Dawson, John P. A History of Lay Judges. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1960. viii, [2], 310 pp. Reprinted 1999 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. LCCN 98-50812. ISBN 1-886363-69-2. Cloth. $75. * An analysis of the divergent legal systems in England, France, Germany and Rome showing the relationship of the courts to the community, the legal structure and political organizations. The work examines the evolution of medieval French and German courts from the Roman canonist system. This study also explores the role of the local courts in England and examines in detail the workings and influence of a typical manor court, Redgrave, in Suffolk, England, (which was owned by Sir Nicholas Bacon, the father of Sir Francis Bacon) for the period up to 1711. Extensive notes, indexed. Scholars interested in the roots of the modern political structures in Europe will find this work of supreme benefit.

This volume in 'The Oxford History of the Laws of England' covers the years 1483-1558, a period of immense social political, and intellectual changes which profoundly affected the law and its workings.

This volume covers the years 1483-1558, a period of immense social, political, and intellectual changes, which profoundly affected the law and its workings. It first considers constitutional developments, and addresses the question of whether there was a rule of law under king Henry VIII. In a period of supposed despotism, and enhanced parliamentary power, protection of liberty was increasing and habeas corpus was emerging. The volume considers the extent to which the law was affected by the intellectual changes of the Renaissance, and how far the English experience differed from that of the Continent. It includes a study of the myriad jurisdictions in Tudor England and their workings; and examines important procedural changes in the central courts, which represent a revolution in the way that cases were presented and decided. The legal profession, its education, its functions, and its literature are examined, and the impact of printing upon legal learning and the role of case-law in comparison with law-school doctrine are addressed. The volume then considers the law itself. Criminal law was becoming more focused during this period as a result of doctrinal exposition in the inns of court and occasional reports of trials. After major conflicts with the Church, major adjustments were made to the benefit of clergy, and the privilege of sanctuary was all but abolished. The volume examines the law of persons in detail, addressing the impact of the abolition of monastic status, the virtual disappearance of villeinage, developments in the law of corporations, and some remarkable statements about the equality of women. The history of private law during this period is dominated by real property and particularly the Statutes of Uses and Wills (designed to protect the king's feudal income against the consequences of trusts) which are given a new interpretation. Leaseholders and copyholders came to be treated as full landowners with rights assimilated to those of freeholders. The land law of the time was highly sophisticated, and becoming more so, but it was only during this period that the beginnings of a law of chattels became discernible. There were also significant changes in the law of contract and tort, not least in the development of a satisfactory remedy for recovering debts.

Papers from the Interdisciplinary Conference on the Fourteenth Century held at the University of York in July 1998.

The first authoritative survey of the history of common land in Great Britain from the medieval period to present day.