Bles

Laws of ancient Rome com-
posed in part from those of Solon, and
other Greek legislators, and in part from
the unwritten laws or customs of the
Romans. These laws, first appeared in
the year of Rome 303 inscribed on ten
plates of brass. The following year two
others were added, and the entire code
hore the name of the Laws of the Twelve
Tables. The principles they contained
became the source of all the Roman
law, and serve to this day as the founda-
tion of the jurisprudence of the greatest
part of Europe.

.See a fragment, of the Law of the
Twelve Tables in Coop. Justinian, 650;
Gibbon’s Rome, c. 44.

LAWS OF TILE UAXSE TOWNS.
A code of maritime laws known as tlie
laws of llanse towns, or the on! i nances
of the Hanseatic towns, was first pub-
lished in German at Luliec, in 1597.
In an assembly of deputies from the
several towns held at Lubec, these laws
were afterwards, May 23, 1614, revised
and enlarged. The text of this digest,
and a Latiu translation, are published
with a commentary by Kuricke; and a
Frpneh translation has been given by
Cleirac.

LAWS OF OLERON, in maritime
hiv'y a code of sea laws of deserved
celebrity. It was originally promulgated
by Kleonor, duchess of Guiennc, the
mother of Richard the First, of Eng-
land. Returning from the Holy Land,
and familiar with the maritime regula-
tions of the Archipelago, she enacted

these laws at Oleron in Guiennc, and
they derive their title from the plftQff of
their publication. The language in
which they were originally written is
thi! Gascon, and their first object appears
to have been the commercial operations
of that part of France only. Richard
I., of Eugland, who inherited the duke-
dom of Guiennc from his mother, im-
proved this code, and introduced it into
England. Some additions were made
to it by King John; it was promulgated
anew in the 50th year of Henry 111.,
and received its ultimate continuation in
the 12th year of Edward III. Brown’s
Civ. and Adin. Law, vol. ii. p. 40.

2. — These laws are inserted in the
beginning of the book entitled “ Us cfc
coutumes de la mer," with a very excel-
lent commentary on each section by Clai-
rac, the learned editor. A translation
is to be found in the Appendix to 1 Pet.
Adm. Dec.; Marsh. Ins. B. 1, c. 1, p.
16. See Jaucs of Wish ay : Laics of
the llanse 'Tomts ; Code.

LAWS OF VVISBUV, in maritime
hiWy is a code of sea laws established by
“ the merchant* and masters of the
magnificent city of Wisbuy.” This
city was the ancient capital of Gothland,
an island in the Baltic sea, anciently
much celebrated for its commerce and
wealth, now an obscure and inconsider-
able place. Malyue, in his collection of
sea laws, p. 44, says that the laws of
Oleron were translated into Dutch by
the people of Wisbuy for the use of
the Dutch coast By Dutch, he pro-
bably means German, and it cannot be
denied that many of the provisions con-
tained in the Laws of Wisbuy, are pre-
cisely the same as those which are found
in the Laws of Oleron. The northern
writers pretend however that they are
more ancient than the Laws of Oleron,
or even the Uonsolato del Mare. Glai-
nie treats this notion with contempt, and
declares that at the time of the promul-
gation of the laws of Oleron, in 1206,
which was many years after they were
compiled, the magnificent city of Wisbuy
had not yet acquired the denomination
of a town. Be this as it may, these
laws were for some ages, and indeed
| still remain, in great authority in the

LE

LEA

15

northern part of Europe. “ Ix*x Rho-
dia nuvalis,” says Grotius, “pro jure
gentium, in illo mare Meditemnuo vigo-
bat ; sic lit apud Gallium leges Oleronis,
et apod omnos transrhenanos, logos Wis-
buenses.” Grotius de Jure bed. lib. 2,

0.

A translation of those laws is to bo
found in 1 Peters's Ad in. Dec. Appendix,
See Codr; Jjittrn of O/eron.

LAWS, RllODIAN, in maritim •
law, is a code of laws adopted by the
people of Rhodes, who had, by their
commerce and naval victories, obtained
the sovereignty of the sea, about nine
hundred years Wore the Christian era. 1
There is reason to suppose this code has
not been transmitted to posterity, at least
not in a perfect state. A collection of i
marine constitutions, under the denomi-
nation of Rhodian Laws, may he seen in
Yiuiii.1-, but tfcej bear ident mark - 1 1
a spurious origin. See Marsh. Ins. B.

1, c. 4, p. 15; this Diet. t'<#h ; Lairs
of Qleron ; Taiw * of Wisbuy ; Laws of
the Huhm Towns.