The Sovereignty of the Sea: An Historical Account of the Claims of England to the Dominion of the British Seas, and of the Evolution of the Territorial Waters — John Shaqi
The Sovereignty of the Sea: An Historical Account of the Claims of England to the Dominion of the British Seas, and of the Evolution of the Territorial WatersFulton, Thomas Wemyss
History
The Sovereignty of the Sea: An Historical Account of the Claims of England to the Dominion of the British Seas, and of the Evolution of the Territorial Waters
Fulton, Thomas Wemyss
Fisheries -- Great Britain; Great Britain. Royal Navy -- History; Sea-power; Territorial waters -- Great Britain -- History
“rejoinder” note was taken of the answer “that he was not admiral till
some time after the events specified.” The eighth complaint refers to
the seizure of goods from a ship going from Berwick to London in August
1303, off Blakeney, “by men from Calais.” In reply John (Pederogh) says
the demand concerns “mi sire Reniers de Grimaus” only, for he was then
admiral, and said John was on shore at the date specified, and was only
in the company of Reniers in Zealand and Holland. The twelfth complaint
declares that the ship _Michele de Arwe_, from London to Brabant, with
a cargo valued at £556, was seized “on the high seas” by Sire Reyner
Grimbaud, admiral, in September 1303, taken to Normandy, and the crew
sent to Calais and imprisoned. In reply the “chivaler” confesses he
took such a ship, and seized it rightfully, as it was consorting with
the enemies of France; and in response to the demand of one of the crew
still in prison at Calais, he says he is there as a malefactor against
the King of France, and that the commission of the deputies does not
extend to such cases. The fourteenth complaint is by John de Chelchethe
against Reyner de Grymaus, and John Pedrogh replies “as he did to
William Servat,” the latter name not occurring elsewhere in the record,
a circumstance which points to these libels being only part of those
brought before the commissioners.
It is to be noted that, with the exception of the _Michele de Arwe_
above mentioned, which was taken “on the high seas,”--an elastic
term,--all the ships were attacked near the English coast, and well
within what may be called the sea of England, or the waters included
in the King’s Chambers in 1604, where the jurisdiction of the English
Admiralty undoubtedly extended. In all cases, moreover, the goods
seized belonged to Englishmen, though some of the ships were foreign.
Too much importance appears to have been attached to the roll _De
Superioritate_. It furnishes no proof, or even reasonable probability,
that any other Power acquiesced in an English claim to a specific
sovereignty of the sea beyond what appears to have been customary among
maritime states at the time. The point of the libel is that Grimbald
seized shipping after the alliance was made and took people and goods
to France, and was thus said to have usurped the sovereign lordship or
jurisdiction of the English king or admiral in “the sea of England.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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