EN027.12 Seafarers
Ott 2025
F. Minno’s Writings
1. Laws and Directives
Laws for the Seafarers
27.12 Laws for the navigators[1] (‘navigators’ is the title given to the seafarers):
1. All Frya’s sons have equal rights. Therefore, all stout young men may put themselves forward as seafarers to the alderman, who may not refuse them unless there is no berth for them.
2. The navigators may appoint their own captains.
3. The traders must be chosen and appointed by the community that owns the goods, and the navigators shall have no vote in their election.
4. If, during a voyage, it is found that the king is wicked or incompetent, another may be put in his place. Upon returning home, the king may lodge a complaint with the alderman.
5. If the fleet returns with profits, the navigators must receive [028] one-third, divided thus: The sea king twelve shares of the proceeds, the watch-by-night seven shares,[2] the boatswains each two shares, the pilots each three shares, the rest of the ship’s folk each one share, the youngest apprentices each a third, the middle ones a half share, and the oldest each two-thirds.
6. If any have been rendered lame, the general community must care for them. They must also sit in the front at public feasts, at domestic feasts — indeed, at all feasts.[3]
7. If any have died on the voyage, their nearest relatives shall inherit their share.
8. If they have left behind widows and orphans, the community must see to their care. If the dead were killed in battle, the sons may bear the names of their fathers on their shields.[4]
9. If an apprentice is lost, his heirs shall receive a full share.
10. If he was betrothed, his bride may request seven shares to dedicate a stone to her beloved. But then she must remain an honorable widow all her life. [029]
11. If the community equips a fleet, the shipowners must provide the best provisions for the voyage, and for the women and children.
12. If a navigator is worn out and poor, and he has no land or home, such must be given to him. If he desires neither land nor home, his friends may take him into their home and the community must improve it to fit his status, unless his friends refuse this benefit.
Notes
- ↑ ‘navigators’ (STJURAR) — or: steersmen; possibly related to ‘Sturii’, a Germanic tribe described by Pliny the Elder in Natural History, Book IV.
- ↑ ‘watch-by-night’ (SKOLT BY NACHT) — Dutch: ‘schout-bij-nacht’ is defined as: “a commander whose duty it was to see that the ships of a fleet sailed in the prescribed order at night”; equivalent to the rank of Rear Admiral.
- ↑ Compare 25.04, 3rd law.
- ↑ Compare 25.04, 4th law.
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Chapter F: Sandbach 1876