The Oxford History of the Laws of England Volume II: 871-1216

981 Pages·2012·5.66 MB·English

by  John Hudson

Th e Oxford History of the Laws of England
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THE OXFORD HISTORY OF THE LAWS OF ENGLAND
General Editor: Sir John Baker, Q.C., LL.D., F.B.A., Downing Professor of the
Laws of England, and Fellow of St Catharine’s College, Cambridge
Th e Oxford History of the Laws of England will provide a detailed survey of the
development of English law and its institutions from the earliest times until the
twentieth century, drawing heavily upon recent research using unpublished materials.
Volume I: The Canon Law and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction
from 597 to the 1640s Helmholz
isbn 978-0-19-825897-1
Volume II: 871–1216 Hudson
isbn 978-0-19-826030-1
Volume III: 1216–1307 Brand
isbn 978-0-19-825866-7
Volume IV: 1307–1377 Donahue
isbn 978-0-19-926951-8
Volume V: 1399–1483
isbn 978-0-19-926599-2
Volume VI: 1483–1558 Baker
isbn 978-0-19-825817-9
Volume VII: 1558–1625 Ibbetson
isbn 978-0-19-825802-5
Volume VIII: 1625–1689 Brooks
isbn 978-0-19-826031-8
Volume IX: 1689–1760
isbn 978-0-19-826100-1
Volume X: 1760–1820 Oldham
isbn 978-0-19-826494-1
Volume XI: 1820–1914, English Legal System
Cornish, Anderson, Cocks, Lobban, Polden, and Smith
isbn 978-0-19-925881-9
Volume XII: 1820–1914, Private Law
Cornish, Anderson, Cocks, Lobban, Polden, and Smith
isbn 978-0-19-925882-6
Volume XIII: 1820–1914, Fields of Development
Cornish, Anderson, Cocks, Lobban, Polden, and Smith
isbn 979-0-19-923975-7
(Three-volume set of Volumes XI, XII, and XIII: isbn 978-0-19-925883-3)
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Th e Oxford History of
the Laws of England
o
VOLUME II
871–1216
John Hudson
Professor of Legal History at the University of St Andrews and
William W. Cook Global Law Professor at University of Michigan Law School
1
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3
Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp
United Kingdom
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford.
It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship,
and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of
Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries
© John Hudson, 2012
Th e moral rights of the author have been asserted
First published 2012
Impression: 1
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the
prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted
by law, by licence or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics
rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the
above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the
address above
You must not circulate this work in any other form
and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer
Crown copyright material is reproduced under Class Licence
Number C01P0000148 with the permission of OPSI
and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Data available
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Library of Congress Control Number: 2011939974
ISBN 978–0–19–826030–1
Printed in Great Britain by
CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY
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CONTENTS
Preface xiii
Abbreviations xv
INTRODUCTORY
1. Th e History of Law and the History of Disputes 3
1 Approaches to the history of law 4
2 Th e conduct of disputes 5
PART I: LATE ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND
2. Kings and Law 17
1 Law and kingship 18
2 Legislation and law in practice 26
3 Royal offi cials 29
4 Communication with royal servants 41
5 Conclusion 42
3. Courts 43
1 Th e king’s court 43
2 Regional and district courts 46
3 Lords’ courts 56
4 Ecclesiastical courts 63
5 Relations between courts 64
4. Procedure 66
1 Two cases 67
2 Bringing an accusation or claim 69
