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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	earl_n	lord_n	warwick_n	3,681	5	12.0313	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A59088	Of the dominion or ownership of the sea two books : in the first is shew'd that the sea, by the lavv of nature or nations, is not common to all men, but capable of private dominion or proprietie, as well as the land : in the second is proved that the dominion of the British sea, or that which incompasseth the isle of Great Britain is, and ever hath been, a part or appendant of the empire of that island writen at first in Latin, and entituled, Mare clausum, seu, De dominio maris, by John Selden, Esquire ; translated into English and set forth with som additional evidences and discourses, by Marchamont Nedham.; Mare clausum. English	Selden, John, 1584-1654.; Nedham, Marchamont, 1620-1678.	1652 (1652)	Wing S2432; ESTC R15125	334,213	600

before been made Commander of the Fleets And hee was the first for ought wee know that was created in this manner But in the next Form of Commission the name of Picardie was left out So indeed in the fourth year of Henrie the Sixth or Anno Dom. MCDXXVI John Duke of Bedford was by Commission made Admiral of England Ireland and Aquitain That Form continued about 88. years or throughout the Reigns of Henrie VI Edward IV Richard III Henrie VII and the three first years of Henrie VIII And about that time ten others were in like manner made Admirals for the most part perpetual of England Ireland and Aquitain the last of which was John Earl of Oxon who was Commissionated in that Form in the first year of Henrie the Eight But there followed another alteration or addition of Titles in the fourth year of that King Anno Dom. MDXIII At that time Sir Edward Howard Knight son of Thomas Earl of Su●●ie afterwards Duke of Norfolk was made Admiral of England Wales Ireland Normandie Gascoign and Aquaitain To which words Calais and the Marches thereof are added in the Commission of William Fitzwilliams who also was Earl of Southampton beeing appointed Admiral in the twentie eight year of King Henrie the Eight This Form of Commissions held in use afterward through the whole Reign of that Henry adding according to antient Custom the clauses touching Jurisdiction But in the beginning of Edward the Sixt Thomas Baron Seymour of Sudeley brother to Edward Duke of Somerset was made Admiral almost in the same words as that William Earl of Southampton inserting after the name of Calais Boloign and the Marches of the same After him followed John Earl of Warwick who was created by Edward the Sixt in the third year of his Reign our Admiral of England Ireland Wales Calais and Boloign and our Marches of the same of Normandie Gascoign and Aquitain as also Governor general over all our Fleets and Seas And in the same Commission hee is styled afterwards Great Admiral of England and Governor of our Fleets and Seas But after a while the name of Boloign being omitted the next high Admiral of England was created in the very same Form of words as is mentioned before in the beginning of the Chapter For in the same Form was William Baron Howard of Effingham Son of Thomas Duke of Norfolk made Admiral in the beginning of Queen Marie or Anno Dom. MDLIII And the Command or Government of those Seas as the principal charge of that Office or Dignitie is more notably expressed there as you may see than in the Commission of the Earl of Warwick From that time forwards the very same Form was kept alwaies as in the Commission of the high Admiralship granted to Edward Baron Clinton afterwards Earl of Lincoln in the Reign of Philip and Marie also in the Commission of Charls Baron of Effingham afterwards Earl of Nottingham in the time of Q. Elizabeth and of Charls Duke of York in the time of King James besides George Duke of Buckingham who enjoied the same Office or Command in the same words in the Reigns of James and Charls So that for above eightie years or thereabout that is from the beginning of Q. Marie the whole form as it is set down in the beginning of this Chapter was ever expressly reteined in the Commissions of the high Admiralship of England so far as they denote either the Countries or the Seas or the Dominion of the same But therein the Admiral is styled Governor General over all our Fleets and Seas just as John Earl of Warwick was likewise expressly appointed in general tearms under Edward the sixt or over our Seas aforesaid But what were those Seas or the Seas aforesaid They are in the fore-going words expressly called the Seas of our said Kingdoms of England and Ireland our Dominions and Islands of the same That is in plain tearms Mer d' Engleterre d' Ireland Gales or the Sea of England Ireland and Wales after which manner the Seas belonging to the Dominion of England are sometimes also described in our Laws which are called likewise now and then by our Lawyers Les quatre Miers d'Engleterre or the four Seas of England divided according to the four Quarters of the World So that in the most received form of this Commission after the beginning of Queen Marie's Reign out of which also the sens and meaning of former Commissions is to bee collected wee have a continual possession or Dominion of the King of England by Sea pointed out in express words for very many years And what wee have alreadie spoken by way of Collection out of these that followed the beginning of Marie touching the sens or meaning of former Commissions wherein a positive Command of the Sea is not expressed is truly to omit the thing it self which sufficiently intimate's as much of its own nature not a little confirmed upon this ground that hee also who before any express mention of our Seas took place in the form of the Commission of the high Admiralship was next preferr'd to the same dignitie was immediately after