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6 - The Law of Maritime Warfare during the Transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe

from Part I - International Law in Renaissance Europe (1492–1660)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 April 2025

By
Alain Wijffels
General editor
Randall Lesaffer
Randall Lesaffer
Affiliation:
KU Leuven and Tilburg University
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Summary

Between the mid-fifteenth and mid-seventeenth centuries, norms on maritime warfare by both private and public actors developed through the intensification of maritime trade networks, European colonial and commercial expansion in other continents, the growing ascendancy of the sovereign state, and the emergence of a distinctive legal scholarship on topics of the law of nations. Although even among European political actors, there was still no general consensus on precise and binding norms governing maritime warfare, the building stones of a normative framework were gradually established which would be integrated from the later seventeenth century onwards into a more consistent body of international law. Prize courts played a crucial role in promoting the principles of such a legal framework, as did state practice on key issues such as blockade, contraband and neutrality.

Keywords

Renaissance Europelaw of nationsjus in bellomaritime warfarepiracyprivateeringprize courtsblockadeneutrality
Type
Chapter
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The Cambridge History of International Law , pp. 204 - 231
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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References

Further Reading

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Augeront, Mickaël, and Tranchant, Mathias (eds.), La violence et la mer dans l’espace atlantique, XIIe–XIXe siècle (Rennes: Presses universitaires de Rennes 2004).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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Cancila, Rossella (ed.), Mediterraneo in armi (secc. XV–XVIII), 2 vols. (Palermo: Quaderni-Mediterranea Ricerche Storice 2007).Google Scholar
Couto, Dejanirah, Gunergun, Feza and Pedani, Maria Pia (eds.), Seapower, Technology and Trade. Studies in Turkish Maritime History (Istanbul: Piri Reis University Publications 2014).Google Scholar
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