Sources    Literature    Common law in context    Links

Introduction

There are many misunderstandings about the character and the origins of the English common law. Its history is really complicated. Recent research tends to confirm time and again that it is better to look at the common law in its context with European legal history than to regard it as an unique phenomenon. However, certain concepts are indeed difficult to compare with other legal systems. There certainly is a large scale continuity in English law, but there are also evident ruptures within the past. Many subjects call for attention: the courts, the role of the state, the significance of legislation, the role of judges and legal experts. The influence of English law will be dealt with elsewhere in due time. The editions of sources mentioned here concern mainly the royal law. Cities are scarcely mentioned at all.

From the Anglo-Saxon period we know in particular the great law books which resemble the continental "national laws". With the coming of the Normans in 1066 a period stared in which institutions from Normandy are planted on English soil, but also changed with this transplantation. The fierce grip of the Norman dukes on their conquests is remarkable. The twelfth century witnessed the coming of the common law. King Henry I began with decisive legislation after some earlier important statutes (e.g. the assizes of Clarendon) and changed the courts, possibly following the example of the Flemish counts. All courts and jurisdiction were to be royal. Every investigation, any case, started with a royal order in writing, the writ. The private law developed itself seemingly of its own accord, but in fact there are strong resemblances to the casuistry of Roman law. Legal doctrine from both Roman and canon law was known for sure. Lawyers such as Bracton and Vacarius were the first to write about this English law. 

The English Church lived like on the continent under canon law. The jurisdiction of the English episcopal officials (judges) is even relatively well documented. At Oxford and Cambridge both Roman and canon law were teached. Most lawyers studied at the Inns of Court. Some of their moots, mock debates, and readings, the lectures of their teachers, have survived. The Year Books inform us about cases at the royal courts. They are famous for the witty remarks of all involved. The Year Books were meant for the class room, not as stenographic records. The language of law was until the 17th century Lawfrench, a mixture of French, Latin and English. The number of royal courts was quite large. The kings legislated through the centuries mostly in the form of statutes, laws on particular subjects. The sessions of the royal court at these occasions stand at the beginning of the English Parliament. From the fifteenth century on, treatises and commentaries on English law began to appear more often. In penal law the English got very early an officer to investigate unnatural causes of death, the coroner.

Origins    Sources    Literature    Common law in context    Links

Sources    a) statutes and laws, b) commentaries and treatises, c) the courts - see for editions first the Selden Society

Statutes and laws

• Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, F. Liebermann (ed.) (3 vol., Halle 1896-1916; reprint Leipzig 1935).
• Laws of the earliest English kings, F.L. Attenborough (ed. and transl.) (Cambridge 1922).
• The laws of the kings of England from Edmund to Henry I, A.J. Robertson (ed. and transl.) (Cambridge 1925).
• Leges Henrici primi, L. Downer (ed. and transl.) (Oxford 1972).