his Creâtion according to the whole Title of his Office as beeing the same title which indeed alwaies belonged to the Admirals of England styled Great Admiral of England and Governor General of the Navie and our Seas So verily Thomas Baron Seymour whom I mentioned before is styled Admiral of England in the Patent Roll granted to him by Edward the sixt It is proved by words plain enough in the form of the Commissions for the Government or command of the high Admiral of England from antient to the present time that the Sea for whose guard or defence hee was appointed by the King of England as Lord and Soveraign was ever bounded towards the South by the shore of Aquitain Normandie and Picardie CHAP. XVII BUT in the Form alreadie shewn which hath continued in use for so many years you see mention is made onely of the Seas of our Kingdoms of England and Ireland our Dominions and Islands belonging to the same as the Province for whose guard or defence the Admiral was appointed that is as wee have told you the English Irish and Welch Sea all which is conteined under the name of the British as it hath been observéd at the beginning of this Book Yet the names of Normandie Gascoign and Aquitain besides Calais are added which are Provinces seated upon the shore over against us As to what concern's them in this place they are either to bee considered in the same manner as if they had been alwaies held in subjection by the English from the time of the first mention of them in the Commission or as they have alreadie for som Ages past been out of their Jurisdiction But suppose in the first place that they had alwaies remained in the Jurisdiction and Possession of the English Questionless

our Isles of Gernesey Jersey Serk and Aureney in the Sea between Easter and Michaelmas is according to the Custom of those places acknowledged to belong unto Us at a reasonable rate to bee paid therefore and that the said Fishermen are bound to carrie all the Fish by them taken between the Times aforesaid unto certain places in those Isles appointed that the Officers under our Governor of the aforesaid Isles may take thence for our use at what price they shall think fit and reasonable Nor is that to bee slighted which wee finde in the Chronicles of the Abbie or Monasterie of Teuxburie concerning Henrie Beauchamp Duke of Warwick who was invested by Henrie the sixt with the Title and Dignitie of King not onely of the Isle of Wight but also of Gernesey and Jersey whereunto the other Isles in this Tract do in a civil sens belong The same thing is recorded of the Isle of Wight by that Learned man William Camden and that out of the same Book The Book it self speak's after this manner But the noble Lord Henrie Duke of Warwick and first Earl of England Lord Le Dispenser and de Abergeveney King of the Isles of Wight and Gardsey and Jardsey Lord also of the Castle of Bristol with the appurtenances thereunto belonging died 3 Idus Junii Anno Dom. 1446. in the twentie second year of his Age at the Castle of Hanley and was buried in the middle of the Quire at Teuxburie And a little before it is said of the same man that hee was Crowned King of Wight by the King 's own hand no express mention beeing made in that place of the other islands but they reckoned in the same condition with this as they were part of the patrimonie of the Kings of England But it is not to bee believed that those Isles which lie before the shore of Normandie had been so turned into a Kingdom though subject to the Crown of England unless even they also who made them a Kingdom had conceived that they possessed them before by a Title superior to that of the Dutchie that is to say by a Kingly Title As King Richard the second when hee had determined that Robert Earl of Oxford who also was Marquiss of Dublin and Duke of Ireland should bee creâted King of Ireland questionless did not doubt but that hee himself in the mean time possessed that Island by no less a Title and Dignitie than of King although the name of Lord was wholly used there at that time in stead of King as also until the latter end of the Reign of Henrie the eight So it is conceived upon good ground that those Isles and the Sea lying about them did though they used different Customs constitute one entire Bodie of Empire with the Kingdom of England Whereunto also that special privilege of theirs doth relate whereby through the favor of the Kings of England they enjoie the benefit of freedom from hostilitie by Sea though there bee a Warr on foot between the Neighbor-Nations round about but of this more hereafter And in their Court-Records which contain the Acts or Decrees of the aforesaid Justices Itinerant wee very often finde Pleas of the Crown which phrase is an Evidence of the English Government Also in their Trials those Forms In contempt of our Lord the King his Crown and Dignitie and Our Lord the King was seised of the aforescid Advousen in time of Peace as of his Fee and in Right of his Crown and others not a few of that kinde wee meet with which savor not of any Right of the Dutchie Add moreover that the King of England so held the Right heretofore not onely of the Isles over against the shore of Normandie but of those also which are opposite to Aquitain as a pledg or concomitant of his possession of that Sea so far as it belong'd to the patrimonie of the Kingdom of England that though our Henrie the third renounced his claim to no small part of Aquitain yet that Isle lying before it called Oleron no less famous in the West for Naval Laws than Rhodes was of old hee granted to his eldest son Edward to bee held in time to com as a perpetual Appendant of the English Crown For this Claus was added to the Grant so that the said Isle may alwaies remain to the Crown of England and never bee alienated from the same Also in his Letters granted to the Inhabitants of Oleron hee saith Wee