Forum-shopping pirates? Litigation strategies to address maritime plunder in late-medieval Flanders

• Niels Fieremans ^[1]
  1. [1] Ghent University

     Ghent University

     Arrondissement Gent, Bélgica

     
• Localización: International journal of maritime history, ISSN 0843-8714, Vol. 35, Nº. 1, 2023, págs. 3-23
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Late-medieval Flanders was a patchwork of jurisdictions. Especially in terms of maritimeplunder, different prosecutors and different courts could claim competency. However,where these plunderers appeared or where the plundered claimed their damages mat-tered significantly. This article investigates how these landlocked courts tried to claimcompetency over the events happening at sea. What were the consequences of the liti-gation strategies relating to maritime plunder, and how did plunderers and the plundereddeal with these? Especially in medieval Bruges, there was a pragmatic approach towardsfavouring some of the important merchant communities while using princely institutionsto chastise other (deemed harmful) plunderers.