The Birth of the English Common Law [Paperback]

This book, first published in 1973, provides a challenging interpretation of the emergence of the common law in Anglo-Norman England.Recent developments in the study of English law under the Norman and earliest Angevin kings preface this edition's interpretation of the emergence of the Common Law in Anglo-Norman England.Recent developments in the study of English law under the Norman and earliest Angevin kings preface this edition's interpretation of the emergence of the Common Law in Anglo-Norman England.First published in 1973, The Birth of the English Common Law has come to enjoy classic status. In a new preface, Professor van Caenegem discusses some recent developments in the study of English law under the Norman and earliest Angevin kings. The 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.Preface to the second edition; Preface to the first edition; 1. English courts from the Conqueror to Glanvill; 2. Royal writs and writ procedure; 3. The jury in the royal courts; 4. English law and the Continent; notes to the text; index of persons, places and subjects. 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 ...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