Commentaries and treatises

• Henry de Bracton, De legibus et consuetudinis Angliae, G.E. Woodbine (ed.) (4 vol., New York 1915-1942) - re-edition with translation and revisions by S.E. Thorne (4 vol., Cambridge, Mass., 1968-1977; reprint 1997); also available online.
• Select passages from Bracton and Azo, F.W. Maitland (ed.) (London 1894; Selden Society, 8).
• Britton, F.M. Nichols (ed.) (Oxford 1885; reprint 1983) - a shortened version of Bracton.
• William Blackstone, Commentaries on the laws of England (1765-1768) - often reprinted and commented on, online at Yale University's Avalon project and at the Liberty Library of Constitutional Classics.
• Fleta, H.G. Richardson and G.O. Sayles (eds.) (3 vol., London 1953-1983; Selden Society, 72, 89, 99).
• John Fortescue, De laudibus legum Anglie, S.B. Chrimes (ed.) (Cambridge 1942) - from 1470.
• John Fortescue, The governance of England, C. Plummer (ed.) (Oxford 1885) - from 1471.
• "Glanvill", The treatise on the laws and customs of the realm of England commonly called Glanvill, G.D.G. Hall (ed. and transl.) (London-Edinburgh 1965; reprint 1983) - Ranulf de Glanvill died around 1190.
• Matthew Hale, The history of the common law of England, Charles M. Gray (ed.) (Chicago 1971) - from 1713;  an online version.
• Hale and Fleetwood on Admiralty jurisdiction, M.J. Pritchard and D.E.C. Yale (ed.) (London 1992; Selden Society, 108).
• Matthew Hale, The prerogatives of the king, D.E.C. Yale (ed.) (London 1975; Selden Society, 92).
• Lex mercatoria and legal pluralism. A late thirteenth-century treatise and its afterlife, M.E. Basile et alii (eds.) (Cambridge, Mass., 1998).
• The Mirror of Justices, W.J. Whittaker and F.W. Maitland (eds.) (London 1893; Selden Society, 7).
• Richard Fitz Nigel, Dialogus de scaccario, C. Johnson, F.E.L. Carter and D.E. Greenaway (eds.) (Oxford 1983) - important for the financial and royal context of the early common law.
• Thomas Smith, De republica Anglorum, L. Alston (ed.) (Cambridge 1906).
• Early treatises on the practice of the Justices of the Peace in the 15th and 16th centuries, B.H. Putnam (ed.) (Oxford 1924).
• Table talk of John Selden, F. Pollock (ed.) (London 1927).
• Christopher St. German on Chancery and statute, J.A. Guy (London 1985; Selden Society, Supplementary Series, 6).
• Christopher St. German, Doctor and Student, T.F.T. Plucknett and J.H. Barton (eds.) (London 1974; Selden Society, 91).
• Placita Corone or La Corone Pledee devant Justices, J.M. Kaye (ed.) (London 1966; Selden Society, Supplementary Series, 4).

Readings and moots are important sources for our knowledge of legal education: 

• Robert Constable, Prerogative Regis,  S.E. Thorne ed. (New Haven, Conn., 1949) - edition of a reading
• John Spelman's reading on Quo warranto. Gray's Inn, Lent 1519, J.H. Baker (ed.) (London 1997; Selden Society, 113).
• Readings and moots at the Inns of Court in the fifteenth century, S.E. Thorne and J.H. Baker (eds.) (2 vol., London 1952-1989; Selden Society, 71, 105).

The courts: writs, collections of verdicts, private notes on trials and cases, etc.

See for the Year Books the Selden Society, which has published some 27 volumes for the period 1309-1330; the Ames Foundation has also published a few Year Books. When reading these editions one should benefit immensely from J.H. Baker's Manual of law French (2nd ed., Aldershot 1990).

An invaluable guide to Year Book reports between 1368 and 1535 available in print is the database created by David Seipp.

