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MARITIME INTERNATIONAL LAW. 



Maritime Law embraces the rules and customs of commercial 

 towns and sea-ports, gradually established through maritime inter- 

 course during the Middle Ages, and that have assisted to form 

 the germs and the bases of the Law of Nations. 



MARITIME LAW PRIOR TO THE XVIIIth CENTURY 



Prior to the establishment of the Roman Empire, the Romans 

 were guided in their maritime relations by a Code of Laws of the 

 Island of Rhodes, comnionly called, "The Rhodian Laws." These 

 rules of commerce and navigation formed the lex mercaioria of the 

 navigators of the Island of Rhodes, and of the Islands of the ^gean 

 Sea, and, subsequently, the Emperor Augustus recognised them. 

 Thus they became the law of the Roman Empire, and were generally 

 adopted by the Western Nations of Europe. 



In the reign of Richard I., King of England, a Code of Maritime 

 Law was formulated, based upon the maritime rules and customs of 

 Venetia and other Mediterranean States, and this code received 

 the title of the Jugenients d'Oleron; a title derived from the 

 Island of Oleron, the residence of Queen Eleanor, under whose 

 direction they were prepared, and they were adopted by English 

 navigators, and recognised by our Government in maritime relations. 



During the period, from the 12th to the i6th centuries, the 

 Northern Countries of Europe accepted, and were guided by 

 certain maritime laws, which bore the title of the Jugements de 

 Damme ; a title derived from the town of Damme, near Bruges, in 

 Flanders, and these laws were also known as the Lois de West 

 Capelle, or, as it is now spelt, Westkapelle, a town in West 

 Flanders, Belgium. During this same period, these codes of 

 Maritime Law were recognised — (i) The Conhtnies d^ Amsterdam 



