Through the latter half of the fifteenth century, England was too distraught by internal struggles to pay much attention to naval matters and no progress was made in prize money laws.
It is impossible to tell specifically the effects of the prize money laws in England at this early date. However, in so far as they formed an important element in the general maritime laws, they undoubtedly tended to create order at sea, to protect commerce and to increase the king's jurisdiction over the sea forces. This coordination of authority over sea war would tend to increase naval efficiency and was an important element in making England a great sea power.
NOTES.
Chapter III, Part 2.
[1] Black Book of the Admiralty, Rolls Series, No. 55, i, 21.
[2] Ibid. i, 31.
[3] Cal. Pat. Ric. II, 1385-1389, pp. 216, 253.
[4] Cal. Pat. Ric. II, 1385-1389, pp. 339, 342.
[5] Rotuli Parliamentorum, 7 Vols., London, 1767-1777, iii, 570, art. 22.