THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE SEA 



time the King of Castile and Leon had appointed an admiral 

 with similar duties, and an Admiral of all France was ap- 

 pointed about the year 1280. 1 So too with the equipment of 

 fleets. Edward I. divided the ships charged with the guard- 

 ing of the seas into three squadrons, each with an admiral, a 

 measure which, it was argued, showed his resolution to main- 

 tain his dominion of the sea. But the practice in France was 

 similar. From an early period French fleets were equipped 

 under " governors or custodians of the sea " (prcefectus maris), 

 "lieutenants -general of the sea and the shores thereof," and 

 " admirals," and their maritime jurisdiction was regulated 

 from at least the early part of the fourteenth century. 2 Selden 

 laboured to show that the office of admiral and the admiralty 

 jurisdiction had a different significance in France from what 

 they had in England, 3 but on quite inadequate grounds. 



Another class of evidence adduced by the English authors 

 refers to the impressment of ships for the defence of the realm 

 or the transport of troops on occasions of emergency. These 

 duties were at first performed by the vessels of the Cinque 

 Ports, in accordance with their charters ; but as early at least 

 as the reign of Richard I., ordinances were issued (at Grimsby) 

 regulating the mode of arresting vessels and men for the 

 service of the king, 4 and it became an established and common 

 practice. Numerous instances occur which show that on such 

 occasions foreign vessels were not exempt from arrest, though 

 compensation was at least sometimes made to their owners. 5 

 The argument of the English writers that these arbitrary pro- 

 ceedings were evidence of the dominion exercised by the kings 

 of England on their sea is rebutted by the practice in France. 

 Froissart 6 tells us that the French adopted similar measures 

 in 1386 when they were preparing for an invasion of England, 

 and the practice was doubtless common enough, and justified 

 by the emergency which occasioned it. 



With regard to the most important attribute of maritime 



1 Twiss, The Law of Nations in Time of Peace, 245. 



2 Vide Twiss, Black Book of the Admiralty, i. 420. 



3 Op. eit., lib. ii. c. xviii. 4 Twiss, ibid. , i. 64. 



8 Nicolas, op. cit. t i. 131, 231, ii. 45, 84, 130, 176; Rot. Pat., 65 (1206); 

 Fcedera, i. 96 (1208). 

 6 Chronicles, ii. 497. 



