Birth of the English Common Law - Hardcover

Caenegem, R. C. Van

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521200970 ISBN 13: 9780521200974

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1973

Synopsis

This book provides a challenging interpretation of the emergence of the common law in Anglo-Norman England, against the background of the general development of legal institutions in Europe. In a detailed discussion of the emergence of the central courts and the common law they administered, the author traces the rise of the writ system and the growth of the jury system in twelfth-century England. Professor van Caenegem attempts to explain why English law is so different from that on the Continent and why this divergence began in the twelfth century, arguing that chance and chronological accident played the major part and led to the paradox of a feudal law of continental origin becoming one of the most typical manifestations of English life and thought. First published in 1973, The Birth of the English Common Law has come to enjoy classical status, and in a preface Professor van Caenegem discusses some recent developments in the study of English law under the Norman and earliest Angevin kings.

About this title

Review

'This tour de force is a piece of mature scholarship based on exceptional first-hand knowledge of archives and literature dealing with early Common Law.' Social Science Quarterly

'The study reflects a thorough command of the primary sources and the vast secondary literature, and it is written with rare lucidity and wit.' New York Literary Journal

Book Description

This book, first published in 1973, provides a challenging interpretation of the emergence of the common law in Anglo-Norman England. The author traces the rise of the writ system and the growth of the jury system in twelfth-century England. He also explains why English law differs from that of the Continent.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1973
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521200970
• ISBN 13: 9780521200974
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 167