj crkvi.
Još nedovoljno razjašnjene okolnosti uzrokovale su
Šimunu Fazaniću probleme s mletačkom vlašću. Već
prije razrješenja s dužnosti u Hvaru spominje se u do-
kumentima kao brodski pisar (tal.
scrivano
) u posadi
Gagliane
. Godine 1584. Senat ga je razriješio krivnje, što
najbolje svjedoči o činjenici da je i Fazanić preživio bro-
dolom. Uloga brodskog pisara bila je itekako značajna
jer je u doba opće nepismenosti on bio jedna od rijet-
kih, a ponekad i jedina pismena osoba na brodu. Nje-
gov osnovni zadatak bio je upis robe u brodsku knjigu,
a poput bilježnika/notara na kopnu bio je osoba javne
vjere (lat.
persona credibilis
). Peraški pomorski teoreti-
čar Josip Balović spominje staru mornarsku izreku ,,Na
brodu je zapovjednik Bog, a pisar je njegov prorok.”, koja
dočarava velik ugled osobe na tome položaju.
U prethodnom tekstu spomenuto je kako je flamanski
trgovac Guglielmo Helman pred samo isplovljavanje do-
nio na brod dva vrijedna paketa. Kovčežić u kojem su se
nalazili dragulji pisar Fazanić upisao je u brodsku knjigu,
a tajanstveni zapečaćeni zavežljaj bez upisa pohranio u
svoju škrinju. Iako ne znamo pravi uzrok takvog njegovog
postupka, mogli bismo pretpostaviti kako je riječ o nasto-
janju da se izbjegne plaćanje osiguranja ili o namjernom
zatajivanju vrijednoga tereta u slučaju gusarskog napada.
Moguće je, međutim, da je pravi razlog bio drugačije pri-
rode ili da je razloga bilo i više.
Iako bi se moglo zaključiti da je potonućem broda završila
i njegova priča, to se nije dogodilo. Ona se, naime, nasta-
vila ubrzano odvijati s ciljem hitnog spašavanja potonu-
le robe i brodske opreme. Mletački su bilježnici već dan
nakon potonuća počeli izdavati akte o cesiji tj. prijenosu
potraživanja s vlasnika robe na osiguravatelja, s ciljem na-
plate osiguranja. Svi oni koji su se zatekli uVeneciji našli su
se kod bilježnika u najkraćem mogućem roku, a oni koji
su stizali iz daleka cesiju su potpisivali još mjesecima na-
kon brodoloma.
