Text Pages: 128.
Original Language: Anglo-Norman.
Translation: Facing-page, Anglo-Norman to English.
Record Authority: Central Gov’t-Courts.
Record Type: Chancery Petitions.
Dates Covered: 1364-1471.
Archival Reference: TNA, Ancient Petitions (SC8/3 and others)
Comments: This volume presents petitions (bills) addressed to the Chancellor, asking for a remedy (a writ) to help the complainant bring a defendant to court. The procedure includes the bill and writ; by the 1440s, it also includes the written answer of the defendant. The bills are almost always in French until the reign of Henry V, when English becomes the norm. The petitions cover a wide array of problems, including mercantile reprisals, piracy, a surgeon’s incompetence, and suits against foreigners. An extensive Introduction (pp. xi-xlvi) explains the procedures involved. Part I (pp. 1-101) contains early Chancery petitions from 1383 to 1412. Part II (pp. 103-58) contains selected petitions, most in French. There is also a Glossary and Index.
Text Pages: 734.
Original Language: Anglo-Norman.
Translation: Facing-page, Anglo-Norman to English.
Record Type: Court Roll, Law Treatise/Commentary.
Dates Covered: 1485 – 1522.
Archival Reference: BL Harley 1624; H.E. Huntington Library, San Marino EL 6108-6138; BL Harley 1691; BL Harley 6686; BL Harley 5158; Cambridge University Library Gg.3.26, Hh.3.14, Ii.5.10; Lincoln’s Inn Maynard 86; Inner Temple Petyt 511/12-13; Harvard Law MS. 16.
Comments: Starting in the fourteenth century lawyers composed law reports, unoffical accounts documenting how cases were argued and how decisions were reached. The fifteenth-century portion of Caryll’s reports is the largest series of surviving law reports from that century. Unlike many of his contemporaries he kept his reports separate from his Inner Temple disputations and wrote them in a chronological register in the year-book tradition. This volume, therefore, provides the reader with a chronological selection of cases that were considered significant by the contemporary author. The first volume has a brief but helpful introduction. The second has indices and tables of cases and of statutes. For more information about law reporting see: J. H. Baker, The Common Law Tradition: Lawyers, Books and the Law (London: Hambledon Press, 2000), Part II.
Text Pages: 472.
Original Language: Anglo-Norman, Middle English.
Translation: Facing-page, Anglo-Norman to English.
Record Type: Court Roll, Law Treatise/Commentary.
Dates Covered: 1509 – 1547.
Archival Reference: British Library, Gray’s Inn.
Comments: Henry VIII’s reign was a period of legal innovation. Not only did Year-Books continue to report the law, but individuals also compiled personalized reports of cases. These unofficial reports typically detail how arguments were made and how decisions were reached. They were much more detailed than the offical court records. In these volumes Baker has edited the reports compiled by 13 individuals including Roger Yorke, Richard Pollard, John Caryll the younger, and William Yelverton. The first volume has a table of statutes, tables of cases and an introduction. The second volume contains the appendices and the index. For more information about law reporting see J. H. Baker, The Common Law Tradition: Lawyers, Books and the Law (London: Hambledon Press, 2000), Part II.
Text Pages: 151.
Original Language: Anglo-Norman, Latin.
Translation: Facing-page, Anglo-Norman/Latin to English.
Record Type: Eyre Court Roll, Petition.
Dates Covered: 1292 – 1333.
Comments: This volume contains selected bills presented to the Eyre courts in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. These bills were “humble petition[s] for the remedy of a stated grievance” (xi). They were presented before the Eyre courts, which were run by traveling justices empowered by the king to give remedy for all wrongs within the shire. For all but the wealthiest people the Eyre courts provided their only access to the king’s plenary power. All of the bills in this volume, extracted from the Eyre records in Shropshire, Staffordshire, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire, are in Anglo-Norman or in Latin. They must, therefore, have been composed with some sort of assistance since petty farmers, servant girls and widows were not able to speak fluently in these languages let alone write their grievances. Nevertheless, the editor doubts that they were composed by professionals as we can see from the “almost unintelligible uncouthness of the language.” These bills were used to address a wide range of grievances including the recovery of debts, the enforcement of contracts, redress for trespass or wrongful imprisonment, and accusations of conspiracy. In short, bills could be used to address almost any act by which an individual might be damaged. These bills, therefore, can be used to illuminate the types of wrongdoings that were common in the middle ages. They also have incidental references that can be used to study many other facets of economic and social history. For more information about the Eyre courts and an extensive list of additional sources see: David Crook, ed., Records of the General Eyre, Public Record Office Handbooks, No. 20 (London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1981).
