Unofficial, traditional rules of war arrived upon by mutual agreement. Never written down, the rules were the subject of much debate during the whole of the medieval period, governing the spoils of war in
tourney and in war,
ransoms ,
safe-conducts , the treatment of prisoners, and the nature of just war. Edward III gave his
courts of
chivalry exclusive right to rule over questions of such law, an interesting feat since the law was a matter of tradition rather than precedence as in common law. Honoret Bonet, in his 14th century treatise the
Tree of Battles, was perhaps the first gentle to attempt to record these laws of war, or rather to clarify points of dispute that had risen up to that point. These âlawsâ were the basis for most Western rules of warfare and even of international relations.
