Ship-ownership

In the twelfth century, most shipmasters owned their own ships, either participating in joint commercial ventures with a group of merchants assembled for each voyage, or arranging at their own expense the purchase and sale of cargo, the fitting-out of the ship and the hiring of a crew. As a member of a cooperative, the owner /master commanded the ship, acting as primus inter pares with the participating merchants working as crew, and would have received a charter fee or an enhanced share of the profits of the voyage. When working alone, all the risks and any profit (or loss) on the voyage were his. Vestiges of the rules of cooperative ventures which appear to pre-date its codification may be seen in certain articles of the Lex d'Oleron.

The earliest English shipowners known to employ professional shipmasters were civil and religious institutions and the crown. In 1224 Margam Abbey in South Wales owned a ship which was arrested in Bristol, and in the following year Neath Abbey obtained a safe conduct for their hulc to trade in England. In 1242 Robert Elye of Winchelsea handed over ￡20 bordeaux as the king's share of the booty taken while he was shipmaster of La Brette, which is described as a ‘king's ship’ and was therefore neither a privately owned nor an impressed vessel. At about the same time, individual continental merchants were already owning ships with professional shipmasters. In 1234 John Blundus and William, both merchants of Antwerp, obtained a safe conduct for their ship Benalee and her shipmaster Terricus, also of Antwerp.