Text Pages: 719.
Original Language: Anglo-Norman, Latin.
Translation: Facing-page, Anglo-Norman/Latin to English.
Record Type: Court Roll, Law Treatise/Commentary.
Dates Covered: 1260 – 1290.
Archival Reference: British Library, Cambridge University Library, Lincoln’s Inn, Inner Temple, Trinity College Cambridge, Bodleian Library, Merton College, Huntington Library San Marino CA, Free Library of Philadelphia
Comments: At the end of the middle ages law reporting became a popular practice in which lawyers wrote accounts detailing how cases were argued and how decisions were reached in courts. They typically contain more information than the official court records for these cases. The reports were compiled in Year Books were compiled and used to instruct lawyers and to establish president. Because earlier reports were not reproduced in accessible, dated collections they have rarely been used. In these volumes Paul Brand has collected the early law reports from the reigns of Henry III (1216-1272) and Edward I (1272-1307). The first two volumes contain all of the reports which relate to cases heard in the court of the Common Bench prior to 1290. After the Magna Carta (1215) the Common Bench had to be located in “some fixed place” where justices would hear private cases relating to the common law. By the end of the thirteenth century Westminster was established as the home of the court. The second volume contains summaries of cases and the indicies for the first two volumes. The third volume consists mainly of reports of cases heard in the General Eyre from 1268-1285 but it also includes reports from other courts including the Assizes and the Exchequer of the Jews. The “general eyre” is a term that was invented by W.C. Bolland in the twentieth century. It referes to the wide powers which justices received when they were commissioned. In the General Eyres Itinerant Justices traveled from shire to shire hearing all of the civil pleas brough before them. The General Eyres probably began in the reign of Henry II (1154-1189) and ended in 1348. For more information about the General Eyre and for an extensive list of additional resources see David Crook, ed., Records of the General Eyre, Public Record Office Handbooks, No. 20 (London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1981). For more information about law reports see: J. H. Baker, The Common Law Tradition: Lawyers, Books and the Law (London: Hambledon Press, 2000), Part II.
Text Pages: 385.
Original Language: Anglo-Norman, Latin, Middle English.
Translation: None.
Record Type: Charter/Deed, Court Roll, Legislation, Chronicle/Annal, Petition, Secular Council, Letter, Formulary.
Dates Covered: 1307 – 1485.
Comments: This volume includes documents, printed in chronological order, illustrating the transformation of English governance from medieval to parliamentary monarchy during the period spanning the reigns of Edward II to Richard III. Documents printed in entirety appear in their original language, others are summarized. Meant to be a representative collection of source materials for teachers and students of constitutional history, the volume is very selective in the documents included, but provides very little in the way of commentary or interpretation.
Text Pages: 141.
Original Language: Anglo-Norman, Latin.
Translation: Facing-page, Anglo-Norman/Latin to English.
Record Type: Court Roll, Treatise.
Dates Covered: 1231 – 1278.
Archival Reference: MS Additional 38821; MS. Additional 5762; MS. Harley 748.
Comments: The Casus Placitorum is a law-teacher’s book of notes, which Dunham believes might mark the first step in the growth of medieval law-reporting. It includes many rules and decisions from cases decided by the justices on the king’s courts between 1231 and 1261. The text is included in this volume along with two collections of reports made from cases heard in the king’s courts in the 1270s which are similar in style to the Year Books (many of which have been printed by the Selden Society). Appended to the introduction the reader will find Latin notes of cases and some select “pages from a student’s work-book.” In addition to containing incidental information about the cases, this volume is a valuable resource for those interested in investigating how the law was taught.
Text Pages: 371.
Original Language: Anglo-Norman, Latin.
Translation: Facing-page, Anglo-Norman/Latin to English.
Record Type: Court Roll.
Dates Covered: 1377 – 1509.
Archival Reference: British Library, Cambridge University Library, Lincoln’s Inn Library, Bodleian Library.