• Cases concerning equity and the courts of equity, 1550-1660, W.H. Bryson (ed.) (2 vol., London 2001-2002; Selden Society, 117-118)
• Select cases in manorial courts : property law and family Law, 1250-1500, L. Bonfield and L.R. Poos (eds.) (London 1997; Selden Society, 114).
• Earliest English law reports, P.A. Brand (ed.) (2 vol., London 1995-1996; Selden Society, 111-112) - Common Bench, 1268-1289, 1285-1292.
• English law suits from William I to Richard I, R.C. van Caenegem (ed.) (2 vol., London 1990-1991; Selden Society, 106-107).
• Reports of cases by John Caryll, J.H. Baker (ed.) (2 vol., London 1998-1999; Selden Society, 115-116) - 1485-1499, 1501-1522.
• Select cases of trespasss in the King's Court, 1307-1399, M.S. Arnold (ed.) (2 vol., London 1984-1987; Selden Society, 100, 103).
• The notebook of Sir John Port, J.H. Baker (ed.) (London 1986; Selden Society, 102).
• The reports of Sir John Spelman, J.H. Baker (ed.) (2 vol., London 1978-1977; Selden Society, 93-94).
• Select cases in the court of King's Bench, G.O. Sayles (ed.) (7 vol., London 1936-1971; Selden Society, 55, 57, 58, 71, 74, 76, 82).
• Early registers of writs, E. de Haas and G.D.G. Hall (eds.) (London 1970; Selden Society, 87).
• Pleas for the king or his justices, 1198-1212, D.M. Stenton (ed.) (4 vol., London 1948-1967; Selden Society, 67-68, 83-84).
• Lord Nottingham's Chancery cases, D.E.C. Yale (ed.) (2 vol., London 1954-1962; Selden Society, 73, 79).
• Royal writs in England from the Conquest to Glanvill, R.C. van Caenegem (ed.) (London 1959; Selden Society, 77).
• Select cases in the council of Henry VII, C.G. Bayne and W.H. Dunham (eds.) (London 1956; Selden Society, 75).
• The Casus Placitorum and reports of cases in the King's Court, 1271-1278, W.H. Dunham (ed.) (London 1950; Selden Society, 69).
• Select cases in the Exchequer Chamber before all the justices of England, M. Hemmant (ed.) (2 vol., London 1933-1945; Selden Society, 51, 64) - part II concerns the period1461-1509.
• Select cases of procedure without writ under Henry III, H.G. Richardson and G.O. Sayles (eds.) (London 1941; Selden Society, 60).
• Select cases concerning the Law Merchant, Ch. Gross and H. Hall (eds.) (3 vol., London 1908-1932; Selden Society, 23, 46, 49).
• Select cases for the Exchequer of Pleas, H. Jenkinson and B.E.R. Formoy (eds.) (London 1931; Selden Society, 48).
• Select cases for the King's Council, I.S. Leadam and J.F. Baldwin (eds.) (London 1919; Selden Society, 35).
• Select pleas of the court of Star Chamber, I.S. Leadam (ed.) (2 vol., London 1902-1910; Selden Society, 16, 25) - 1477-1509, 1509-1544.
• Public works in mediaeval law, C.T. Flower (ed.) (2 vol., London 1915-1923; Selden Society, 32, 40).
• Borough customs, M. Bateson (ed.) (2 vol., London 1904-1906; Selden Society, 18, 21).
• Select pleas, starrs, etc., of the Jewish Exchequer, 1220-1284, J.M. Rigg (ed.) (London 1901; Selden Society, 15).
• Select pleas of the forest, G.J. Turner (ed.) (London1899; Selden Society, 13).
• Select cases in the court of requests, 1497-1569, I.S. Leadam (ed.) (London 1898; Selden Society, 12).
• Select cases in Chancery, 1367-1471, W. Paley Baildon (ed.) (London 1896; Selden Society, 10).
• Select cases in the Court of Admiralty, R.G. Marsden (ed.) (2 vol., London 1892-1897: Selden Society, 6, 11) - I: 1390-1480, 1527-1545; II: 1547-1602.
• The Court Baron : select precedents of pleadings in manorial and other local courts, F.W. Maitland and W. Paley Baildon (eds.) (London 1890; Selden Society, 4).
• Select civil pleas, vol I: 1200-1203, W. Paley Baildon (ed.) (London 1889; Selden Society, 3).
• Select pleas in manorial and other seignorial courts, F.W. Maitland (ed.) (London 1888; Selden Society, 2).
• Select pleas of the Crown, vol. I: 1200-1225, F.W. Maitland (ed.) (London 1887; Selden Society, 1).
• Proceedings before the Justices of the Peace in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, B.H. Putnam (ed.) (Cambridge, Mass., 1938).

For the history of the coroner one can consult the following works:

• Select cases from the coroners'rolls, 1265-1413, Charles Gross (ed.) (London 1896; Selden Society, 9).
• Calendar of coroner's rolls of the city of London, 1300-1378, Reginald R. Sharpe (ed.) (London 1913).
• Roy Frank Hunnisett, The medieval coroner (Cambridge 1961).
• Bedfordshire coroner's rolls, Roy Frank Hunnisett (ed.) (Streatley, Bedf., 1961).
• Barbara Hanawalt, The ties that bound : peasant families in medieval England (New York 1986) - based on the records of medieval coroners
• Sussex coroner's inquests 1558-1603, Roy Frank Hunnisett (ed.) (Kew 1996).

