Trani experienced a phase of political autonomy between 1042 and 1073. In this context, in 1063, the “Ordinamenta et consuetudo maris”, also known as the Maritime Statutes of Trani, were issued. Considered to be the first maritime code in the Mediterranean, it was written in archaic Italian by the Consuls in Art of the Sea: Simone De Brado, Angelo de Bramo and Nicola de Ruggiero. The main contribution of the “Ordinamenta” was to elevate the sailor to the rank of a worker with rights, thus renewing the law itself. The rediscovery of this code came about thanks to the French jurist Jean-Marie Pardessus. The relevance of the “Ordinamenta” was highlighted in 1999, when they were cited in a judgement concerning the salvage of the Titanic. The Maritime Statutes, with their socio-legal concepts forerunners of the modern age, testify to a community embracing the law in the name of civil progress. The monument was created by sculptors Antonio Bibbò and Vito Stifano on the occasion of the 9th centenary since the promulgation of the Statutes.