will not in any wise sever you from the Crown of England Som years before also hee in like manner made a Grant of Gascoign or those parts which lie upon the shore of Aquitain near the Sea to Prince Edward upon condition it should remain entirely and for ever to the Crown of England So without doubt his intent was that both the Sea-Coasts and this Isle should in a special manner bee possest by the said Prince but by no means bee disjoined from the English Empire any more than the Sea its self which washt their shores And although after a while both this and som other neighboring Isles did many Ages since for divers reasons follow the fate of those French shores which lie next to them yet in the mean time the Dominion of the Sea remained entire as it did before to the Kings of England as it sufficiently appear's by those other passages which wee have shewn The Dominion and possession of the Sea asserted on the behalf of the Kings of England from that leav of praeter-Navigation or passage which hath been usually either granted by them to Foreiners or desired from them CHAP. XX. THose things which wee have hitherto alleged concerning this possession and dominion are confirmed by several Passports that have been obteined from the Kings of England for leav to pass through this Sea whereof wee have clear Testimonies in Records that is to say granted at the intreatie of Foreiners Our Henrie the fourth granted leav to Ferrando Urtis de Sarachione a Spaniard to fail freely from the Port of London through our Kingdoms Dominions and Jurisdiction to the Town of Rochel It is manifest that in this place our Dominions and Jurisdiction do relate to the Sea flowing between And when Charls the sixt King of France sent Ambassadors to Robert the third King of Scots to treat about the making of a League they upon request made to the same Henrie obteined Passports for their safe passage par touz noz povoirs destrois Seigniories par Mer par Terre that is through all places under our Power Territories and Dominions as well by Sea as by Land There are innumerable other Letters of Passport called safe Conducts in the Records especially of Henrie the fift and sixt whereby safe Port and Passage was usually granted as well by Sea as by Land and Rivers that is to say throughout the whole Dominion of him that made the Grant And it is

him out of the Catalogue of the Admirals of France yet Joannes Tilius placing him among the Governors of the French Navie call's him Roverius Grimaldus Hee also is that Admiral of the King of France who as Joannes de Beka saith had command of three hundred and fiftie Gallies that were sent by Philip the Fair in the year MCCCIV to aid the Hollanders against the Flemings There are also several particulars in the Records of France which relate to the differences then on foot between the English and French And although that Libel or any Copie of it bee not found therein if wee may credit Tilius who set forth a Catalogue of that kinde of Records yet there is that Commission among them whereby the aforesaid Auditors or Commissioners were autorised to determine of things don contrary to the League It is described by Tilius after this manner Pouvoir donè par le Roy Edovard à deux nommez accordez de sa part pour avec les deux eleuz de la part du dit Roy Phelippe d' enquerir amendir les forfaictes durant lour trefue le Dernier Juin MCCCIII Ou tresor layette Procurationes posse potestates Angliae K. Power was given by king Edward to two persons named and appointed on his part to meet with two persons chosen on the behalf of the said king Philip to make enquiry and give remedy touching Injuries committed during the Truce betwixt them the last of June MCCCIII in the Treasury in the Box intituled Procurationes posse potestate●s Angliae K. The Commissions bear date the same day and year whereby these Auditors or Commissioners were appointed for this purpose as wee observed before out of our own Records Nor is it of any force here to the contrarie that Commissioners were somtimes deputed in the same manner by the Princes of the shores on both sides of the Sea as also by the aforesaid Kings to determine complaints about robberies and other injuries usually don by private persons to one another by Sea and Land For if any one will collect thence that the Princes which deputed them had both an equal right in the Sea it may as well bee concluded upon the same ground that they were but part-owners of their own Countries and had an equal interest in each other 's Land Besides in such a kinde of deputation as that there is more regard had of the persons offending that are to bee tried than of the Dominion of Territories which truly is wholly to bee discovered som other way A Recognition or acknowledgment of the Sea-Dominion of the Kings of England made by the Flemings in an Ambassy to Edward the Second CHAP. XXIX TO these let us add now the assent and voluntarie acknowledgment of the Flemings in the Parlament of England in the Reign of Edward the Second When as the Ambassadors of Robert Earl of Flanders complained of the taking of their Goods away at Sea imploring remedie of the King of England they said more than once that they were taken upon the English Sea towards the parts about Crauden within the power of the King of England and brought into England but that it appertained to the King of England to take cognisance of the crime for that hee is Lord of the said Sea and the aforesaid depredation was committed upon the aforesaid Sea within his Territorie and Jurisdiction which are the words of the Record but I shall set down the whole so far as it relate's to this business Memorandum That whereas for the reformation of certain injuries in an amicable way don by the Subjects of the Earl of Flanders to the Subjects of the Kingdom of England and by the Subjects of the said Kingdom to those of Flanders