Comments: This volume contains 87 cases that were heard before the Exchequer Chamber that were contained in the Year Books, which are medieval law books that recorded discussions between judges on particular legal cases in order to provide instructional material for novices. The Year Books first refer to the proceeding in the Exchequer Chamber in the reign of Henry IV (1399-1413), though the court was set up by statute in the reign of Edward III (1327-1377) to address the errors in the Exchequer (the department of the government that collected the king’s revenues). In practice, however, many of the cases that fell within the court’s jurisdiction were not heard there because the court only had authority when either Treasurer or Chancellor was present, and it only heard cases that were referred to it by lower courts. Over time, however, the assembly of justices in the Exchequer Chamber came to compromise the most authoritative and learned legal opinion in England. Eventually the most respectable courts referred difficult cases there. Although this volume was assembled to further the study of legal history, the cases it contains are invaluable to social and legal historians since they include incidental references to women, mercantile transactions, property disputes and material culture among other things. For more information about the court see Hemmant’s clear and thorough introduction.
Text pages: 26.
Original Language: Anglo-Norman.
Translation: None given.
Record Authority: Central Govt-Court of Chivalry.
Record Type: Court Roll.
Dates Covered: 1399.
Archival Reference: TNA, State Papers Misc. 9/10.
Comments: Records the appeal (charge) of treason brought by Thomas Lord Morley against John Montagu, Early of Salisbury, who was accused of betraying the Duke of Gloucester to Richard II. The text is from a 17th-century transcript. The Introduction (pp. 141-68) sets the case and the procedures of this court in context.
Original Language: Anglo-Norman and Latin.
Translation: Facing-page, Anglo-Norman/Latin to English.
Record Authority: Central Govt-Courts.
Record Type: Petitions to the King’s Council.
Dates Covered: 1243-1482.
Archival Reference: TNA, SC8, Ancient Petitions
Comments: An extensive Introduction describes the procedure before the King’s Council and discusses many cases in depth. The text includes the original petitions to the Council (almost always in French), the answers of the defendants (in French), the advice of the Council (also in French), and the examination of parties involved (often in Latin). The cases include a dispute between Yarmouth and Lowestoft over the right to collect tolls from ships.
Text Pages: 419.
Original Language: Anglo-Norman, Latin.
Translation: None.
Record Type: Charter/Deed, Secular Council, Court Roll, Legislation, Petition, Taxes.
Dates Covered: 1307 – 1485.
Comments: This volume contains documents relating to the administration of English law during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The documents are arranged in three large groups: 1) Central Government — which includes documents concerning the crown, the king’s council, wardrobe and chamber, parliament, chancery, the seals, the exchequer, and justice; 2) The Church; and 3) Local Government — which includes documents concerning justices of the peace, sheriffs, coroners, escheators, forests, seignorial jurisdiction, and individual towns. Within each category, documents are arranged chronologically, with an introduction and bibliography for each large category and additional introductory information for each sub-category.
Text Pages: 17.
Original Language: Anglo-Norman, Latin, and Middle English.
Translation: Translated into English.
Record Authority: Central Govt.—Admiralty.
Record Type: Court Rolls.
Dates Covered: 1390 – 1545.
Archival Record: TNA, C47/18/10.
Comments: An extensive Introduction (pp. xi-lxxxxvii) traces the development of the Admiralty court and its powers. The earliest case records the testimony in Anglo-Norman and court proceedings in Latin; “Sampson v. Curteys” (pp. 1-17, with translations on pp. 149-65).
Original Language: Anglo-Norman, Latin.
Translation: Facing-page, Anglo-Norman/Latin to English.
Record Type: Court Roll.
Dates Covered: 1272 – 1307.
Comments: The King’s Bench was a court that traveled with the king and had special jurisdiction to hear cases within a 12 mile radius of the king’s itinerant household. Initially the court heard all types of cases (including civil pleas between individuals) but by the end of the thirteenth century it was devoted its attention to felonies, trespasses and cases that directly affected the monarch. These volumes contain the records of 300 cases that were heard before the court of the King’s Bench in the reign of Edward I (1272-1307). Although many of these cases pertain to the king’s affairs, the records also provide ample information about social matters (in his introduction to volume 58 Sayles comments on the value of these documents to the history of gender).
Text Pages: 1.
Original Language: Anglo-Norman.
Translation: None.
Record Type: Legislation.
Dates Covered: 1324.
