LibGuides: English Medieval Legal Documents Database: Treatises

Treatises

Rectitudines Singularum Personarum Rectitudines Singularum Personarum . Halle: E. Anton, 1842. Notes: Available online at http://www.earlyenglishlaws.ac.uk/laws/texts/rect/. Abstract: Compiled between 1000-1060. An example of an early Latin law book which expounds the still operative Anglo-Saxon law, it concerns the status of persons and discusses services to be rendered to the lord by the various classes of persons on a manor.
Lex Mercatoria and Legal Pluralism: a Late Thirteenth-Century Treatise and Its Afterlife Basile, Mary E., ed. and trans. Lex Mercatoria and Legal Pluralism: a Late Thirteenth-Century Treatise and Its Afterlife. Cambridge, Mass.: Ames Foundation, 1998. Abstract: Text of Lex Mercatoria in Latin with English translation.
Bracton De Legibus Et Consuetudinibus Angliae Bracton, Henry de, and George E. Woodbine, ed. Bracton De Legibus Et Consuetudinibus Angliae. 4 Vols. Yale Historical Publications. Manuscripts and Edited Texts, 3. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1915-1942. Abstract: Constitutes a restoration of the original text, the objective being "to present, as nearly as possible, the text of De Legibus, as it left Bracton's hands."
Bracton De Legibus Et Consuetudinibus Angliae = Bracton on the Laws and Customs of England Bracton, Henry de, and Samuel E. Thorne, trans. Bracton De Legibus Et Consuetudinibus Angliae. Bracton on the Laws and Customs of England. 4 Vols. Cambridge , Mass. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1968-1977. Notes: Also available online at http://hlsl5.law.harvard.edu/bracton/ Abstract: The first comprehensive exposition of English law. Latin text and English translation.
Henrici De Bracton De Legibus Et Consuetudinibus Angliae Libri Quinque in Varios Tractatus Distinctii. Bracton, Henry de, and Travers Twiss, ed. Henrici De Bracton De Legibus Et Consuetudinibus Angliae Libri Quinque in Varios Tractatus Distinctii. 6 Vols. Rerum britannicarum medii aevi scriptores (Rolls Series), 70. London: Longman, 1878-1883. Notes: Also available online in HeinOnline (subscription database) Abstract: This edition of Bracton is published as part of the Rolls Series.
Britton: Cum Priuilegio Regali Breton, John le, and Henry de Bracton. Britton; Cum Priuilegio Regali. London: Robert Redman, 1533. Notes: Also available online in EEBO; 1901 English translation available in MOML (subscription databases) Abstract: Attributed to John Breton or Britton (d.1275), but largely based on De legibus et consuetudinibus Angliae, by Henry de Bracton (d.1268)
Britton: Containing the Ancient Pleas of the Crown, Translated; and Illustrated With References, Notes, and Ancient Records Britton, John, and Robert Kelham , ed.and trans. Containing the Ancient Pleas of the Crown, Translated; and Illustrated With References, Notes, and Ancient Records. London: J.Worrall, 1762. Abstract: An English translation of Britton through Chapter 25. The original, a digest of English law after the manner of the Institutes of Justinian, was probably written soon after 1290.
The Ecclesiastical Law Burn, Richard, and Robert Phillimore. The Ecclesiastical Law. 4 Vols. 9th ed. London: S. Sweet, V. & R. Stevens Notes: Various editions also available online in MOML (subscription database)
Leges Henrici Primi Downer, L. J., ed and trans. Leges Henrici Primi. Oxford: Clarenden Press, 1972. Abstract: Latin text with translation and commentary. Probably written between AD 1100 and 1118, it constitutes the earliest legal textbook of medieval Europe.
Origines Juridiciales, or, Historical Memorials of the English Laws, Courts of Justice, Forms of Tryal, Punishment in Cases Criminal, Law-Writers, Law-Books, Grants and Settlements of Estates, Degree of Serjeant, Innes of Court and Chancery... Dugdale, William. Origines Juridiciales, or, Historical Memorials of the English Laws, Courts of Justice, Forms of Tryal, Punishment in Cases Criminal, Law-Writers, Law-Books, Grants and Settlements of Estates, Degree of Serjeant, Innes of Court and Chancery... 3rd ed. London: Christopher Wilkinson, 1680. Notes: Also available online in MOML and EEBO (subscription databases) Abstract: Also known as Justices itinerant rolls.
De Necessariis Observantiis Scaccarii Dialogus; Commonly Called Dialogus De Scaccario Fitzneale, Richard, Charles G Crump, Arthur Hughes, and Charles Johnson, eds. De Necessariis Observantiis Scaccarii Dialogus; Commonly Called Dialogus De Scaccario . Oxford: Clarendon, 1902. Notes: Also available online in MOML (subscription database) Abstract: Text in English and Latin. Contains reproductions of the manuscripts of Dialogus de Scaccario and other documents. Reprinted in 1950.