since the time that our said Lord the king undertook the Government of his kingdom several Treaties had been held between the Council of our said Lord the king and the Ambassadors of the said Earl often sent into England upon the aforesaid occasion which Treaties by reason of som impediments that happened did not a●tem the desired effect at length in the Parlament of our said Lord the king held at Westminster in oc●abis Sancti Micha●lis in the fourteenth year of his Reign there appeared certain Ambassadors of the said Earl to treat about reforming the aforesaid injuries in the form aforesaid And when as the said Ambassadors had been admitted by our said Lord the king to treat anew of this kinde of Iniuries these Ambassadors as other Ambassadors of the aforesaid Earl in the aforesaid Treaties did among other particulars that they required before all things make supplication That the said Lord the king would at his own s●●t by virtue of his Roial Autoritie caus enquirie to bee ma●● and do Justice about a certain depredation la●ely made by the Subiects of England as they said upon the English Sea of Wines and divers other Merchandises belonging to certain men of Flanders towards the parts about CRAUDEN within the Territorie and Jurisdiction of our said Lord the king alleging that the aforesaid Wines and Merchandises taken from the said Flemings were brought within the R●●●m and Jurisdiction of the said Lord the king and that it belong'd to the king himself so to do for that HEE IS LORD OF THE SAID SEA and the aforesaid depredation was made upon the said Sea within his Terr●●or●● and Jurisdiction In conclusion after diligent consideration had of the Premisses in the same Parlament with the Prelates Earls Barons and other Peers of the said Realm beeing there present it was concluded upon their advice by the said Lord King that to preserv the benefit of Peace between the Subjects of England and ●landers the said Lord king do by his Roial Autoritie caus enquirie to bee made about the Goods taken at that time upon the aforesaid English Sea towards the said place of CRAUDEN and brought within the said Realm in those places where the Malefactors went with the goods so taken to the said Land of England and caus the same depredation to bee heard and determined according to Law and Reason and that the Owners of the Ships who had a hand in the said depredation and others who knowingly received the said Offendors with the Goods so taken in whole or in part may bee charged and punished thereupon as partakers of the aforesaid depredation So far that Record And Commissioners were appointed with power of Jurisdiction by the King's Commission through most of the Maritim Counties to make reparation of damages But becaus there are upon the shores over against us especially those of Zealand and there are also upon other neighboring shores besides Inlets of Rivers very many windings and turnings of the Sea flowing in whereby the land is so interwoven up and down that it cannot well bee but that the Sea also which flow's in and oftentimes remove's Banks and make's Harbors there in the same manner almost

of the Abbie of Abingdon say of the same year 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The King commanded that 21000 should bee paid to his Armie For so that Fleet is called every where in English Saxon which rode at Grenewich Here you see is no small difference in the number of pounds But howsoever if it bee to bee conceived of the yearly Tax or Tribute then it was far less this year then it is reckoned by those Monks who speak of thirtie eight thousand pounds Four years after in the Reign of King Canutus who was a Dane a far greater summe of Monie was raised for the maintenance of this Fleet. That Florentius whom wee have often cited saith In this year that is MXVIII Seventie two thousand pounds out of all England and one thousand and fiftie pounds out of London were paid to the Danish Fleet and there remained fourtie ships with K. Canutus But the rest were returned to Denmark Of which year Hoveden speak's thus Out of all England seventie two and out of London 410 pounds were paid to the Danish Armie or Fleet. And there remained c. They differ about the Summe not the Thing wherein they agree with the English-Saxon Chronicles before mentioned Yet these altogether speak contrarie to that accompt of the certain summes as it is set down by the aforesaid Monks But Matthew Paris and Matthew Westminster say of the same Time that Cnute sent home the Danish Fleet and Stipendarie Souldiers except fourtie ships as appear's by what hath been said alreadie having paid them out of all England eightie two thousand pounds in silver Also in the second year of King Harde●nute a Tax was levied for the Danish Armie or Fleet amounting to 21000 pounds and 89 pounds as Huntingdon tell 's us All which particulars do I suppose sufficiently demonstrate that the Danish Tribute here mentioned was not fixed to any certain summe of yearly paiment and also that an huge summe of monie was wont to bee paid yearly at that time to the Kings of England for the Guard of the Sea for to what purpose els was that Fleet alwaies kept and so great Taxes levied every year for the maintenance thereof But in the Reign of King Henrie the second the name of Danegeld grew out of use Tributes or Taxes beeing usually paid still notwithstanding by other names that are very well known for the Guarding of the Sea as wee shall shew by and by But they are extremely mistaken even they who agree either with John Bramton the Abbot of Jorvaux or som other Autor out of whom hee wrote it or any others of that kinde in deriving the Original of that yearly Danegeld so often mentioned every where from the former kinde of Tribute which was paid to the Danes for the procuring of a peace and they also who would have the Warr to have been undertaken