Origins    Sources    Literature    Common law in context    Links

Literature

• Abel-Smith, B., and R. Stevens, Lawyers and the courts. A sociological study of the English legal system (London 1967).
• Allen, C.K. , Law in the making (Oxford 1958).
• Baker, John H., and S.F.C. Milsom, Sources of English legal history. Private law to 1750 (London 1986) - deals with doctrinal sources.
• Baker, John H., Richard Helmholz a.o., The Oxford History of the laws of England (Oxford 2003-) - two volumes so far.
• Baker, John H., An introduction to English legal history (3rd ed., London 1990).
• Beale, J.H., Bibliography of early English law books (Cambridge, Mass., 1926; reprint 1966) - supplement by R.B. Anderson (Cambridge, Mass., 1943; reprint 1966).
• Bolland, W.C., A manual of Year Book studies (Cambridge 1925).
• Caenegem, R.C. van, The birth of the English Common Law (2nd ed., Cambridge, etc., 1988) - the standard work on this subject.
• Clanchy, M.T., From memory to written record. England 1066-1307 (London 1979, 1987; 2nd ed., Oxford 1993).
• Elton, G.R., England 1200-1640 (London 1969; The sources of history) - with a succinct introduction to legal sources.
• Hand, G.J., English law in Ireland 1290-1324 (Cambridge 1967).
• Harding, A., Social history of English law (Harmondsworth 1966).
• Holdsworth, W.S., Sources and literature of English law (Oxford 1925).
• Holdsworth, W.S., History of English law (17 vol., London 1903-1972) - the last four volumes appeared after his death; his work is valuable for its overview, but rather often the foundation is only secondary literature.
• Hunnisett, R.F., The medieval coroner (Cambridge 1961).
• Kiralfy, A.K.R., The English legal system (4th ed., London 1967).
• Lyon, B., A constitutional and legal history of medieval England (New York 1960).
• MacNair, Michael, The forms of proof in early modern equity (Berlin 1999).
• Maitland, F.W., The form of actions at Common Law. A course of lectures, A.H. Chaytor and W.J. Whittaker (eds.) (Cambridge 1909, 1936) - reprint 1965.
• Milsom, S.F.C., Historical foundations of the common law (2nd ed., London 1981).
• Plucknett, T.F.T., A concise history of the common caw (5th ed., London 1956).
• Pollock, F., and F.W. Maitland, The history of English law before the time of Edward I (2nd ed., 2 vol., Cambridge 1898; reprint 1952) - also reprinted with an introduction by S.F.C. Milsom (Cambridge 1968); Maitland wrote all its chapters but one; there is a scanned online version of the 1898 edition.
• Pollock, F., A First Book of jurisprudence for students of the common law (6th ed., London 1929).
• Radcliffe and Cross, The English legal system, G.J. Hand and D.J. Bentley (eds.) (6th ed., London 1977).
• Turner, R.V., The English judiciary in the age of Glanville and Bracton c. 1176-1239 (Cambridge, etc., 1985).

Origins    Sources    Literature    Common law in context    Links

Common law in context

The common law was not completely separated from continental law. The influence of the continental, both Roman and canon law, gets particular attention in the following studies:

• Buckland, W.W., and A.D. Mcnair, Roman law and common law. A comparison in outline, F.H. Lawson (rev.) (Cambridge 1965).
• Caenegem, R.C. van, Judges, legislators and professors. Chapters in European legal history (Cambridge, etc., 1987) - compares continental developments with the common law.
• Coquillette, D.R., The civilian writers of Doctors' Commons (Berlin 1988).
• Helmholz, R.H., The ius commune in England : four studies (Oxford, etc., 2001).
• Ibbetson, D.J., A historical introduction to the law of obligations (Oxford 1999) - connects English developments with Roman and canon law.
• Ibbetson, D.J., Common law and ius commune (London 2001) - Selden Society lecture, 2001.
• Maitland, F.W., Bracton and Azo (1895) - a classical study, even after more than a century
• Peter, H., Actio und Writ. Eine vergleichende Darstellung römischer und englischer Rechtsbehelfe (Tübingen 1959).
• Reid, Kenneth, and Reinhard Zimmermann (eds.), A history of private law in Scotland (2 vol., Oxford 2000).
• Helmholz, R.H.,, The Oxford History of the Laws of England, I:  The canon law and ecclesiastical jurisdiction from 597 to the 1640s (Oxford, etc., 2004).

