Abstract
The Laws of Oléron are a compilation of regulations binding in north-western Europe. They concern relationships on board a ship and in ports, as well as between members of one crew and those of another when it comes to safe journey. Even though the “code” was known in England at the beginning of the 14th century, it was only in the 16th century that it was translated from French into (Early Modern) English. The literature on the topic mentions two independent 16th-century renditions of the originally French text (Lois d’Oléron) but disagrees as to the authorship of the earliest translation, its date and place of creation, the mutual relationship between the two, their content and respective source texts. Strikingly, three names appear in this context: Thomas Petyt, Robert Copland, and W. Copland. The picture emerging from various accounts concerning the translations is very confusing. It is the purpose of this paper to trace the history of the misconceptions surrounding the Early Modern English versions of the Laws of Oléron, and to illustrate how, by approaching them from a broader perspective, two hundred years of confusion can be resolved. The wider context adopted in this study is that of a book as a whole, and not of an individual text within the book, set against the backdrop of the printing milieu. The investigation begins with a brief inquiry into the lives and careers of the three people named with respect to the two renditions, in an attempt to determine whether these provide any grounds for disagreement. The analysis also juxtaposes the relevant renditions as far as their contents, layout, and the actual texts are concerned in order to establish what the relationship between them is and whether it could account for the confusion surrounding the translations.
References
Arber, Edward (ed.). 1875. A transcript of the registers of the Company of Stationers of London; 1554–1640. Vol. 3. Privately printed.
Grand Costumier de Normandie (1539) = Rouillé, Guillaume le, Andreas Alerensis & Johannes Andreae (eds). 1539. Le grand coustumier du pays et duche de Normendie / tres utile (et) profitable a tous practiciens [...]. Rouen: Nicolas Le Roux. https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k117438n (accessed 28/08/2018)
Liber Horn = Liber Horn. ca. 1315. London Metropolitan Archives. COL/CS/01/002.
Liber Memorandorum = Liber Memorandorum. Early 14th century. London Metropolitan Archives. (COL/CS/01/003)
Rutter of the Sea (1528) = Garcie, Pierre & Robert Copland. 1528. [The Rutter of the Sea]. London: Robert Copland for Richard Bankes. British Library. Harley 5919. STC 11550.6.
Rutter of the Sea (1536) = Garcie, Pierre & Robert Copland. 1536. The Rutter of the See with the Hauens/ Rodes Soundynges/ Kennynges/ Wyndes/ Floodes and Ebbes Daungers and Costes of Dyuers Regions with the Lawes of the Yle of Auleron, (and) the Iudgementes of (the) See. London: Thomas Petyt. Lincoln’s Inn Library. STC 11550.8.
Rutter of the Sea (1555?) = Garcie, Pierre & Robert Copland. 1555? The Rutter of the Sea, w[ith] the Hauo[n]s, Rodes, Soundinges, Kennynges, Wyndes, Floudes and Ebbes, Daungers and Costes of Dyuers Regions wyth the Lawes of the Yle of Auleron and the Iudgementes of the Sea. With a Rutter of the Northe Added to the Same. [London]: Wyllyam Copland. STC 11551.
Rutter of the Sea (1557) = Garcie, Pierre & Robert Copland. [1557]. The Rutter of the See w(ith) the Hauons, Rodes Soundinges, Kenninges Wyndes, Flodes and Ebbes, Daungers (and) Coostes of Dyuers Regio(n)s with (the) Lawes of the Yele of Auleron, (and) the Iudgementes of the See. With a Rutter of the Northe Added to the Same. London: Iohn Waley. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University Library. Taylor 87. STC 11551.5.
Rutter of the Sea (1560?) = Garcie, Pierre & Robert Copland. 1560? The Rutter of the See, with the Hauons, Rodes Soundynges, Kennynges Wyndes Flodes and Ebbes, Daungers and Coostes of Dyuers Regyons with the Lawes of the Yele Auleton, and the Iudgementes of the see. With a Rutter of the Northe Added to the Same. [London]: [Thomas Colwell]. British Library. General Reference Collection C.21.a.51. STC 11553.
