40 THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE SEA 



following free translation of the ordinance, made by the 

 Registrar of the Admiralty Court in the reign of James II. : 



ITEM, it was ordained at Hastynges for lawe and custome of 

 the sea in the tyrne of Kyng John, in the second yeare of his 

 raigne, by the advice of his temporall lordes, that if the lieutenant 

 of the king or the admirall of the king or his lieutenant in any 

 voyage appointed by Common Counsell of the Kyngdom did at 

 sea meet with any shyps or vessells laden or empty which would 

 not stryke and lower their sailes at the command of the kyng's 

 lieutenant, or the kyng's admirall, or his lieutenant, but makeiug 

 resistaunce against those of the ffleet, that if they can be taken 

 that they be reputed as enemies, and their shyps, vessells, and 

 goodes, taken and forfeited as goodes of enemies, albeit that the 

 maysters or possessors thereof should afterwards come and alleadge 

 the same ships, vessells, and goodes to be the goodes of friends of 

 our lorde the kyng, and that the company therein be chastized by 

 imprisonment of their bodies for their rebellion at discretion. 1 



This ordinance is the last of a series of articles in the third 

 part of the Black Book, which contains Admiralty regulations, 

 the Laws of Oleron, and other three ordinances of King John, 

 as well as ordinances which purport to have been made in 

 the reigns of Henry I., Richard I., and Edward I. The facts 

 ascertained by Sir Travers Twiss show that of the six or 

 seven extant manuscripts which contain the ordinance, the 

 oldest was written before 1422 and probably about 1420, 2 

 and appears to have been drawn up for the use of Sir Thomas 

 Beaufort, the Lord High Admiral. The manuscript used by 



1 " Item ordonne estoit a Hastynges pour loy et coustumes de mer ou temps du 

 roy Johan Ian de son regne second par advys de ses seigneurs temporelz que se le 

 lieutenant en aucun voyage ordonne par commun conseil du royalme encontrent 

 sur la mer aucunes nefz ou vesseaux chargees ou voide que ne veullent avaller et 

 abbesser leurs trefs ou commandement du lieutenant du roy ou de ladmiral du roy, 

 ou son lieutenant, mais combatant encontre iceulx de la flotte que silz puent estre 

 pris quilz soient reputez comme ennemys et leurs nefs, vesseaulx, et bien pris et 

 forfaitz comme biens des ennemys tout soit que les maistres ou possesseurs dicelles 

 vouldroient venir apres et alleguer mesmes les nefs, vesseaulx, et biens estre biens 

 des amys du roy nostre seigneur, et que le mayne estant en icelles soient chastiez 

 par emprisonnement de leur corps pour leur rebellete par discrecion. " The above 

 is given by Twiss from the Whitehall MS. of the eighteenth century ; it does not 

 materially differ from the others. The Cottonian MS., which is stated to be the 

 earliest and purest, reads in both places " le lieutenant du roy ou ladmiralle du roy 

 ou soun lieutenant." 



2 The Black Book, Intro, xix, Ixxvii. It is Vespasian MSS. , B. xxii. 