by the Danes and Saxons against the Britains becaus they denied them a freedom of Navigation and that the end thereof was that this Tribute was upon that accompt imposed upon the Nation when it was subdued Now as concerning the Duties of Fiduciarie Clients or Vassals wont to bee paid in that Age for Naval Expeditions and the Guard of the Sea wee have set them down among those particulars which were spoken of King Edgar in the former Chapter The Pettie Kings or Lords of the neighboring Isles were bound to him by Oath to bee readie at his command to serv him by Sea and Land And in that famous Breviarie or Register of England called Domesday conteining very many Customs in use among the English-Saxons besides the assessment of the Provinces and written in the time of William the first wee read thus It is a Custom at Warwick if the King went by Sea against his Enemies to send him either IV. Batsueins Sea-souldiers or Rowers or els IV. pounds in monie And at Excester when hee made any Expedition by Land or by Sea this Citie served after the rate of V Hides of Land Barnestaple Lydeford and Totenais served as far as that Citie That is these three Towns paid as much as Excester alone Moreover Clocester yielded XXXVI Dicres of Iron and C iron Rods fitted to make nails for the King's ships Leicester also if the King went against his Enemies by Sea sent him four horses from that Town to London to carrie Arms or other necessaries Concerning Lewes also a chief Town in Sussex there K. Edward the Confessor had CXXVII Burgers at his service Their Custom was if the King went not himself in person but sent others to guard the Sea then they collected XX Shillings of every man of what Countrie soëver hee were and provided men who were to look to the Arms on shipboard Here very express mention is made of the defence or Guardianship of the Sea it self And in Colchester an eminent Town of Essex wee finde it was the Custom of that Age to pay out of every hous six pence a year that was able to pay it for maintenance of the King's souldiers upon an Expedition by Land or Sea c. And this ought to bee the rate if the King shall entertain souldiers or make any Expedition All these particulars are in that Register And others there are in it of the same kinde But an Expedition by Sea signified in these testimonies not a Warr to bee undertaken for subduing the Dominions of their neighbors lands but most clearly a preparation and enterprise of Warr for the guarding scouring and keeping the Sea as a part of the Empire of Britain As it sufficiently appear's out of the Histories of that time For wee do not reade that our English-Saxons or Danes had any other quarrel at that time with any of their Neighbors whatsoëver unless it concerned either the British Islands or the Sea belonging thereunto Which also is especially to bee consider'd The Testimonies of Edgar and Canutus Kings of England with others expressly declaring the Dominion which they and their predecessors had over the Sea together with an observation touching the Nations which in that age were seated upon the opposite Shore CHAP. XII THat wee may at length set an end to that fourfold distribution which wee made of the Testimonies of that Age let us in the last place add the express determinations of King Edgar and Canutus concerning their own Dominion over the Sea As for Edgar the title which hee commonly used ran thus I Edgar Soveraign Lord of all Albion and of the Maritim or Insular Kings inhabiting round about So hee make's the bodie of the British Empire to comprehend all the Maritim Kingdoms that lay about that is to say all that are Situate in the British Sea And this hee more plainly declare's in the Charter or Deed by which hee setled revenues on the Cathedral Church of Worcester in the year DCCCCLXIV if so bee the copie were rightly rendred by those who many years since printed so

howsoêver the Admiral of England might then according to this Form of Commission have had Courts of Admiraltie in those Provinces as there is no place almost without Courts of Admiraltie even where not any Dominion of the Sea at all is pretended to belong unto the place wherein they are held yet by no means might hee thence bee called Commander of the Sea it self if so bee you except the Ports and such like Creeks of the Sea which are as it were incorporated within Land either as it may bee said to belong to Normandie or to Aquitain Gascoign or Picardie But by virtue of this form of Commission hee had exercised Maritim Jurisdiction in those Provinces beyond Sea no otherwise almost than our Admiral in England and Ireland or others the like do at this day over men's persons goods upon the African Mediterranean Indian or any other Sea at a remote distance For the extent of such a Jurisdiction by Sea is without bounds But the extent of his Jurisdiction or of the Sea over which hee is placed Admiral as Warden Guardian or President to defend and keep it under the Dominion of him who is Lord thereof are bounded And it sufficiently appear's by express words of the antient form of Commission that no Sea is conteined therein as a Province to bee defended but that which is either English Welch or Irish or relate's to England Wales and Ireland as an appendant From whence it follow 's that those names of the opposite shores in the Commissions do not at all mention the Sea flowing between as proper to those shores or belonging to them in any kind but serv onely as a limit beyond the Sea so far as concern's the limiting of the English and Irish Sea as those names also of England VVales and Ireland serv in stead of a limit on this side of the Sea so far as in the Commissi on they denote the Sea under the Admiral 's Charge or Protection So that even as that Officer called the Count of the Saxon shore throughout Britain was eminently according to the name of his dignitie