A power to do justice: jurisdiction, English literature, and the rise of common law, 1509-1625

423 Pages·2013·2.27 MB·English

by  Cormack, Bradin

A Power to Do Justice

A Power to Do Justice
jurisdiction, english literature, and
the rise of common law, 1509–1625
Bradin Cormack
TheUniversityofChicagoPress chicago & london
bradin cormack isassociateprofessorofEnglishatthe
UniversityofChicago.
TheUniversityofChicagoPress,Chicago60637
TheUniversityofChicagoPress,Ltd.,London
(cid:1)C 2007byTheUniversityofChicago
Allrightsreserved.Published2007
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 1 2 3 4 5
isbn-13:978-0-226-11624-2(cloth)
isbn-10:0-226-11624-7(cloth)
TheUniversityofChicagoPressgratefullyacknowledgesthegenerous
supportoftheDivisionoftheHumanitiesattheUniversityofChicago
towardthepublicationofthisbook.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Cormack,Bradin.
Apowertodojustice:jurisdiction,Englishliterature,andtheriseof
commonlaw,1509–1625/BradinCormack.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn-13:978-0-226-11624-2(alk.paper)
isbn-10:0-226-11624-7(alk.paper)
1.Englishliterature—Earlymodern,1500–1700—Historyandcriticism.
2.Lawandliterature—GreatBritain—History—16thcentury. 3.Law
andliterature—GreatBritain—History—17thcentury. 4.Lawinliterature.
I.Title.
pr428.l37c67 2008
(cid:2)
820.9002—dc22
2007024210
(cid:1)∞ Thepaperusedinthispublicationmeetsthe
minimumrequirementsoftheAmericanNational
StandardforInformationSciences—PermanenceofPaper
forPrintedLibraryMaterials,ansi z39.48-1992.
Inmemoryofmyfather,
george noel cormack

c o n t e n t s
ListofIllustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
NoteonCitations xv
Prologue:APowertoDoJustice 1
Introduction:LiteratureandJurisdiction 11
part i centralization
1 “SheweUsYourMyndeThen”:BureaucracyandRoyalPrivilegein
Skelton’sMagnyfycence 47
2 “NoMoretoMedleoftheMatter”:ThomasMore,Equity,andtheClaims
ofJurisdiction 85
part ii rationalization
3 InconveniencingtheIrish:Custom,Allegory,andtheCommonLawin
Spenser’sIreland 133
4 “IfWeBeConquered”:LegalNationalismandtheFranceof
Shakespeare’sEnglishHistories 177
part iii formalization
5 “ToStrideaLimit”:Imperium,Crisis,andAccommodationin
Shakespeare’sCymbelineandPericles 227
6 “ToLawforOurChildren”:NormandJurisdictioninWebster,Rowley,
andHeywood’sCureforaCuckold 291
Notes 331
Index 387
i l l u s t r a t i o n s
1 WilliamI,fromJohnRastell,ThePastymeofPeople(1529) 207
2 RichardI,fromRastell,PastymeofPeople 207
3 EdwardIII,fromRastell,PastymeofPeople 207
4 HenryV,fromRastell,PastymeofPeople 207
5 EdwardIV,fromRastell,PastymeofPeople 208
6 HenryIV,fromRastell,PastymeofPeople 208
7 WilliamII,fromRastell,PastymeofPeople 210
8 WilliamI,WilliamII,andHenryI,fromABriefAbstract(ca.1560) 211
9 ThomasHood,mapoftheEnglishheadlands(1605) 260
10 SirJuliusCaesar,draftofproclamationoninternationalfishing
(1609) 264
11 FrontispiecetoWilliamCamden,Britannia(1607) 267
12 MapofGreatBritainandIreland,fromJohnSpeed,Theatreofthe
EmpireofGreatBritaine(1611) 268
13 DetailofmapofLancashire,fromSpeed,Theatre 270
14 DetailofmapofWarwickshire,fromSpeed,Theatre 271
15 DetailofmapofNorthamptonshire,fromSpeed,Theatre 271
16 DetailofmapofRutlandshire,fromSpeed,Theatre 272
17 DetailofmapofRutlandshire,fromSpeed,Theatre 272
18 DetailofmapofWales,fromSpeed,Theatre 273
19 DetailofmapofCardiganshire,fromSpeed,Theatre 274
20 DetailofmapofLancashire,fromWilliamCamden,Britannia
(1607) 276
21 DetailofmapofLancashire,fromChristopherSaxton’satlas
(1579) 277