Common Law - persistence of Anglo-Saxon law under Anglo-Normans
Documents & Laws
~1150 - Gratian’s Decretum
In the mid-12th century the scholar Gratian completed his Decretum, which was a compilation of canon law. Legal scholar Harold J. Berman has called it “the first comprehensive and systematic legal treatise in the history of the West, and perhaps in the history of mankind.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decretum_Gratiani
1166 - The Assize of Clarendon
Created by King Henry II in 1166, this law enhanced the power of royal courts over ecclesiastical courts in judging various serious crimes including murder and robbery. The concept of juries was first established with the Assize of Clarendon, “providing the blueprint fro one of the most significant procedural components of criminal law.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assize_of_Clarendon
1215 - Magna Carta
While the famous document from 1215 was soon voided by the Pope, and ignored by the King and Barons just after it was issued, Magna Carta has long since inspired and moulded legal thinking. According to legal journalist James Podgers, “that King John agreed to sign a document affirming the principle that no one, not even a monarch, is above the law was historic.” Legal scholar A.E. Dick Howard notes that the document had “enormous significance in the development of one of our most precious ideals: rule of law, a government of laws and not of men.”
Magna Carta 1215 - barons, church to parliament
Tam
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs5H4V1x-xBiUBMll7yPx4KQNsQzZG-HT
1215 - Canon 18 of Fourth Lateran Council spelled end for Trial by Ordeal
Charter of the Forests, 1217, Henry I [1225]
1258 - Provisions of Oxford were constitutional reforms developed in 1258 to resolve a dispute beween the English barons and King Henry III. They asserted the right of the barons to representation in the king's government and, like the earlier Magna Carta, demonstrated the ability of the barons to press their concerns in opposition to the monarchy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provisions_of_Oxford
1275 - Statute of the Jewry: Edward I of England outlawed the practice of usury
1290 - The Edict of Expulsion was a royal decree issued by King Edward I of England on 18 July 1290, expelling all Jews from the Kingdom of England.
1275, 1285, 1290 - The Statutes of Westminster
The cornerstones for Edward I’s reputation as one of the most important monarchs in England’s legal history were the the Statutes of Westminster. The first set of laws were issued in 1275, followed by other sets in 1285 and 1290.
● Statute of Westminster 1275, often called the Statute of Westminster I, codified existing law in England in 51 chapters
● Statute of Westminster 1285, often called the Statute of Westminster II, contained the clause De donis conditionalibus
● Quia Emptores of 1290, often called the Statute of Westminster III, prevented tenants from alienating their lands to others by subinfeudation
● Statute of Westminster 1327, first mentioned the military post of Conductor
● Statute of Westminster 1472, mostly noted for requiring ships coming to an English port to bring a tax in bowstaves
● Statute of Westminster 1931, established legislative equality for the self-governing dominions of the British Empire with the United Kingdom
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statute_of_Westminster
Lex mercatoria
1303 - Edward I - Carta Mercatoria
As trade continued to increase in medieval Europe, merchants were coming up with informal customs and practices that would serve as their own law. “These rules,” Roffer explains, “collectively the lex mercatoria, or merchant law – became the governing doctrine for resolving commercial disputes in merchant courts that arose along major trading routes.” Many scholars view it as one of the precursors to the concept of international law.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lex_mercatoria
~1398 The Star Chamber
Emerging in the second half of the 14th century, it was created by the King’s Council to allow for regular citizens to seek justice against even the most powerful men of the real. Gradually the seven men who sat in the court began to wield important power, including the ability to create new laws. “For example,” Roffer writes, “it made crimes of libel, perjury, and conspiracy. However appropriate or necessary such laws were, the process inhibited political dissent and criminalized the expression of certain opinions.” The Court of the Star Chamber would continue to operate until 1640.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Chamber
1431 - Trial of Joan of Arc
Perhaps the most well-known trial of the Middle Ages, it took place in 1431 after Joan was captured and imprisoned by the English and their allies. In order to discredit the teenager, who had led French forces to a series of military victories just months earlier, she was put on trial for heresy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr0anFEyP2U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4_KDf4xhU8
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_of_Joan_of_Arc
http://www.medievalists.net/2017/05/10-milestones-medieval-law/
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Court of Augmentations, also called Augmentation Court or simply The Augmentation, was established during the reign of King Henry VIII of England along with three lesser courts (those of General Surveyors, First Fruit and Tenths, and Wards and Liveries) following the dissolution of the monasteries. Its primary function was to gain better control over the land and finances formerly held by the Roman Catholic Church in the kingdom. It was incorporated into the Exchequer in 1554 as the augmentation office.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_of_Augmentations .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Dissolution_of_the_Monasteries .
King John and Magna Carta - HiHu >> .
Legal Landmarks - HiHu >> .
