De natis ultra mare
De natis ultra mare, also known as the Status of Children Born Abroad Act 1350 was an English statute during the reign of Edward III. It regulated rights of those born overseas, and was an early precursor of English and British nationality law, and others. Dating from 1351, during the early part of the Hundred Years' War, it addressed the issue of inheritance by foreign-born children, a topical problem.[1]
This statute of 25 Ed III was invoked over 200 years later, in two matters; in the first of those, it did not prove effective since the outcome went in the other direction, but in the second it was significant. In the debate on the succession to Elizabeth I, it was thought by some to be telling against claimants of the House of Stuart.[2] In Calvin's Case, it was also brought up, to argue against the proposed right of inheritance in England of the Scottish post-nati (those born after the Union of Crowns of 1603).[3]
Notes
- ^ Keechang Kim (7 December 2000). Aliens in Medieval Law: The Origins of Modern Citizenship. Cambridge University Press. p. 116. ISBN 978-0-521-80085-3.
- ^ Andrew Zurcher (2007). Spenser's Legal Language: Law and Poetry in Early Modern England. DS Brewer. p. 225. ISBN 978-1-84384-133-3.
- ^ C. W. Brooks (2008). Law, Politics and Society in Early Modern England. Cambridge University Press. p. 133. ISBN 978-0-521-32391-8.