Legal Definitions - droit de naufrage

DROIT DE NAUFRAGE

The term "droit de naufrage" is a French legal term that refers to the right of a sovereign or a lord who owns a seashore to seize the wreckage of a shipwreck and kill the crew or sell them as slaves. This law was practiced in the past and is no longer in use.

During the medieval period, the droit de naufrage was practiced in France. If a shipwreck occurred on the seashore owned by a lord or a sovereign, they had the right to seize the wreckage and everything on it, including the crew. The crew members were either killed or sold as slaves.

Another example of the droit de naufrage is the case of the shipwreck of the Spanish Armada in 1588. The English queen, Elizabeth I, claimed the droit de naufrage and seized the wreckage of the Spanish ships that washed up on the English shore. The surviving Spanish crew members were not killed or sold as slaves, but were instead held as prisoners of war.

The examples illustrate how the droit de naufrage was practiced in the past and how it gave the owner of a seashore the right to seize the wreckage of a shipwreck and everything on it, including the crew. The law was used to gain wealth and power, and it was a cruel and inhumane practice that is no longer in use today.