Archival Reference: London, Westminster Abbey, Memoranda Roll K. R. no. 97.
Comments: According to Tout, this document (pp. 462-463) is the royal writ which ordered the division of the royal exchequer into two branches, as detailed in the Westminster Chronicle attributed to Robert of Reading (Manchester, Chetham Library, MS no. 6712 Flores Historiarum; London, Brit. Lib., Cotton MS Cleopatra A. XVI). Tout believes the existence of this document shows that the Chronicle is factual. The rest of the article, of which this document is only a small fraction, relates the manuscript tradition of and problems relating to the Chronicle as a whole.
Text Pages: 130.
Original Language: Anglo-Norman, Latin.
Translation: None.
Record Type: Law Treatise/Commentary, Legislation.
Dates Covered: 1200 – 1300.
Comments: In addition to the legal treatises known as Bracton and Britton, written in the thirteenth century and widely copied and circulated, smaller legal treatises were also popular. These smaller treatises were usually made from other works and appeared in manuscripts compiled for the use of English lawyers (in addition to the shorter treatises, the manuscripts often included statutes, a register of writs, portions of Year Books or Plea Rolls, and sometimes a copy of Britton ). Edited here are four of those smaller legal treatises: Fet Asaver and Exceptiones ad Cassandum Brevia — both Anglo-Norman treatises, and Judicium Essoniorum and Modus Componendi Brevia — both Latin treatises. All four treatises were at some point attributed to the jurist Ralph de Hengham, but their authorship is uncertain.
Original Language: Anglo-Norman.
Translation: No (?)
Record Authority: Law Courts.
Record Type: Legal notes.
Dates Covered: 1346-48, 1356-61.
Comments: The Year Books are notes on cases heard before the Court of Common Bench (and, on occasion, the Eyre Courts) from 1292 to 1535. Written in dialogue form and highly abbreviated, they were composed to provide instruction to lawyers by showing different arguments and legal points. After c. 1363, the court arguments were more often conducted in English, so the Anglo-Norman used in the Year Books tends to deteriorate. Cases usually begin with the action or writ beginning the suit, a brief discussion of the case, and then a verbatim or paraphrased account of the lawyers’ arguments and the Justices’ responses.
Original Language: Anglo-Norman.
Translation: Facing-page, Anglo-Norman to English.
Record Authority: Law Courts.
Record Type: Legal notes.
Dates Covered: 1307-1341.
Comments: The Year Books are notes on cases heard before the Court of Common Bench (and, on occasion, the Eyre Courts) from 1292 to 1535. Written in dialogue form and highly abbreviated, they were composed to provide instruction to lawyers by showing different arguments and legal points. After c. 1363, the court arguments were more often conducted in English so the Anglo-Norman used in the Year Books tends to deteriorate. Cases usually begin with the action or writ beginning the suit, a brief discussion of the case, and then a verbatim or paraphrased account of the lawyers’ arguments and the Justices’ responses. All the Selden Society volumes contain Introductions to the material. The volumes include:
- Bolland, W. C., ed. Year Books 5-8 Edward II. 7 vols. Selden Society, 31, 33, 36, 37, 39, 41, 43, 1915-26.
- Cam, Helen M., ed. The Eyre of London, 14 Edward II. 2 vols. Selden Society, 85, 86, 1968-69.
- Collas, J. P., ed. Year Book of 12 Edward II. Easter and Trinity 1319. Selden Society, 25.
- Collas, J.P., W. Holdsworth and T.F.T. Plucknett, eds. Year Book 11-12 Edward II. 4 vols. Selden Society, 61, 65, 70, 81, 1942-64.
- Legge, M.D. and W. Holdsworth, eds. Year Book 10 Edward II. 2 vols. Selden Society, 52, 55, 1934-35. The Introductions to vols. 52 and 54 discuss the Anglo-Norman used in the Year Books.
- Maitland, F. W., ed. Year Books 1-4 Edward II. Selden Society, vols. 17, 19, 20, 22, 1903-07. Introduction of vol. 17 provides a good introduction to the genre, including historical and linguistic background.
- Maitland, F. W., L. Harcourt and W. C. Bolland, eds. Year Book of the Eyre of Kent, 6 and 7 Edward II. Selden Society, 24, 25, 1909-1912.
