Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Gassendi, Pierre" to "Geocentric" Volume 11, Slice 5
xiv. The shipwrecked, wounded or sick of one of the belligerents who
fall into the hands of the other, are prisoners of war. The captor must decide, according to circumstances, if it is best to keep them or send them to a port of his own country, to a neutral port, or even to a hostile port. In the last case, prisoners thus repatriated cannot serve as long as the war lasts.