The Governance of England: Otherwise Called the Difference Between an Absolute and a Limited Monarchy Fortesque, John, and Charles Plummer, ed. The Governance of England: Otherwise Called the Difference Between an Absolute and a Limited Monarchy . Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1885. Notes: Also available online in MOML (subscription database) Abstract: The earliest treatise on constitutional history, it was originally written between 1471 and 1476.
De Laudibus Legum Angliae Fortesque, John, Francis Gregor, John Selden, and Ralph de Hengham. De Laudibus Legum Angliae. New ed. London: T. Evans, 1775. Notes: First ed., 1616 also available online in ModernEconomy (subscription database) Abstract: Original Latin text by John Fortesque, written about 1468, discusses the advantages of English common law in relation to the Roman law.
The Treatise on the Laws and Customs of the Realm of England Commonly Called Glanvill. (Tractatus De Legibus Et Consuetudinibus Regni Anglie, Qui Glanvilla Vocatur) Glanville, Ranulf de, and George D. G. Hall, ed. The Treatise on the Laws and Customs of the Realm of England Commonly Called Glanvill. (Tractatus De Legibus Et Consuetudinibus Regni Anglie, Qui Glanvilla Vocatur). Oxford Medieval Texts. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993. Abstract: English translation of the George E. Woodbine edition, the first English common law treatise completed shortly before the end of the reign of Henry II,
Tractatus De Legibus Et Consuetudinibus Regni Angliae Glanville, Ranulf de, and George E. Woodbine, ed. Tractatus De Legibus Et Consuetudinibus Regni Angliae. Yale Historical Publications. Manuscripts and Edited Texts, 13. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1932. Notes: 1604 edition also available online in EEBO (subscription database) Abstract: Text in Latin. A twelfth century treatise on writs and the common law traditionally attributed to Ranulf de Glanville.
Modus Tenendi Cur Baron Cum Visu Franci Plegii; a Reprint of the First Edition A.D. 1510: Together With Translations and an Introductory Note Greenwood, Charles, ed. Modus Tenendi Cur Baron Cum Visu Franci Plegii; a Reprint of the First Edition A.D. 1510: Together With Translations and an Introductory Note . Manorial Society's Publications, 9. London: Manorial Society, 1915. Notes: Also available online in MOML (subscription database) Abstract: Text in Latin and English.
Modus Tenendi Parliamentum; an Ancient Treatise on the Mode of Holding the Parliament in England Hardy, Thomas D., ed. and trans. Modus Tenendi Parliamentum; an Ancient Treatise on the Mode of Holding the Parliament in England . London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1846. Abstract: A treatise on the rules and practice of parliament, attributed by some to the end of the thirteenth century, by others to the latter part of the fourteenth century. Text in Latin with English translation. Also included in Stubbs, Select Charters, 512.
An Inquiry into the Laws, Antient and Modern, Respecting Forestalling, Regrating and Ingrossing Together With Adjudged Cases, Copies of Original Records and Proceedings in Parliament Relative to Those Subjects' Illingworth, William. 'An Inquiry into the Laws, Antient and Modern, Respecting Forestalling, Regrating and Ingrossing Together With Adjudged Cases, Copies of Original Records and Proceedings in Parliament Relative to Those Subjects. London: E. & R. Brooke, 1800. Notes: Also available online in ECCO; Modern Economy (subscription databases) Abstract: A treatise on monopolies, dealings in futures and corners in food. Includes cases from the years 1273-1800.
Le Court Leete, Et Court Baron, Collect Per Iohn Kytchin De Greys Inne Vn ApprenTice En Le Ley, Et Les Cases Et Matters Necessaries Pur Seneschals De Ceux Courts a Scier, Pur Les Students De Les Measons De Chauncerie Kitchin, John, ed. Le Court Leete, Et Court Baron, Collect Per Iohn Kytchin De Greys Inne Vn ApprenTice En Le Ley, Et Les Cases Et Matters Necessaries Pur Seneschals De Ceux Courts a Scier, Pur Les Students De Les Measons De Chauncerie. London: Richard Tottell, 1581. Notes: The 1580, 1581, 1585, 1587, & 1592 editions also available online in EEBO (subscription database) Abstract: Other titles: Retorna breuium; Retorna brevium; Returna brevium.
Littleton's Tenures in English Littleton, Thomas, and Eugene Wambaugh, ed. Littleton's Tenures in English. Washington, DC: John Byrne, 1903. Notes: Also available online in MOML and HeinOnline(subscription databases) Abstract: Translation of an early legal treatise by Littleton on real property, ca. 1481. The text of this 1903 edition is a reprint of the version as given in Coke upon Littleton.
