Legal Definitions - maritima Angliae

Maritima Angliae is a historical legal term from England with two primary meanings:

• It referred to the physical seacoast of England.
• It also designated the specific revenues that historically belonged to the English Crown, derived from valuable items found or cast ashore along the coast. These revenues were considered a royal prerogative, meaning the Crown had an exclusive right to them.

Here are some examples illustrating the application of maritima Angliae:

• Imagine a medieval legal dispute concerning the precise boundary of a coastal manor. If the lord of the manor argued that his property extended "usque ad maritima Angliae," he would be asserting his claim up to the very edge of the English seacoast. This demonstrates the term's use to define the physical extent and jurisdiction over the shoreline itself.

• Consider a scenario in the 15th century where a merchant ship, caught in a severe storm, lost several crates of valuable silk fabric near the English coast. If these crates subsequently washed ashore, they would not automatically become the property of the finder or the local landowner. Instead, under the principle of maritima Angliae, agents of the Crown would claim these valuable goods as royal revenue, reflecting the Crown's historical right to valuable lost cargo found on its shores.

• Suppose a significant deposit of a rare and precious mineral, such as a large quantity of high-quality amber, was exposed by coastal erosion along a remote part of the English coastline. Historically, such a discovery would not become the property of the person who found it or the owner of the adjacent land. Instead, the Crown, through its prerogative rights associated with maritima Angliae, would lay claim to these valuable natural resources as a source of royal income.