Oleron

Oleron, the Laws of, a code of maritime law enacted by Eleanor of Aquitaine, who married Henry II of England in 1152. It was attributed by her to the Island of Oleron, which lies 32 kilometres (20 mls.) north of the mouth of the Gironde River in western France. The island was part of her duchy and was renowned for the skill and courage of its seafaring population. It is possible the laws were based on the older Rhodian Law of the Mediterranean. They dealt mainly with the rights and responsibilities of ships' captains in relation to discipline, mutiny, pay, cargoes, sickness on board, pilotage, accidents, and similar matters.

The Laws of Oleron were introduced into England in about 1190 by Richard I, son of Henry and Eleanor, and were codified in the Black Book of the Admiralty in 1336 which also contained a list of the ancient customs and usages of the sea. It is unfortunate that the original book disappeared from the registry of the High Court of Admiralty at the beginning of the 19th century. Only a few manuscript copies of parts of it, some dating back to about 1420, are extant and are in the British Museum and Bodleian libraries. All known sources for it were collated in Sir Travers Twiss's Black Book of the Admiralty (4 vols., 1871).

Oléron , island (1990 pop. 18,453), 68 sq mi (176 sq km), Charente-Maritime dept., W France, in the Bay of Biscay. It is an oystering, farming, and ranching area and a summer vacation spot. The Law of Oléron (see maritime law ), promulgated by Louis IX, was named after the island. Oléron was a stronghold of Protestantism in the 16th cent. A bridge (1966) links it with the mainland.

Articles of War, the disciplinary code for the Royal Navy. They were first issued in 1653 and were based on the ancient sea Laws of Oleron in which maritime crimes and punishments are specified. In Tudor times most captains of ships supplemented the Laws of Oleron with their own rules based on their own ingenuity in inventing punishments to fit the crime. In order to provide a code of punishment which would apply throughout the navy and not depend on the whims of individual captains, the Articles of War were introduced. They were incorporated into the first English Naval Discipline Act of 1661. It was under the 13th article of this harsh Act that Admiral John Byng was executed.

Whereas the Articles of War were omitted from the Army Act of 1955, they were retained in the Naval Discipline Act of 1957. The US Navy's Articles of War were superseded in 1950 by the Uniform Code of Military Justice which applies to all American armed forces. It is likely that a British Tri-Services Act will follow the same route before 2010.