Rolls of Oléron

The Rolls of Oleron[1] (Original french: Jugements de la mer, Rôles d'Oléron) are the oldest and best-known sea law regulating medieval shipping in north-western Europe. Rolls of Oleron was the first common sea law written in France in the early thirteenth century and later evolved to Northern Europe. Any later sea laws written in Northern Europe are largely based on or inspired by the Rôles d'Oléron.

Rolls of Oléron
CreatedBetween 1160 and 1286
PurposeMaritime Law

Origin

The Rôles d´Oleron originally regulated the wine trade from Brittany and Normandy to England, Scotland and Flanders, but it was widely disseminated in the later middle ages and became an important sea law.

Different sources of origin

There is some disagreement among historians as to how and when the Rolls of Oleron came into existence. One of the oldest beliefs is that Eleanor of Aquitaine had the laws written down around 1160 when she returned from the Holy Land.[2] Another theory is that her son, Richard I, had them written down after his own return from the Holy Land towards the end of the twelfth century, though this is highly unlikely.[3] There are no signs within the Rolls, that someone as important as a king or queen had anything to do with its creation.[4]

Some recent historians have argued that the Rolls were written in the 13th century, somewhere between 1224 and 1286. [5]

Etymology

The Rolls of Oleron are named after the Isle of Oléron, though it remains unclear why. One theory is that one of the manuscripts was copied from an exemplar of the ‘Jugements de la mer’ which was kept on the island and that the name stuck.[6]

The Rolls of Oleron are known by a variety of names, which include the "Rules of Oleron”,[7] the "Law of Oleron",[8] the "Charter of Oleron of the Judgments of the Sea" and the "Judgments of Oleron". Its Flemish translation became known as the “Vonnesse van Damme”.

Structure and content

The original text of the Rolls of Oleron contained of 24 articles, but because some articles were subsequently omitted, divided or combined in the various copies, surviving texts sometimes include a different number of judgements. Each of these articles regulate aspects of sea shipping, such as the payment of freightage in case of shipwreck, the reimbursement of damages, and how to secure both the ship and the cargo.

Distribution and common usage

In France the Rôles d'Oléron had been adopted as the official sea law by 1364.[9]

The document was originally written in French and later translated into Spanish, Scots and Flemish/Dutch.[9] It is likely that the Scots translation is based on the French version due to similarities.[10] It does not appear that the court in Aberdeen used is translated version in their legal practice.[11]

The Flemish/Dutch translation is known as the Vonesse van Damme.[12] The oldest extant copies of the Rolls are in the Little Red Book of Bristol[13] and the Liber Horn.[14] In the second half of the fourteenth century, the Ordinancie appeared as a new sea law in the Zuiderzee area in the Netherlands. In most manuscripts this law was combined with the Vonesse van Damme. Some historians have argued that the Ordinancie was written as a supplement to the Rolls, but this is not likely because two laws in the Ordinancie were copied directly from the Rolls, whereas the rest regulates approximately the same subjects as the Rolls.[15]

The Rolls of Oleron had been officially adopted in England by the reign of King Edward III: in 1351 a Bristol inquest confirmed that the rolls had statute of law. The shipment of the wine was mostly done with English ships and crew. Therefore, the marines needed to familiarise themselves with these rules.[16] In the fourteenth century, the influence of the Rolls of Oleron extended to Spain and, most importantly, to Flanders, where they were translated into Flemish. The Rolls of Oleron were relatively short compared to other contemporary sea laws and, as such, can be considered to have been one of the easiest to use.[17]

Today

The Rolls of Oleron were included in the Black Book of the Admiralty in 1336, though the original book unfortunately disappeared from the registry of the High Court of Admiralty at the beginning of the nineteenth century.[18] Only a few manuscript copies of parts of this book, some dating to about 1420, are extant and kept in the British Museum and Bodleian libraires. The laws are still occasionally cited as authority, by U.S. courts.[19]

See also

References
  1. Runyan 1975.
  2. Tetley 2002, p. 4.
  3. Frankot 2012, p. 12-13.
  4. Frankot 2012, p. 27, footnote 37.
  5. Frankot 2012, p. 27, footnote 36.
  6. Frankot 2007, p. 168.
  7. The Rules of Oleron
  8. The Law of Oleron
  9. Frankot 2007, p. 153.
  10. Frankot 2010, p. 138.
  11. Frankot 2012, p. 195.
  12. Frankot 2012, p. 161.
  13. The search for a medieval Lex mercatoria by Albrecht Cordes. Accessed 10 September 2020
  14. Frankot 2012, p. 13.
  15. Frankot 2012, p. 6.
  16. Runyan 1975, p. 99.
  17. Conflicts in 13th Century Maritime law: A Comparison between five European Ports by Albrecht Cordes. Accessed 17 September 2020
  18. Overview: Laws of Oleron Accessed 17 September 2020
  19. Maritime Law by Nicholas J. Healy. Accessed 10 September 2020

Bibliography
  • Frankot, Edda (2007). "Medieval Maritime Law from Oléron to Wisby: Jurisdictions in the Law of the Sea" (PDF). In Pan-Montojo, Juan; Pedersen, Frederik (eds.). Communities in European history. Representations, jurisdictions, conflicts. Assoiciation of American Presses. pp. 151–172. ISBN 9788884924629.
  • Frankot, Edda (2010). "Maritime Law and Practice in Late Medieval Aberdeen". The Scottish Historical Review. 89 (228): 136–152. doi:10.3366/E0036924110001459.
  • Frankot, Edda (2012). 'Of Laws of Ships and Shipmen': Medieval Maritime Law and its Practice in Urban Northern Europe. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. doi:10.3366/edinburgh/9780748646241.001.0001. ISBN 9780748646241.
  • Runyan, Timothy J. (1975). "The Rolls of Oleron and the Admiralty Court in Fourteenth Century England". The American Journal of Legal History. 19 (2): 95–111. doi:10.2307/844801.
  • Tetley, William (2002). "Maritime Liens in the Conflict of Laws" (PDF). In Nafziger, James; Symeonides, Symeon (eds.). Law and Justice in a Multistate World. Transnational Publishers Inc. pp. 439–457.

Further reading
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