E-Loran

[14K478]

There is an article in the Code of Oleron, 1192, attributed to Richard Coeur de Lion but almost certainly the work of legal experts assembled by his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, which, from memory, and in translation, reads like this:

“If the ship shall shamefully miscarry upon her voyage owing to the fault of the Pilot, the Master and mariners may take the Pilot and hang him by the neck until he is dead. But, first, they should enquire if he has the wherewithal to make recompense.”

It is thought that deliberately wrecking the ship that you were engaged to pilot into a port was “a thing” at the time, hence this rather Draconian law.

 

[newtothis]

There is an article in the Code of Oleron, 1192, attributed to Richard Coeur de Lion but almost certainly the work of legal experts assembled by his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, which, from memory, and in translation, reads like this:

“If the ship shall shamefully miscarry upon her voyage owing to the fault of the Pilot, the Master and mariners may take the Pilot and hang him by the neck until he is dead. But, first, they should enquire if he has the wherewithal to make recompense.”

It is thought that deliberately wrecking the ship that you were engaged to pilot into a port was “a thing” at the time.

Maritime law has changed a bit since then. Pilots now have all the authority, but responsibility remains with the master. They tend not to hang them these days, but a few get banged up.