Two well-known works on comparative law offer rich insights for common law, too:

• Zweigert, K., and H. Kötz, Einführung in die Rechtsvergleichung (3rd ed., Tübingen 1996) - English translation by Tony Weir
• Zimmermann, R., The law of obligations. Roman foundations of the civilian tradition (first edition Capetown 1990; reprint Oxford 1996).

On ecclesiastical law in England the following books are essential reading:

• Helmholz, R.H., Marriage litigation in medieval England (Cambridge 1974, 1978).
• Helmholz, R.H., Roman canon law in Reformation England (Cambridge, etc., 1990) - shows a surprising continuity.
• Helmholz, R.H., Canon law and English common law (London 1983).
• Donahue jr., Ch., Why the history of canon law is not written (London 1984).
• Helmholz, R.H., Canon law and the law of England. Historical essays (London 1987).
• Canon law in Protestant lands, R.H. Helmholz (ed.) (Berlin 1992) - a number of comparative studies.
• Martínez-Torrón, Javier, Derecho angloamericano y derecho canónico : Las raices canónicas de la "common law" (Madrid 1991) - in English: Anglo-American law and canon law. Canonical roots of the Common Law tradition (Berlin 1998), without the preface by Stephan Kuttner.
• Lynch, John E., 'The canonical contribution to English law', Studia canonica 33 (1999) 505-525.

One should notice the following editions for the English practice of canon law:

• Select cases from the ecclesiastical courts of the province of Canterbury, c. 1200-1301, N. Adams and Ch. Donahue jr. (eds.) (2 vol., London 1978-1979; Selden Society, 95-96).
• Select cases on defamation to 1600, R.H. Helmholz (ed.) (London 1985; Selden Society, 101).

Origins    Sources    Literature    Common law in context    Links

Links

• English Law - many links to texts, put together by Paul Halsall, Fordham University, New York
• Liberty Library of Constitutional Classics - not only (American) constitutional law, but also works of legal historical interest: Blackstone, Maitland, Hale, Holmes, Hobbes, sources like Magna Charta (1214) and the Assizes of Clarendon (1181), and English translations of works by More, Althusius and Pufendorf
• English Medieval Legal Documents AD 600 - AD 1535  - a database at the University of South California School of Law with a collection of published sources
  
• Ius Civile - the excellent website at Aberdeen on Roman law is also useful for common law, also interesting for Scottish law
• The Selden Society - founded by F.W. Maitland in 1887, who edited a number of volumes in its series.
• The Ames Foundation - the American companion of the Selden Society; here an overview of this small series
• Lynette's Legal History page - a useful list of links on British legal history
• Institutions of English law - the links of Ulrike Müßig at Passau lead you among other things to some major English legal institutions
• National Archives, London - you might as well visit their website when looking for English legal history
• Anglo-American Legal Tradition - a website at the University of Houston with images of legal documents at the National Archives
• Old Bailey 1674-1834 - this site enables you to search through 100,000 criminal trials mentioned in the Old Bailey Session Papers
• Commonwealth Legal Information Institute - one finds here among other sources English Reports 1220-1873, albeit it with large lacunae
• Henry III Fine Rolls Project - this project aims at an online edition of the fine rolls during Henry III's long reign (1216-1272)
• Westminster Abbey Charters, 1066-1214 - just one example of important sources showing the excellent services of this website for British History

Origins    Sources    Literature    Common law in context    Links