Rutter of the Sea (1567?) = Garcie, Pierre & Robert Copland. 1567? The Rutter of the Sea with the Hauens / Rodes, Soundings, Kennings, Windes, Floods, and Ebbes/ Daungers and Coastes of Diuers Regions with the Lawes of the Ile of Auleron, and (the) Iudgements of the Sea. With a Rutter of the North Added to the Same. London: William Copland. British Library. General Reference Collection C.21.a.48. STC 11553.3.
Rutter of the Sea (1573?) = Garcie, Pierre & Robert Copland. 1573? The Rutter of the Sea, wyth the Hauens, Roades, Soundings, Kennings, Wyndes, Flouds, and Ebbes, Daungers and Coastes of Diuers Regions with the Lawes of the Ile of Auleron. And the Iudgementes of the Sea. With a Rutter of the No[r]th Added to the Same. London: Iohn Awdeley, for Antony Kytson. British Library. General Reference Collection C.21.a.21. STC 11554.
Studer, Paul (ed.). 1911. The Oak Book of Southampton of c. A.D. 1300. Transcribed and edited from the Unique MS. in the Audit House, with translation, introduction, notes, etc. Vol. II, including a fourteenth century version of the mediaeval sea-laws known as the Rolls of Oleron. Cox & Sharland.
Twiss, Travers (ed.). 1871. The Black Book of the Admiralty, with an Appendix. Vol. 1. Longman & Co./Trübner & Co.
Twiss, Travers (ed.). 1871–1876. The Black Book of the Admiralty, with an Appendix. Vol. I-IV. Longman & Co./Trübner & Co.
Twiss, Travers (ed.). 1873. The Black Book of the Admiralty, with an Appendix. Vol. II. Longman & Co./Trübner & Co.Twiss, Travers, ed. 1874. The Black Book of the Admiralty, with an Appendix. Vol. III. Longman & Co./Trübner & Co.
Twiss, Travers (ed.). 1874. The Black Book of the Admiralty, with an Appendix. Vol. III. Longman and Co./Trübner and Co.
Ames, Joseph, William Herbert & Thomas Frognall Dibdin. 1816. Typographical antiquities; or the history of printing in England, Scotland, and Ireland: Containing memoirs of our ancient printers, and a register of the books printed by them. Begun by the late Joseph Ames, considerably augmented by William Herbert, of Cheshunt, Herts; and now greatly enlarged, with copious notes, and illustrated with appropriate engravings; comprehending the history of English literature, and a view of the progress of the art of engraving, in Great Britain. Vol. 3. W. Bulmer & Company.
Ames, Joseph, William Herbert & Thomas Frognall Dibdin. 1819. Typographical antiquities; or the history of printing in England, Scotland, and Ireland: Containing memoirs of our ancient printers, and a register of the books printed by them. Begun by the late Joseph Ames, considerably augmented by William Herbert, of Cheshunt, Herts; and now greatly enlarged, with copious notes, and illustrated with appropriate engravings; comprehending the history of English literature, and a view of the progress of the art of engraving, in Great Britain. Vol. 4. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown.
Blayney, Peter W. M. 2013. The Stationers’ Company and the printers of London, 1501–1557. Vols. 1–2. Cambridge University Press.
Bochaca, Michel & Laurence Moal. (eds.) 2019. Le Grand Routier de Pierre Garcie dit Ferrande. Instructions pour naviguer sur les mers du Ponant à la fin du Moyen Âge. Presses Universitaires de Rennes.
British Library Catalogue = British Library Catalogue. http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?vid=BLVU1
Charzyńska-Wójcik, Magdalena. 2013. Text and context in Jerome’s psalters. Prose translations into Old, Middle and Early Modern English. Wydawnictwo KUL.
