De natis ultra mare

Act of Parliament
Parliament of England
Long titleA Statute for those who are born in Parts beyond Sea.
Citation25 Edw. 3. Stat. 1
Other legislation
Amended by
Status: Partially repealed
Revised text of statute as amended

De natis ultra mare, also known as the Status of Children Born Abroad Act 1350,[1][2][3] was an English statute during the reign of Edward III. It regulated rights of those born overseas, and was an early precursor of 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.[4][5]

This statute of 25 Edw. 3 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.[6] 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).[7]

  1. ^ "Status of children born abroad Act 1350 (25 Ed. III., St. 1.)". NZLII. Selection of Imperial Acts in force in New Zealand in 1881.
  2. ^ Hutson, Lorna, ed. (2017). The Oxford Handbook of English Law and Literature, 1500-1700. Oxford University Press. p. 758.
  3. ^ "Status of Children Born Abroad Act 1350". vLex.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ "The statutes". 1870.
  6. ^ Andrew Zurcher (2007). Spenser's Legal Language: Law and Poetry in Early Modern England. DS Brewer. p. 225. ISBN 978-1-84384-133-3.
  7. ^ C. W. Brooks (2008). Law, Politics and Society in Early Modern England. Cambridge University Press. p. 133. ISBN 978-0-521-32391-8.