William Welwod
Encyclopedia
William Welwod was a Scottish
jurist who was the first to formulate the laws of the sea in an insular Germanic language.
He was a professor of civil law
at the University of St Andrews
until 1611, when he resigned his chair and moved to England
.
' concept of Mare Liberum
(the freedom of the seas
), the idea that the seas and oceans were free for all to use and not the property of anyone. Welwod used Biblical
texts to argue that in some cases nations could claim exclusive national rights over territorial waters
.
Welwod wrote a Scots language
treatise
on the law of the sea, The sea-law of Scotland, published in 1590 by R. Waldegraue — the earliest such treatise in the British Isles
. Welwod stated in the preface that the book was aimed at Scottish mariners and merchants; the book was written in a vernacular style and presented the sea law in the form of simple rules. He reworked The sea-law of Scotland into An Abridgement of All Sea-Lawes (1613), which included a chapter arguing against Hugo Grotius' Mare Liberum. He later expanded this chapter, "Of the Community and Propriety of the Seas", into a full work entitled De dominio maris (1615).
Welwod's main concern was that Grotius' theories could be used to justify the large-scale herring
fishing in Scottish waters by Dutch fleets which, according to Welwod, had caused a collapse in the fishing industry along the Scottish east coast.
Hugo Grotius responded to Welwod's critique by writing Defensio capitis quinti Maris Liberi oppugnati a Gulielmo Welwodo ("Defense of the five free oceans, opposed by William Welwod"). The work was written around 1615 but not published until 1872. In this work, Grotius complained that Welwod had misunderstood his treatise as an attempt to justify Dutch fishing in Scottish waters, when it was in fact primarily intended to argue for the Dutch right to trade with the East Indies
.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
jurist who was the first to formulate the laws of the sea in an insular Germanic language.
He was a professor of civil law
Civil law (legal system)
Civil law is a legal system inspired by Roman law and whose primary feature is that laws are codified into collections, as compared to common law systems that gives great precedential weight to common law on the principle that it is unfair to treat similar facts differently on different...
at the University of St Andrews
University of St Andrews
The University of St Andrews, informally referred to as "St Andrews", is the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in the English-speaking world after Oxford and Cambridge. The university is situated in the town of St Andrews, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It was founded between...
until 1611, when he resigned his chair and moved to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Works
Welwod is primarily known for his writings opposing Dutch jurist Hugo GrotiusHugo Grotius
Hugo Grotius , also known as Huig de Groot, Hugo Grocio or Hugo de Groot, was a jurist in the Dutch Republic. With Francisco de Vitoria and Alberico Gentili he laid the foundations for international law, based on natural law...
' concept of Mare Liberum
Mare Liberum
Mare Liberum is a book in Latin on international law written by the Dutch jurist and philosopher Hugo Grotius. In The Free Sea, Grotius formulated the new principle that the sea was international territory and all nations were free to use it for seafaring trade...
(the freedom of the seas
Freedom of the seas
Freedom of the seas is a principle in the international law and law of the sea. It stresses freedom to navigate the oceans. It also disapproves of war fought in water. The freedom is to be breached only in a necessary international agreement....
), the idea that the seas and oceans were free for all to use and not the property of anyone. Welwod used Biblical
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
texts to argue that in some cases nations could claim exclusive national rights over territorial waters
Territorial waters
Territorial waters, or a territorial sea, as defined by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is a belt of coastal waters extending at most from the baseline of a coastal state...
.
Welwod wrote a Scots language
Scots language
Scots is the Germanic language variety spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster . It is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language variety spoken in most of the western Highlands and in the Hebrides.Since there are no universally accepted...
treatise
Treatise
A treatise is a formal and systematic written discourse on some subject, generally longer and treating it in greater depth than an essay, and more concerned with investigating or exposing the principles of the subject.-Noteworthy treatises:...
on the law of the sea, The sea-law of Scotland, published in 1590 by R. Waldegraue — the earliest such treatise in the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
. Welwod stated in the preface that the book was aimed at Scottish mariners and merchants; the book was written in a vernacular style and presented the sea law in the form of simple rules. He reworked The sea-law of Scotland into An Abridgement of All Sea-Lawes (1613), which included a chapter arguing against Hugo Grotius' Mare Liberum. He later expanded this chapter, "Of the Community and Propriety of the Seas", into a full work entitled De dominio maris (1615).
Welwod's main concern was that Grotius' theories could be used to justify the large-scale herring
Herring
Herring is an oily fish of the genus Clupea, found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, including the Baltic Sea. Three species of Clupea are recognized. The main taxa, the Atlantic herring and the Pacific herring may each be divided into subspecies...
fishing in Scottish waters by Dutch fleets which, according to Welwod, had caused a collapse in the fishing industry along the Scottish east coast.
Hugo Grotius responded to Welwod's critique by writing Defensio capitis quinti Maris Liberi oppugnati a Gulielmo Welwodo ("Defense of the five free oceans, opposed by William Welwod"). The work was written around 1615 but not published until 1872. In this work, Grotius complained that Welwod had misunderstood his treatise as an attempt to justify Dutch fishing in Scottish waters, when it was in fact primarily intended to argue for the Dutch right to trade with the East Indies
East Indies
East Indies is a term used by Europeans from the 16th century onwards to identify what is now known as Indian subcontinent or South Asia, Southeastern Asia, and the islands of Oceania, including the Malay Archipelago and the Philippines...
.
Sources
- T. Christopher Smout, Anglo-Scottish Relations, from 1603 to 1900. British Academy, 2005
- Online Library of Liberty
- Helen Thornton, review of Hugo Grotius, Richard Hakluyt (trans.), David Armitage (ed.), The Free Sea. Journal of Maritime Research, January 2007