Cordes, Albrecht. 2017. Lex maritima? Local, regional and universal maritime law in the Middle Ages. In Wim Blockmans, Mikhail Krom & Justyna Wubs-Mrozewicz (eds.), The Routledge handbook of maritime trade around Europe 1300–1600, Routledge. 69–85.
Dictionary of Nautical Words and Terms = Layton, Cyril, Walter Thomas, Peter Clissold & A. G. W. Miller (eds.). 1994. Dictionary of nautical words and terms. 8000 definitions in navigation, seamanship, rigging, meteorology, astronomy, naval architecture, average, ship economics, hydrography, cargo stowage, marine engineering, ice terminology, buoyage, yachting, etc (4th edn.). Brown, Son & Ferguson, Ltd., Nautical Publishers.
Dictionnaire des auteurs anglais = n.d. Dictionnaire des auteurs anglais. Auteurs actifs dans les champs de l’histoire et de la politique en Angleterre de 1300 à 1600. http://lamopintranet.univ-paris1.fr/auteurs_anglais/?i=presentation (accessed 12/09/2019)
Duff, E. Gordon. 1905. A century of the English book trade. Short notices of all printers, stationers, book-binders, and others connected with it from the issue of the first dated book in 1457 to the incorporation of the Company of Stationers in 1557. Blades, East & Blades.
EEBO = Early English Book Online. https://eebo.chadwyck.com/home (accessed 10/09/2019)
ESTC = English Short Title Catalogue. http://estc.bl.uk (accessed 10/09/2019)
Frankot, Edda. 2007. Medieval maritime law from Oléron to Wisby: Jurisdictions in the law of the sea. In Juan Pan-Montojo & Frederik Pedersen (eds.) Communities in European history: Representations, jurisdictions, conflicts, Pisa University Press. 151–172.
Frankot, Edda. 2010. Maritime law and practice in Late Medieval Aberdeen. The Scottish Historical Review 89(2). 136–152.
Frankot, Edda. 2012. Of Laws of Ships and Shipmen. Medieval maritime law and its practice in urban Northern Europe. Edinburgh University Press.
Fumerton, Patricia. 2006. Unsettled: The culture of mobility and the working poor in Early Modern England. The University of Chicago Press.
Glennie, Paul & Nigel Thrift. 2009. Shaping the day. A history of time-keeping in England and Wales 1300–1800. Oxford University Press.
Heebøll-Holm, Thomas K. 2013. Ports, piracy, and maritime war. Piracy in the English Channel and the Atlantic, c. 1280–c. 1330. Brill.
Heebøll-Holm, Thomas K. 2017. Law, order and plunder at sea: A comparison of England and France in the fourteenth century. Continuity and Change 32(1). 37–58. DOI: 10.1017/S0268416017000030
Holdsworth, William Searle. 1920. Press control and copyright in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Yale Law Journal 29(8). 841–858. DOI: 10.2307/786947
Hutchinson, Gillian. 1994. Medieval ships and shipping. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press.
Kiesselbach, Theodor. 1906. Der Ursprung der Rôles d’Oléron und des Seerechts von Damme. Hansische Geschichtsblätter 12. 1–60.
Kowaleski, Maryanne. 2007. “Alien” encounters in the maritime world of medieval England. Medieval Encounters 13. 96–121. DOI: 10.1163/157006707X174032
Kowaleski, Maryanne. 2009. The French of England: A maritime lingua franca? In Jocelyn Wogan-Browne, Carolyn Collette, Maryanne Kowaleski, Linne Mooney, Ad Putter & David Trotter (eds), Language and culture in medieval Britain: The French of England, c.1100–c.1500, Boydell & Brewer. 103–117.
Krieger, Karl-Friedrich. 1970. Ursprung und Wurzeln des Rôles d’Oléron. Böhlau.
