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Beschreibung
Shipwrecks and the Bounty of the Sea is a work of social history examining community relationships, law, and seafaring over the long early modern period. It explores the politics of the coastline, the economy of scavenging, and the law of 'wreck of the sea' from the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth I to the end of the reign of George II. England's coastlines were heavily trafficked by naval and commercial shipping, but an unfortunate percentage was cast away or lost.

Shipwrecks were disasters for merchants and mariners, but opportunities for shore dwellers. As the proverb said, it was an ill wind that blew nobody any good. Lords of manors, local officials, officers of the Admiralty, and coastal commoners competed for maritime cargoes and the windfall of wreckage, which they regarded as providential godsends or entitlements by right. A varied haul of commodities, wines, furnishings, and bullion came ashore, much of it claimed by the crown. The people engaged in salvaging these wrecks came to be called 'wreckers', and gained a reputation as violent and barbarous plunderers. Close attention to statements of witnesses and reports of survivors shows this image to be largely undeserved. Dramatic evidence from previously unexplored manuscript sources reveals coastal communities in action, collaborating as well as competing, as they harvested the bounty of the sea.
Shipwrecks and the Bounty of the Sea is a work of social history examining community relationships, law, and seafaring over the long early modern period. It explores the politics of the coastline, the economy of scavenging, and the law of 'wreck of the sea' from the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth I to the end of the reign of George II. England's coastlines were heavily trafficked by naval and commercial shipping, but an unfortunate percentage was cast away or lost.

Shipwrecks were disasters for merchants and mariners, but opportunities for shore dwellers. As the proverb said, it was an ill wind that blew nobody any good. Lords of manors, local officials, officers of the Admiralty, and coastal commoners competed for maritime cargoes and the windfall of wreckage, which they regarded as providential godsends or entitlements by right. A varied haul of commodities, wines, furnishings, and bullion came ashore, much of it claimed by the crown. The people engaged in salvaging these wrecks came to be called 'wreckers', and gained a reputation as violent and barbarous plunderers. Close attention to statements of witnesses and reports of survivors shows this image to be largely undeserved. Dramatic evidence from previously unexplored manuscript sources reveals coastal communities in action, collaborating as well as competing, as they harvested the bounty of the sea.
Über den Autor
Born and educated in England, David Cressy has made his career in the United States as an historian of early modern Britain. He taught in the Claremont Colleges, California State University Long Beach, and the Ohio State University before retiring to write and travel. When not in British archives and libraries he may be found exploring the beaches and deserts of the American West.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
  • Introduction

  • 1: Ships at Risk

  • 2: The Perils of the Sea

  • 3: Wreccum Maris: The Law of 'Wreck of the Sea'

  • 4: The Barbarous Country People

  • 5: The Great Profit of the Lords of Manors

  • 6: The Lord Admiral's Droits and His Majesty's Profit

  • 7: Shipwreck Tales from Sea and Shore

  • 8: The Bounty of the Golden Grape

  • 9: Mariners in Distress

  • 10: Material Bounty Brought Ashore

  • 11: Deep Recovery

  • 12: Eighteenth-Century Wrecking Revisited

  • Appendix: Two Centuries of Shipwrecks

Details
Erscheinungsjahr: 2022
Fachbereich: Allgemeines
Genre: Geschichte, Importe
Rubrik: Geisteswissenschaften
Thema: Lexika
Medium: Buch
Inhalt: Gebunden
ISBN-13: 9780192863393
ISBN-10: 0192863398
Sprache: Englisch
Einband: Gebunden
Autor: Cressy, David
Hersteller: Oxford University Press
Verantwortliche Person für die EU: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Postfach:81 03 40, D-70567 Stuttgart, vertrieb@dbg.de
Maße: 224 x 165 x 38 mm
Von/Mit: David Cressy
Erscheinungsdatum: 19.12.2022
Gewicht: 0,658 kg
Artikel-ID: 121955482

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