CHAPTER I.

THE HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF THE TERRITORIAL SEA.

Various limits proposed or adopted--The old English lawyers, Glanville, Bracton, Britton, “Fleta”--Early Italian jurists--Bartolus, Baldus--Limits of 100 and of 60 miles--Bodin--Gentilis--No general common usage--The mid-line or Thalweg--The “Mirror of Justice”--Plowden--Chief Justice Hales--Jurisdiction of Cinque Ports in Channel--The range of vision or “land-kenning”--Lord Stair--Sarpi’s proposal--Bays, straits, and arms of the sea--The King’s Chambers--Range of guns from shore--Proposed by Dutch in 1610--Not adopted in seventeenth century--Selden, Pontanus, Burgus, &c.--Influence of Loccenius and Puffendorf--Opinion of publicists at end seventeenth century--Usage in seventeenth century--Decisions of High Court of Admiralty regarding King’s Chambers--Gradual change of opinion and practice--Publicists in eighteenth century--The teaching of Bynkershoek--Dominion extends as far as projectiles can be thrown from the shore--Connection with salute and visit and search--Bynkershoek’s principle only slowly accepted--Opinions of Casaregi, Abreu, Wolff, Vattel, Hübner, Valin, Moser, Lampredi, Galiani, Von Martens--Three miles as equivalent to the utmost range of guns proposed by Galiani (1782), C. F. von Martens (1789), and Azuni (1795)--Summary of opinions--Usage in eighteenth century--Tendency to fix definite boundaries--Venice--Great Britain--Denmark--Sweden--Norway--Spain--Range of guns adopted by Tuscany, the Pope, Genoa, Venice, and in various international treaties--Three-mile limit first adopted by the United States of America in 1793--Exception of bays--Various limits claimed by the United States 537