The Rolls of Oléron (Rôles d'Oléron, also known as the "Judgments of Oleron" and the "Rules of Oléron") were the first formal statement of "maritime" or "admiralty" laws in northwestern Europe.
They were promulgated by Eleanor of Aquitaine in about 1160, after her return from crusade having accompanied her first husband Louis VII. They were based upon the ancient Lex Rhodia, which had governed Mediterranean commerce since before the time of Christ. She likely became acquainted with them while at court of King Baldwin of Jerusalem, who had adopted them as the Maritime Assizes of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. They are named the of Oléron since the island was the site of the maritime court associated with the most powerful seamen's guild of the Atlantic. She promulgated them in England at the very end of the twelfth century having been granted viceregal powers of England while king Richard I was on crusade.[1]
They were published subsequently in French and English. The English king Henry VIII published them as "The judgment of the sea, of Masters, of Mariners, and Merchants, and all their doings." The Rolls greatly influenced the English Black Book of the Admiralty.
Full text: The Rules of Oléron ~1266