Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Dedication
- Introduction
- 1 The shipmaster and the law
- 2 The shipmaster and the rise and fall of the admirals' courts
- 3 The shipmaster as owner, partner and employee
- 4 The shipmaster's on-shore responsibilities
- 5 The shipmaster's off-shore responsibilities
- 6 The shipmaster at sea: navigation and meteorology
- 7 The shipmaster at sea – seamanship
- Conclusion
- Appendices
- 1 Transcription and translation of the MS Liber Horn copy of the Lex d'Oleron
- 2 Transcription and translation of the Inquisition of Queenborough
- 3 A partial transcription and translation of Les Bons Usages et Les Bonnes Costumes et Les Bons Jugemenz de la Commune d'Oleron
- 4 Transcription and translation of a 1323 charter-party
- 5 Transcription and translation of the chapter ‘de regimen transfretantium’ from Gilbertus Anglicus' Compendium Medicine
- Select Bibliography
- Index
4 - Transcription and translation of a 1323 charter-party
from Appendices
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 September 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Dedication
- Introduction
- 1 The shipmaster and the law
- 2 The shipmaster and the rise and fall of the admirals' courts
- 3 The shipmaster as owner, partner and employee
- 4 The shipmaster's on-shore responsibilities
- 5 The shipmaster's off-shore responsibilities
- 6 The shipmaster at sea: navigation and meteorology
- 7 The shipmaster at sea – seamanship
- Conclusion
- Appendices
- 1 Transcription and translation of the MS Liber Horn copy of the Lex d'Oleron
- 2 Transcription and translation of the Inquisition of Queenborough
- 3 A partial transcription and translation of Les Bons Usages et Les Bonnes Costumes et Les Bons Jugemenz de la Commune d'Oleron
- 4 Transcription and translation of a 1323 charter-party
- 5 Transcription and translation of the chapter ‘de regimen transfretantium’ from Gilbertus Anglicus' Compendium Medicine
- Select Bibliography
- Index
Summary
MS AML/M/1 at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich is possibly the earliest English charter-party to have survived. The text consists of ten lines of Norman French (with many Gascon variants) written in a clear hand on parchment. This is one of a pair of copies of the agreement, the original parchment having been cut in two in a sinuous line, with a ‘doodle’ drawn across the cut for added security. The surviving half has the shipmaster's mark manual, so it may be assumed to have been the merchant's half of the indenture. A quittance has been made out in Latin on the verso, and signed by the recipient of the cargo. The parchment measures 27.4cm × 10.1cm and is in only fair condition, being badly darkened on the right side and along the bottom for about 2.5cm into the text. There is also a square-shaped hole towards the left side between the fourth and fifth lines of text, possibly made by a filing spike, and a vertical crease on the right about 4 cm from the edge. Both sides of the manuscript may be seen in Figures 2a and 2b.
It was transcribed and translated in 1906–07 by a Mr W.K. Boyd who used ‘his solution’ to intensify the ink in some areas; unfortunately the solution has, with time, obliterated the writing in the treated areas. The translation was published in The Times on 4 February 1907 over the signature of Mr G.M. Arnold, mayor of Gravesend and honorary general secretary of the Kent Archaeological Society, without acknowledgement to Boyd.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The World of the Medieval ShipmasterLaw, Business and the Sea, c.1350–c.1450, pp. 229 - 234Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2009