Commander of the whole Sea flowing between Gallia and Britain as of a particular Province which hath been shewn alreadie and had the name of the opposite shore for the limit of his Jurisdiction so the high Admiral of England or Commander of the Sea belonging to the English Empire hath in the King's Commission the shore of Normandie Gascoign Aquitain and Picardie to set forth onely the beyond-Sea limits of his Jurisdiction or Command so far as hee hath charge of defending the Sea-Province or Dominion belonging to England in those shores which lie over against us For if any say that the case is otherwise wherefore then is not the sea over which hee hath command denominated from som of these shores over against us as well as of the English Irish and Welch or the Seas of the Kingdoms of England Ireland and Wales and of the Dominions and Isles belonging to the same The Reason is becaus no other Sea as it fall's under a Civil consideration for wee speak not here of the denomination given by Geographers doth flow between the Territories on this and the other side of the Sea which are mentioned in his Commission Therefore as in that Roman dignitie of the Count of the Saxon shore throughout Britain the shore was the transmarine bound or limit of that dignitie so also in the Command of the high Admiral of England so far onely as hee hath a Province or Jurisdiction by Sea as a Governor of a Territorie those opposite shores or transmarine Provinces named in his Commission are to bee reckoned the Bounds of the Sea under his Charge or Protection And this truly is sufficiently apparent from the words of the Commission alreadie handled if so bee wee suppose as hitherto wee have don for discours sake that the Kings of England did all the while that form of Commission was in use retain those Beyond sea Provinces under their Dominion as the Romans had don of old But the matter is made more evident if wee observ how the names of those Provinces have at least from the time of Queen Marie been so kept in the form of this Commission that since her Reign there remain's not the least ground for any of those in the Commission to signifie any other thing than what wee have alreadie declared For in her Reign Calais was yielded up to the French and since that time the English have not been possessed of any Province upon any part of the opposite shore Moreover also in the one and thirtieth year of King Henrie the sixt or Anno Dom. MCCCCLIII the English were driven out of Gascoign Aquitain and the other Provinces of France by the French King Charls the seventh Nor was there after the time of this Henrie any Officer or Governor of Note appointed or that could conveniently bee appointed by the English either in Normandie or in Aquitain it self yea nor in Normandie either after or long before the loss of Aquitain It is true indeed that the Countie of Guise Calais and som other Towns in Picardie besides those neighboring ones that Henrie the eight gained by force of arms in the same Countrie remained long after in subjection to the Kings of England yea and that a small part of Aquitain yielded obedience though not constantly to the King of England for som years after Henrie the sixt but not the whole Dutchie Nor doth it make to the contrarie that somtimes under som of our later Kings there was one appointed Captain General or Governor over all our subjects in Normandie with which Title both Ambrose Earl of Warwick and Adrian Poynings were honor'd in the time of Queen Elisabeth For they were meerly Generals of the Forces that were transported thither to assist the King of France not invested at all with any Government or Command of the Dutchie of Normandie But yet even after the time of Henrie the sixt the name of Aquitain was constantly retained in the Commission of the High Admiralship of England That is for one hundred and fourscore years or thereabout after the English were driven out of Aquitain as appear's in the former Chapter Hereto at length was added as is shewn there also the name of Normandie in the beginning of Henrie the eight whereas notwithstanding the King of England was not possessed of Normandie a long time before nor in any wise after nor did hee in that agreement made a little before with the King of France claim any other possession in Picardie besides that of Calais and the Territorie of Guise and Hammes And so it hath continued now for one hundred twentie two years also in the Commission of Maritim Government or high Admiralship of England without any relation at all had to the Government or Command of the Dutchie it self but onely of the shore which bounded the Sea under his Master's protection upon

to bee presented touching that business unto the King as hee was at that time King of France but onely as King of England that is as Lord of the whole Sea flowing between And it is very improbable and not in reason to bee admitted that they would so upon deliberation for both Lords and Commons use to debate such matters a long time before they pass a Bill that they would I say so upon deliberation require an imposing of Customs by the Act of an English Parlament in a place that was not subject as a part of the Roial patrimonie to the King of England as King of England From hence it was also that our present King Charls did this last year declare that himself and his progenitors the Kings of England have in all times hitherto by an antient and most just title been Lords of this Sea to wit in his Letters Patents sent to the Maritim Counties of England whereby ship-monie was imposed for the defence of his Dominion by Sea Add moreover hereunto that in the agreement made betwixt our Edward the first and Guie Earl of Flanders about the wearing of Colors or Flags in every ship and punishing offendors by Sea William de Leyburn is called Admiral de la mier du dict Roy d Engleterre or Admiral of the