- Stoljar, S. J. and L.J. Downer, eds. Year Books of Edward II, 14 Edward II Michaelmas 1320. Selden Society, 104, 1988.
- Turner, G. J. and W. C. Bolland, eds. Year Book 4, 5, 9 Edward II. 4 vols. Selden Society, 26, 42, 45, 63, 1911, 1925, 1928, 1944.
- Vinagradoff, P. and L. Ehrlich, eds. Year Book 6 Edward II. 2 vols. Selden Soicety, 34, 38, 1917-21.
Original Language: Anglo-Norman.
Translation: No (?)
Record Authority: Law Courts.
Record Type: Legal notes.
Dates Covered: 1337-46.
Comments: The Introductions to Pike’s volumes are among the best in providing commentary and analysis on the Year Books, which are notes on cases heard before the Court of Common Bench (and, on occasion, the Eyre Courts) from 1292 to 1535. Written in dialogue form and highly abbreviated, they were composed to provide instruction to lawyers by showing different arguments and legal points. After c. 1363, the court arguments were more often conducted in English, so the Anglo-Norman used in the Year Books tends to deteriorate. Cases usually begin with the action or writ beginning the suit, a brief discussion of the case, and then a verbatim or paraphrased account of the lawyers’ arguments and the Justices’ responses. Volumes published by the Rolls Series are:
- Horwood, Alfred J., ed. Year Books, 11-12 Edward III. 1 vol. London, 1883.
- Pike, L. O., ed. Year Books, 12-20 Edward III. 14 vols. London, 1885-1911.
Year Books of the Reign of Richard II. London and Cambridge, MA, Ames Foundation, 1914 -in progress.
Original Language: Anglo-Norman.
Translation: Facing-page, Anglo-Norman to English.
Record Authority: Law Courts.
Record Type: Legal notes.
Dates Covered: 1378-88.
Comments: The Year Books are notes on cases heard before the Court of Common Bench (and, on occasion, the Eyre Courts) from 1292 to 1535. Written in dialogue form and highly abbreviated, they were composed to provide instruction to lawyers by showing different arguments and legal points. After c. 1363, the court arguments were more often conducted in English so the Anglo-Norman used in the Year Books tends to deteriorate. Cases usually begin with the action or writ beginning the suit, a brief discussion of the case, and then a verbatim or paraphrased account of the lawyers’ arguments and the Justices’ responses. All volumes contain Introductions to the material. Other Year Books of the reign of Richard II also published by the Ames Foundation include:
- Arnold, M. S., ed. Year Books of Richard II, 1378-1379, Cambridge, MA, 1975.
- Deiser, G., ed. Year Books of Richard II. 12 Richard II. Cambridge, MA, 1914. Introduction examines Year Book MSS of Richard’s reign, their arrangement and origin.
- Hector, L.C. and M. Hager, eds. Year Books of Richard II, 8-10 Richard II. Cambridge, MA, 1987.
- Plucknett, T.F.T., ed. Year Books of Richard II: 13 Richard II 1389-90. London, 1929.
- Thornley, Isobel D., ed. Year Books of Richard II. 11 Richard II, 1387-88. London, 1937.
Year Books of the Reigns of Henry V, Henry VI, Edward IV and Henry VI.
Original Language: Anglo-Norman.
Translation: Facing-page, Anglo-Norman to English.
Record Authority: Law Courts.
Record Type: Legal notes.
Dates Covered: 1421-22 and 1470.
Comments: The Year Books are notes on cases heard before the Court of Common Bench (and, on occasion, the Eyre Courts) from 1292 to 1535. Written in dialogue form and highly abbreviated, they were composed to provide instruction to lawyers by showing different arguments and legal points. After c. 1363, the court arguments were more often conducted in English so the Anglo-Norman used in the Year Books tends to deteriorate. Cases usually begin with the action or writ beginning the suit, a brief discussion of the case, and then a verbatim or paraphrased account of the lawyers’ arguments and the Justices’ responses. Other Year Books of these reigns include:
- Rogers, Ralph V., ed. Year Book 9-10 Henry V (1421-2). Privately printed, 1948.
- Williams, C. H., ed. Year Book 1 Henry VI (1422). Selden Society. 1, 1933.
- Neilson, Nellie, ed. Year Book 10 Edward IV and 49 Henry VI (1470). Selden Society, 47, 1931.
