The Maritime Museum’s collections are extremely rich and varied. They include pieces ranging from a ship that still sails to a postal stamp, or from a steam engine to a 14th-century manuscript. Of course, they also include everything you expect to find in a maritime museum: binnacles, anchors, model ships, navigational tools, etc. In other words, all sorts of documents and objects from the miniscule to the huge, from all different periods and made of all sorts of materials. For decades, the Museum has gathered examples of the maritime past, a heritage that reminds us of the lives of seafarers, the histories of ships and maritime activities in peacetime or war.
We would like to offer a selection of objects and documents that are notable for their historical interest, their rarity or their aesthetic value. These can give you a general idea of the content of the Museum’s collection. However, do not forget that there is a great deal beyond this selection, with thousands of artefacts and documents that you can discover using our search engine or other resources.
We encourage you to take a stroll through some of the key pieces in our Museum’s collection, grouped into twelve categories to help you keep your bearings.
Commission of Romeu Desplà
DocumentsDocument from 1375, with a seal showing the arms of the royal officer in charge of Les Drassanes, “Oficii Conservatorii Darassanorum Aragorum 1357”. It includes the commission of the administrator and the clerk of the work on galleys at the shipyards in Barcelona, Romeu Desplà. The document was issued by Bonanat Descoll, who oversaw all shipyards in the Crown of Aragon under Peter III.
The text reads: “Bonanat Descoll, Manager of the shipyards of the King here and beyond the sea. To the honoured Romeu Desplà, citizen of Barcelona. Health! I inform, order and command you on behalf of the King that as long as it should please the King and me, you will be the administrator and clerk for the construction of galleys and other things that I will have made for the King, within and without the shipyards of Barcelona as a result of my position. As soon as you can, buy wood, nails, oakum, arms, cordage, tools and all other needed supplies for the said galleys and pay for them. Furthermore, pay shipwrights, oarmakers, caulkers, carpenters and all other working people needed for such things. On behalf of the King, I order all masters, carpenters, caulkers and oarmakers in said shipyard, and all others subject to my position, to obey you and do what you ordain regarding the aforementioned work. I place you in charge of the money that you will receive for the stated administration; you must give a faithful account of it to me and to my accounts reviewer. Given in Barcelona on the XV day of March, in the year MCCCLVII of the nativity of our Lord.”