A Treatise on the Law of Adulterine Bastardy, With a Report of the Banbury Case, and of All Other Cases Bearing Upon the Subject Nicolas, Nicholas H. A Treatise on the Law of Adulterine Bastardy, With a Report of the Banbury Case, and of All Other Cases Bearing Upon the Subject . London: W. Pickering, 1836. Notes: Also available online in MOML (subscription database) Abstract: Contains cases on legitimacy from the years 1282-1813.
God's Peace and King's Peace: the Laws of Edward the Confessor O'Brien, Bruce R. God's Peace and King's Peace: the Laws of Edward the Confessor. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999. Abstract: An exposition and text of a twelfth century legal treatise, Leges Edwardi Confessoris. It claimed to record the laws that had been in force under Edward the Confessor at the time of the accession of William the Conqueror. Latin text with English translation
Fleta Richardson, Henry G., and George O. Sayles, eds. and trans. Fleta. 3 Vols. SS, 72 for 1953, 89 for 1972, 99 for 1983. London: Quaritch, 1955-1984. Abstract: A legal treatise consisting of a prologue and six books, written c. 1296. It can be viewed as a learned and updated commentary on Bracton. Text in Latin with English translation.
St. German's Doctor and Student Saint German, Christopher, Theodore F. T. Plucknett, and John L. Barton, eds. St. German's Doctor and Student. SS, 91 for 1974. London : Selden Society, 1974. Notes: Also available online in MOML and HeinOnline (subscription databases)
Textus Roffensis: Rochester Cathedral Library Manuscript A.3.5 Sawyer, Peter H., ed. Textus Roffensis: Rochester Cathedral Library Manuscript A.3.5. 2 Vols. Early English Manuscripts in Facsimile, 7, 11. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde og Bagger, 1957-1962. Abstract: Facsimile of a famous early English manuscript which contains the fullest set of early English legal texts in the vernacular.
De Republica Anglorum; a Discourse on the Commonwealth of England Smith, Thomas, Leonard Alston, and Frederic W. Maitland, eds. De Republica Anglorum; a Discourse on the Commonwealth of England . Cambridge: The University Press, 1906. Notes: 1584 and 1610 editions also available online in EEBO and Modern Economy (subscription databases) Abstract: First edition 1584.
The Oak Book of Southampton of C. A.D. 1300 Studer, Paul, trans. The Oak Book of Southampton of C. A.D. 1300. 3 Vols. Southampton : Cox & Sharland, 1910. Abstract: Text translated from Latin, Anglo-Norman, and Middle English into English. Contents: Vol. 1, Including the Anglo-French ordinances of the ancient guild merchant of Southampton; Vol. 2, Including a fourteenth century version of the medieval sea-laws known as the Rolls of Oleron; Vol. 3, Supplement to The Oak book of Southampton of ca. AD 1300.
Monumenta Juridica. The Black Book of the Admiralty, With an Appendix. Twiss, Travers, ed. Monumenta Juridica. The Black Book of the Admiralty, With an Appendix. 4 Vols. Rerum Britannicarum Medii Aevi Scriptores (Rolls Series), 55. London: Longman, 1871. Notes: Also available online in HeinOnline (subscription database) Abstract: A collection of laws, in French and Latin, relating to the navy, the original MS of which is preserved in the Admiralty archives at Whitehall.
A Treatise of the Laws of the Forest Wherein Is Declared Not Onely Those Laws As They Are Now in Force, but Also the Original and Beginning of Forests, and What a Forest Is in Its Own Proper Nature Manwood, John, ed. A Treatise of the Laws of the Forest Wherein Is Declared Not Onely Those Laws As They Are Now in Force, but Also the Original and Beginning of Forests, and What a Forest Is in Its Own Proper Nature ... : Also a Treatise of the Pourallee, Declaring What Pourallee Is, How the Same First Began, What a Pourallee-Man? May Do ... 3rd ed. London: Company of Stationers, 1665. Notes: Also available n EEBO and ECCO (subscription databases)
The Court Baron: Being Precedents for Use in Seignorial and Other Local Courts, Together with Select Pleas from the Bishop of Ely's Court of Littleport Maitland, Frederic W., and W. Paley Baildon, eds. The Court Baron. SS, 4 for 1890. London: Quaritch, 1891. Abstract: "This book consists of five parts. Four of these are texts of old tracts on the holding of feudal courts, viz. La Court de Baron 1280, De Placitis et Curiis Tenendis 1270, Modus tenendi Curias 1307 and 1342. The fifth section is a record of pleas tried in the court of the Bishop of Ely, at Littleport, 1285-1327.