belonging to the Master of the Knights Templars of Spain was seized, and the owner was paid two hundred marks as compensation for her loss.[1] Goods, too, were seized for the king's business. In January, 1226, orders were issued for the arrest at Sandwich of two vessels from Bayonne, laden with spices and other precious merchandise, as soon as they should enter port; and it was directed that no part of their cargoes should be sold until the king should have taken for his use as much as he might think proper.[2] And all sea traffic was rigorously supervised in time of war. In 1226 the Bailiffs of Dover were ordered to pay to the Chancellor of London the twelve marks which they had received from a certain ship that had passed Portsmouth without the king's licence.[3]
Yet, although there was clearly a strict police of the seas around England, piracies were not uncommon; and even the people of the Cinque Ports were frequently guilty of such offences. In 1227 a mariner named Dennis was committed to Newgate for having been present when a Spanish ship had been plundered and her crew slain at Sandwich.[4] In the same year the people of some towns in Norfolk were accused of robbing a Norwegian ship; and in 1264 a sea fight occurred between the men of Lynn and the men of Dartmouth.[5] Sometimes, at least, the crown held itself responsible for the illegal deeds of its servants, for in 1225 nine marks were given to Alexander, a goldsmith, and his seven companions, and to a woman named Margaret, coming from Norway, who were alleged to have been robbed by people of the Cinque Ports.[6]
The king had ships in Ireland as well as in England, and he hired them out, like his English ships, to the merchants, when he had no immediate use for them. Ireland also had to furnish ships and men at the king's demand; but it would appear from a document dated in 1217 that at that time, if not always, citizens of Dublin, or some of them, were exempted from impressment a sea for service in the king's galleys.[7]
Besides the Cinque Ports, the island of Oleron furnished vessels to the king; and in June, 1242, the Mayor of Oleron was directed to build the barges which the island owed to the sovereign in virtue of its tenure.
