The commenda was a medieval contract which developed in Italy around the 13th century, and was an early form of limited partnership.
[4][6][7] The commenda was a partnership between an investing partner (called the commendator, or socius stans) and a traveling partner (called the tractator or socius procertans).
[9] The commenda was in essence as joint-stock company for the financing of a single expedition.
[7] Depending on the contribution of the traveling partner, historians define two types of commenda: Each individual contract was different, and sometimes the investment was a share in a ship.
[10] The origins of the commenda are debated, and likely derived from several sources including the Babylonian tapputûm, the Greco-Roman societas consensu contracta and foenus nauticum, the Byzantine chreokoinonia, the Muslim qirad, and the Jewish 'isqa.