Sea of the said King of England Other Testimonies of the same kinde there are in Records touching the Dominion of the Sea as it hath been received and acknowledged according to the Common Law and Custom of our Countrie which I shall discours of in the next place and after that concerning the Testimonie of Foreiners Of divers Testimonies in our own Law-Books and the most received Customs whereby the Sea-Dominion of the King of England is either asserted or admitted CHAP. XXIV THE seventh of those Heads according to the former Division which manifest the aforesaid Dominion of the Kings of England relate's to our Law-Book's and the received Customs therein which prove it from the most antient times There are also in them many Particulars that may relate hereunto which are explained now and then touching the Guard of the Sea the English Admiraltie and other things alreadie handled But in this Chapter wee shall use either the determinations and Commentaries of our own Lawyers or chiefly such Court-Records as explain their opinions I confess indeed in som of the Authors of our Law who wrote above CCCL years ago or thereabout after they had as the manner then was read through the Civil Law also they were so strict in following those determinations word for word which they found concerning the Sea in that Law that when they treated de acquirendo Rerum Dominio of the manner of acquiring the Dominion of things they tranferr'd them into their own writings From thence it is that Henry Bracton who was a very famous Lawyer at the later end of the reign of Henrie the Third saith Naturali jure communia sunt omnia haec aqua Profluens aër Mare litora Maris quasi Maris accessoria By the Law of Nature all these things are common running water the Aër and the Sea and the shores of the Sea as accessories or dependants of the Sea Also aedificia si in mari five in litore posita fuerint aedificantium sunt de Jure gentium If Buildings bee raised in the Sea or upon the shore they becom theirs that build them by the Law of Nations And a little after Jus piscandi omnibus commune est in portu in fluminibus a Right of fishing is common to all in a Haven and in Rivers Which wee finde likewise in som other of our Law-Books of that Age as a passage that fell from som Writers of whom I spake at large in the former Book that were more affected than was meet with the words of Ulpian and Justinian in the general division of things But these very men in other places shewing the Customs of our Countrie do sufficiently admit the King's Dominion by Sea For Bracton himself afterward speak's of them that by the King's grace and favor quieti sint de Theolonio consuetudinibus Dandis per totum regnum Angliae in terrâ mari per totum Regnum tam per terram quàm per mare Were exempted from paying Tolls and Customs throughout the whole Kingdom of England in the Land and in the Sea and throughout the whole Kingdom both by Land and by Sea And in the same King's time a freedom from som paiments was granted to the Citizens of London per totum Regnum tam per mare quàm per terram throughout the whole Kingdom as well by Sea as by Land And so Bracton when hee return's to speak of the Customs of our Countrie acknowledged that the Dominion of the Sea belong'd to his King no less then the Land And hence it came to pass also that inter Capitula Coronae as they call them that is to say those Articles or chief Heads whereof enquirie was to bee made according to the usual custom by Judges delegated throughout England for the conservation of the publick peace wee finde this also de Purpresturis factis super Dominum Regem sive in Terrâ sive in Mari c. Of Pourprestures made upon our Lord the King either on Land or in the Sea or in sweet waters either within the Libertie or without or in any other place whatsoëver And it is placed among the Articles of this kinde recited by Bracton himself and in the Autor of the Book called Fleta But in the language of the Law wee call those things Pourprestures whereby detriment is don to any publick place belonging to the Patrimonie of the Crown as a publick thorow-fare a River and the like So that according to the nature of this ordinarie Article touching Pourprestures in the general form of enquirie the Dominion or Ownership of the Sea is ascribed to the King no less than of the Land or of publick Road or thorow-fare and River agreeable hereto is that Article about any kinde of salt-waters beeing inclosed by any subject or possessed in any other manner which in the antient Records of our Court of Admiraltie is said to bee don to the disherison of the King The words are there Item soit enquis de ceulx qui acrochent à eulx eaves salees en desheretison du Roy. And at this day enquirie is wont to bee made about that business by Autoritie of the high Admiral Robert Belknap also an eminent Judg in the time of Richard the Second saith that the Sea is subject to the King as a part of his English Kingdom or of the Patrimonie of the Crown His words in the Norman tongue run thus Le Mere est del ligeans del Roy come de son corone d' Angleterre Hee added to his words in a remarkable way as belonging to the Crown of England or as belonging

