Definition
Maritima Angliae (Latin: "the maritime revenues of England") refers to the historical fiscal prerogative of the English Crown to receive emoluments and revenues derived from the sea. In practice, these were the customary dues, perquisites, and income arising from maritime activity and maritime jurisdiction along the English coast and waters. The sheriffs of coastal counties originally collected these revenues on behalf of the Crown, but the right was subsequently transferred to the Lord High Admiral, becoming one of the foundational sources of admiralty revenue and jurisdiction in England.
Why It Matters in Research
This term surfaces primarily in historical admiralty and prerogative law research. Researchers tracing the development of English admiralty jurisdiction will encounter it in older treatises and Year Book-era sources as evidence of the Crown's early claim to maritime income as a matter of royal prerogative, distinct from ordinary taxation or parliamentary revenue. The transition of collection authority from sheriffs to the Admiral is significant: it marks one of the institutional steps by which the office of Lord High Admiral accumulated both fiscal and jurisdictional power, eventually producing the Court of Admiralty as a distinct tribunal. Researchers working backward from the Court of Admiralty's authority should treat Maritima Angliae as a connective node between prerogative finance and jurisdictional history. The term is almost exclusively a term of art in historical sources and will not appear in modern statutory or case law. It is cited by Spelman in his Glossarium (a foundational glossary of medieval English legal terms), making that work the primary secondary source for further investigation. Researchers should note that Black's 2nd Edition (1910) references Spelman as the authority, so any deeper inquiry must go to Spelman's Glossarium directly rather than treating Black's as an independent source.
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Ed.) provides the only dictionary entry located for this term, defining it as "the emolument or revenue coming to the king from the sea, which the sheriffs anciently collected, but which was afterwards granted to the admiral," with Spelman cited as the authority. The entry is brief and functional, reflecting the term's status as historical legal Latin rather than a living term of art. No modern legal dictionaries carry the term. The reliance on Spelman is consistent with the term's medieval provenance — Spelman's Glossarium Archaiologicum was the standard reference for obsolete English legal and institutional terminology from the seventeenth century onward. Researchers should be aware that Black's 2nd Edition does not elaborate on the mechanism of transfer from sheriffs to the Admiral, nor does it date the transition. Establishing that chronology requires direct engagement with Spelman and with secondary histories of the admiralty, such as Reginald G. Marsden's work on the Court of Admiralty. No meaningful divergence exists among available sources because only one dictionary source addresses the term; the risk is not conflicting definitions but rather the absence of further definitional guidance in standard reference works.
Jurisdictional Note
This is a term of English law with no direct counterpart in American, Scottish, or colonial legal systems. Researchers in American admiralty history may encounter passing references, but the concept did not translate into U.S. constitutional or statutory admiralty jurisdiction in any identifiable form.