General Average and Risk Management in Medieval and Early Modern Maritime Business

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxvi

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2. Why and How Risk Is Shared

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Sharing Risks, on Averages and Why They Matter

      • Maria Fusaro

      Pages 3-31Open Access

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   3. General Average and All the Rest: The Law and Economics of Early Modern Maritime Risk Mitigation

      • Ron Harris

      Pages 33-60Open Access

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   4. Risky Narratives: Framing General Average into Risk-Management Strategies (Thirteenth–Sixteenth Centuries)

      • Giovanni Ceccarelli

      Pages 61-91Open Access

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3. Origins and Variants of Mutual Protection

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 93-93

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   2. General Average in Byzantium

      • Daphne Penna

      Pages 95-119Open Access

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   3. Rules and Practices of General Average in the Islamic Mediterranean on the Eve of the Emergence of the Italian Communes

      • Hassan Khalilieh

      Pages 121-143Open Access

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   4. Principles and Developments of General Average: Statutory and Contractual Loss Allowances from the Lex Rhodia to the Early Modern Mediterranean

      • Andrea Addobbati

      Pages 145-166Open Access

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4. The Iberian Experience

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 167-167

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   2. The ‘Mutualisation’ of Maritime Risk in the Crown of Castile, 1300–1550

      • Ana María Rivera Medina

      Pages 169-192Open Access

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   3. General Average, Compulsory Contributions and Castilian Normative Practice in the Southern Low Countries (Sixteenth Century)

      • Gijs Dreijer

      Pages 193-214Open Access

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   4. The Nautical Republic of the Carrera de Indias: Commerce, Navigation, Casos Fortuitos and Avería Gruesa in the Sixteenth Century

      • Marta García Garralón

      Pages 215-256Open Access

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5. The Genoese Experience

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 257-257

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   2. General Average in Genoa: Between Statutes and Customs

      • Antonio Iodice

      Pages 259-296Open Access

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   3. The Economic Structure of Maritime Trade Calling at the Port of Genoa Through the Analysis of General Average Data (Sixteenth–Seventeenth Centuries)

      • Luisa Piccinno

      Pages 297-334Open Access

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   4. Financing and Risk in Genoese Maritime Trade During the Eighteenth Century: Strategies and Practices

      • Andrea Zanini

      Pages 335-359Open Access

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6. Mature Systems

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 361-361

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   2. Divide and Rule: Risk Sharing and Political Economy in the Free Port of Livorno

      • Jake Dyble

      Pages 363-387Open Access

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   3. GA Adjustments in Amsterdam: Reinforcing Authority Through Transparency and Accountability (Late Sixteenth–Early Seventeenth Century)

      • Sabine Go

      Pages 389-414Open Access

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This open access book explores the history of risk management in medieval and early modern European maritime business, focusing particularly on 'General Average' – a mechanism by which extraordinary expenses regarding ship or cargo, incurred during a voyage to save the venture, are shared between all participants to protect equity. This volume traces the history of this risk management tool from its origins in the pre-Roman Mediterranean through to its use in the shipping sector today. Contributions range from the Islamic Mediterranean to the Low Countries, and taken together, provide a wide-ranging analysis of social, cultural, and political aspects of pre-modern maritime commerce in Europe.

• Open Access
• insurance
• business
• mitigation
• trade

• Amory Building, University of Exeter, Department of Hist, Exeter, UK

  Maria Fusaro

• University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

  Andrea Addobbati

• University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy

  Luisa Piccinno

Maria Fusaro is Professor in Early Modern Social and Economy History at the University of Exeter, UK, where she directs the Centre for Maritime Historical Studies. ​She is the PI for the ERC-funded project 'AveTransRisk – Average – Transaction Costs and Risk Management during the First Globalization (Sixteenth-Eighteenth Centuries)'.

Andrea Addobbati is Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Pisa, Italy.



Luisa Piccinno is Associate Professor of Economic History at the Department of Economics of University of Genoa, Italy.

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