Linguistic Atlas of Late Mediaeval English = McIntosh, Angus, M. L. Samuels & Michael Benskin (eds). 1986. A linguistic atlas of late mediaeval English (electronic version 2013). Aberdeen University Press. http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/ihd/elalme/elalme.html (accessed 21/05/2020)
Maisonneuve, Bernard de. 2015. Pierre Garcie dit Ferrande. Le Routier de la mer – v. 1490 – 1502 – 1520. CRHIP.
Middle English Dictionary = Kurath, Hans, Sherman McAllister Kuhn, John Reidy, Robert E. Lewis et al. (eds). 1952–2001. Middle English Dictionary. University of Michigan Press. http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/med/ (accessed 10/08/2019)
Nichols, Stephen G. 2009. New challenges for New Medievalism. Unpublished MS. http://www.academia.edu/5470816/New_Challenges_for_New_Medievalism (accessed 20/06/2020)
Nichols, Stephen G. 2011. Mutable stability: A paradox of reading & copying medieval literature. Unpublished MS. http://www.academia.edu/475271/Mutable_Stability_A_Paradox_of_Reading_and_Copying_Medieval_Literature (accessed 20/06/2020)
Oxford English Dictionary = Simpson, John & Edmund Weiner (eds.) 1989. Oxford English Dictionary (2nd edn). Clarendon Press.
Pardessus, Jean-Marie (ed.). 1828. Collection de lois maritimes antérieures au XVIIIesiècle, dédié au Roi. Vol. 1. L’Imprimerie Royale.
Pardessus, Jean-Marie (ed.). 1828–1845. Collection de lois maritimes antérieures au XVIIIesiècle, dédié au Roi. Vol. I-IV. L’Imprimerie Royale.
Pollard, Graham. 1937. The Company of Stationers before 1557. The Library s4-XVIII(1). 1–38. DOI: 10.1093/library/s4-XVIII.1.1
Plomer, Henry Robert. 1897. Robert Wyer, printer and bookseller. A paper read before the Bibliographical Society, January 21st, 1895. Blades, East & Blades.
Senior, William. 1920. The Rutter of the Sea. The Mariner’s Mirror 6(8). 243–246.
STC = Pollard, Alfred William & Gilbert Richard Redgrave (eds). 1976–1991. A short-title catalogue of books printed in England, Scotland and Ireland, and of English books printed abroad 1475–1640 (2nd edn, revised by William Alexander Jackson, Frederic Sutherland Ferguson & Katharine F. Pantzer). Bibliographical Society.
Timperley, Charles Henry. 1839. A dictionary of printers and printing, with the progress of literature, ancient and modern, bibliographical illustrations, etc., etc. H. Johnson.
Trotter, David. 2003. Oceano vox: You never know where a ship comes from. On multilingualism and language-mixing in medieval Britain. In Kurt Braunmüller & Gisella Ferraresi (eds), Aspects of multilingualism in European language history, John Benjamins. 15–33. DOI: 10.1075/hsm.2.02tro
Vendée = Department of Vendée. n.d. Le premier océanographe de l’Histoire: Pierre Garcie-Ferrande, père de la cartographie marine. http://www.vendee.fr/Territoire-etenvironnement/Environnement/Un-patrimoine-maritime-bien-vivant/Portraits-Nau-lolonnois-et-Pierre-Garcie-Ferrande (accessed 01/10/2019)
Ward, Robin. 2004. The earliest known sailing directions in English. Deutsches Schiffahrtsarchiv 27. 49–92.
Ward, Robin. 2009. The World of the Medieval Shipmaster. Law, Business and the Sea, c. 1340–1450. Boydell Press.
Waters, David Watkin. 1958. The art of navigation in England in Elizabethan and early Stuart times. Hollis & Carter.
Waters, David Watkin. 1967. The rutters of the sea. The sailing directions of Pierre Garcie. A study of the first English and French printed sailing directions. With facsimile reproductions. Yale University Press.
West, William N. 2006. Old news: Caxton, de Worde, and the invention of the edition. In William Kuskin (ed.), Caxton’s trace: Studies in the history of English printing, University of Notre Dame Press. 241–274.