3 Ensuring attendance 72
4 Further pleading and argument 76
5 Mesne judgment 78
6 Proof 79
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vi contents
7 Final judgment 87
8 Enforcement 91
5. Land 93
1 Types of land 94
2 Landholding, lordship, and dependent tenure 115
3 Security 120
4 Inheritance 122
5 Bequests of land and the Anglo-Saxon will 126
6 Alienability 136
7 Church lands 143
8 Conclusion 147
6. Movables 149
1 Ownership 150
2 Control of movables 150
3 Alienability, succession, and bequest 152
4 Sale 152
5 Conclusion 160
7. Th eft and Violence 161
1 Vocabulary and categorisation 161
2 Types of off ence 164
3 Responsibility and liability 168
4 Prevention and police 169
5 Compensation 177
6 Punishment 180
7 Banishment and outlawry 196
8 Conclusion 198
8. Status 200
1 Hierarchies 201
2 Men of higher status 202
3 Men of lesser status 207
4 Slaves 212
5 Clergy 218
6 Lordship and commendation 220
9. Marriage and Family 225
1 Marriage 226
2 Illegitimacy 236
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contents vii
3 Husband and wife 237
4 Minors 241
5 Spiritual kinship 242
6 Conclusion 243
10. Conclusion 244
1 Continuity and change from Alfred to 1066 244
2 Diversity and uniformity 247
3 Th e place of the late Anglo-Saxon period in the development
of English law 250
PART II: ANGLO-NORMAN ENGLAND
11. Kings and Law 255
1 Norman law and Anglo-Norman England 255
2 Law and kingship 256
3 Royal offi cials 260
4 Communication with royal servants 270
5 Income from justice 271
6 Conclusion 271
12. Courts 273
1 Th e king’s court 274
2 County courts 276
3 Hundred and wapentake courts 280
4 Lords’ courts 284
5 Ecclesiastical courts 297
6 Transfer of cases between secular courts 300
7 Conclusion 302
13. Procedure 303
1 Two cases 304
2 Bringing an accusation or claim 307
3 Ensuring attendance 310
4 Further pleading and argument 314
5 Mesne judgment 317
6 Proof 318
7 Final judgment 329
8 Enforcement 331
9 Conclusion 332
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viii contents
14. Land 333
1 Landholding and lordship 334
2 Types of lay free tenure 338
3 Security of tenure 341
4 Inheritance 347
5 Alienability 357
6 Unfree tenure 367
7 Ecclesiastical landholding and alms tenure 369
8 Conclusion 372
15. Movables 376
1 Ownership 376
2 Succession 377
3 Sale and grant 379
4 Conclusion 383
16. Th eft and Violence 384
1 Vocabulary and categorisation 384
2 Types of off ence 389
3 Responsibility and liability 390
4 Prevention and police 391
5 Punishment 399
6 Conclusion 415
17. Status 416
1 Hierarchies 416
2 Men of higher status 416
3 Men of lesser status 418
4 Clergy 428
5 Jews 430
6 Lordship in Anglo-Norman and Angevin England 431
18. Marriage and Family 435
1 Marriage 435
2 Illegitimacy 444
3 Husband and wife 445
4 Minors 452
5 Conclusion: ‘Feudal incidents’ 454
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contents ix
19. Forest Laws from Anglo-Saxon England to the Early
Th irteenth Century 455
1 Anglo-Saxon England 456
2 Anglo-Norman England 457
3 Angevin England 467
4 Conclusion 484
20. Conclusion 487
1 Continuity and change across 1066 487
2 Diversity and uniformity by 1135 490
3 Th e reign of Stephen (1135–54) 492
PART III: ANGEVIN ENGLAND
21. Kings and Law 497
1 Law and kingship 497
2 Royal offi cials 500
3 Angevin reform: a chronological survey 509
4 Reforms and reformers 528
22. Courts 537
1 Th e king’s court 537
2 County courts 550
3 Hundred courts 554
4 Th e sheriff ’s tourn 555
5 Lords’ courts 556
6 Ecclesiastical courts 565
7 Transfer of cases between secular courts 569
23. Procedure in Land Cases 574
1 Richard of Anstey’s account 574
2 Litigants 578
3 Cases concerning right 580
4 Cases concerning only seisins 603
5 Enforcement and settlements 621
6 Reopening cases 622
7 Change and continuity 624
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