They were promulgated by Eleanor of Aquitaine on the island of Oléron in about 1160 and were based upon the laws regulating conduct at sea in the western Mediterranean at the time. English authority at the time ascribed their promulgation to king Richard I although now it is believed they were promulgated by his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine.

They were published subsequently in French and English. The English king Henry VIII published them as "The judgment of the sea, of Masters, of Mariners, and Merchants, and all their doings." The Rolls greatly influenced the English Black Book of the Admiralty.

References

• Benedict on Admiralty, Matthew Bender & Co. v1, Ch II, § 26

External links

Full text: The Rules of Oléron ~1266