Wrecked upon the Sands: Maritime Law in Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene

In this essay, I offer a new interpretation of the Amidas/Bracidas episode in Book V of Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene. I argue two complementary points: first, that Spenser included the judgment on the strand as a direct commentary on the English admiralty jurisdiction controversy; and second, that previous critics have erred by not considering the episode within the larger context of maritime adjudication across the poem. My reading rests on two interpretive approaches. The first assumes external knowledge of the legal issues presented in the episode. The second assumes internal knowledge of The Faerie Queene’s general treatment of admiralty jurisdiction. Ultimately, I contend that this episode demonstrates Spenser’s call for compromise in the English conflicts over admiralty jurisdiction and illustrates how he creates meaning through a calculated interplay among allusions both within and beyond his allegory.