The convoys of public galleys, the typical form of Venetian medieval sea-faring, had disappeared gradually by the time of the battle of Lepanto. This disappearance was not the sign of a general economic crisis, but was nevertheless the corollary of important political, economic and social changes which marked the history of sixteenth-century Venice. Through the study of economic actors, their identity, their practices and their functions, this book analyses public and private commercial navigation in relation to the evolution of forms and functions of the State, within a general context of the redefinition of the relationship between public good and private interests.