cognisance of things don contrarie to this Truce and pass their Judgments according to the Law or Custom of Merchants and the Form of Sufferance After a revolution of som years wherein this kinde of Truce took place and somtimes not a League was made in the year of our Lord MCCCIII which is the one and thirtieth of Edward the first The first Article of that League is that those Kings should not onely bee at amitie with each other but also that they should defend one another in all manner of Rights against any others whomsoêver except the Church of Rome and on the part of the King of England his son in law John Duke of Brabant but on the part of the King of France Albertus King of the Romans and John Earl of Henault But the third Article thereof for the first and third is of singular use in that Libel or Bill of Complaint as will appear by and by is this Item il est accorde qe l'un ne receptera ne sustendra ne confortera ne fera confort ne aide as Enemies de l' autre ne soffera qu' ils eient confort souccors ne aide soit de gent d' armes ou de vitailes ou d' autres choses queles q' eles soient de ses terres ou de son poiar mais adiondera sur peine de forfature de corps d' avoir empeschera à tot son poair loiaument en bon foi qe les dits enemies ne soient resceipts ne confortes es terres de sa seignurie ne de son poiar ne q'ils en aient confort soccours ne aide soit gents d' armes des chevaux d' armeures de vitails ou d' autres choses queles q' eles soient which is in English to this effect that according to this contract of amitie they were neither of them in any wise to cherish the enemies of the other nor suffer any kinde of aid or relief to bee afforded them in their Territories The war beeing thus at an end becaus there arose very many complaints concerning injuries don up and down as well in the more open as in our own Sea during the special Truce afore mentioned but also it was probable that others of that kinde might arise perhaps after the League was made especially by reason of the differences at that time betwixt the French King and the Earl of Flanders therefore Commissioners were appointed by both Princes to hear and decide them And those at that time on the behalf of the King of England were Robert de Burghershe Constable of Dover Castle and John de Banquell Steward of Pontoise Baraldus de Sescas and Arnaldus Ayquein Knights on the French King's behalf were appointed the Lord Saquilly Mittonius Blanvillius Bertrandus Jordanus and Gulielmus Ralastansius Knights also To the end that they might take cognisance so it is in the King of England's Commission des enterprises mesprises forfaites en Treve ou en Sufferance entre nos le dit Roy de France d' un part d' autre es costeres de la mer d' Engleterre autres per dece● ausint per devers Normandie autres costeres de la mer per de la that is of encroachments injuries and offences committed on either side in time either of the League or Sufferance or of the Truce agreed on between Us and the said King of France for freedom of Commerce onely either upon the Sea-Coasts of England or any other neighboring Coasts of the Sea either towards Normandie or others more remote But the aforesaid parties were autorised by two Commissions in such manner that the one Commission contained four and the other also four an equal number beeing appointed by both the Kings They both bear date the last day of June MCCCIII To these Commissioners or others of that kinde the Libel was jointly exhibited by Procurators on the behalf of the Prelates and Peers of England also of the high Admiral of England yea and of the Cities and Towns throughout England and lastly of the whole English Nation and others subject to the King of England and how this could bee don otherwise than by autoritie of the Estates in Parlament is not to bee imagined With these in like manner were joined the Procurators of most Nations bordering upon the Sea throughout Europe as the Genoëses Catalonians Spaniards Almains Zelanders Hollanders Fri●slanders Danes and Norwegians besides others under the Dominion of the Roman German Empire All these together instituted an Action or Complaint against Reyner Grimbald who beeing Governor of the French Navie had during the war between King Philip of France and Guie Earl of Flanders intercepted and spoiled Merchants of their Goods in this Sea that were bound for Flanders And all these Complainants jointly say that the King of England and his Predecessors have time out of minde without controversie enjoied the Soveraigntie and Dominion of the English Sea and the Isles of the same by right of their Realm of England that is to say by prescribing Laws Statutes and Prohibitions of Arms and of Ships otherwise furnished than with such necessaries as belong to Merchants and by demanding suretie and affording protection in all places where need should require and ordering all other things necessarie for the conservation of Peace Right and Equitie between all sorts of people passing through that Sea as well strangers as others in subjection to the Crown of England Also that they have had and have the Soveraign Guard thereof with all manner of Conisance and Jurisdiction in doing Right and Justice according to the said Laws Statutes Ordinances and Prohibitions and in all other matters which may concern the exercise of Soveraign Dominion in the said places To wit such matters as concern'd the office and jurisdiction of the Admirals that were wont to bee appointed by the Kings of England Then adding the first Article afore-mentioned of the League made but a little before whereby both Kings were obliged to defend one another's right they proceed in their Accusation against Grimbald saying That hee is onely Master of the Navie of the King of France but call's himself Admiral of the said Sea and pretend's that hee was autorised under that title by the King of France upon occasion of his making warr against the Flemings And that after the making of the said League and contrarie to the intent and meaning of the same hee had for above a years time unjustly assumed a●d usurp●d the office of Admiral in the said Sea by autoritie of the King of France his Commission taking the People and Merchants of England and other Nations passing through that Sea imprisoning and spoiling them of their Goods and delivering them up to the King's Officers as Goods forfeited and confiscate And whereas hee hath in a very insolent manner justified these actions of his in writing as don by autoritie of the King his Master's Commission as also according to