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The History of English Law Before the Time of Edward I, Vol. 1 [1898] The Online Library of Liberty A Project Of Liberty Fund, Inc. Sir Frederick Pollock, The History of English Law before the Time of Edward I, vol. 1 [1898] The Online Library Of Liberty This E-Book (PDF format) is published by Liberty Fund, Inc., a private, non-profit, educational foundation established in 1960 to encourage study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. 2010 was the 50th anniversary year of the founding of Liberty Fund. It is part of the Online Library of Liberty web site http://oll.libertyfund.org, which was established in 2004 in order to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. To find out more about the author or title, to use the site's powerful search engine, to see other titles in other formats (HTML, facsimile PDF), or to make use of the hundreds of essays, educational aids, and study guides, please visit the OLL web site. This title is also part of the Portable Library of Liberty DVD which contains over 1,000 books and quotes about liberty and power, and is available free of charge upon request. The cuneiform inscription that appears in the logo and serves as a design element in all Liberty Fund books and web sites is the earliest-known written appearance of the word “freedom” (amagi), or “liberty.” It is taken from a clay document written about 2300 B.C. in the Sumerian city-state of Lagash, in present day Iraq. To find out more about Liberty Fund, Inc., or the Online Library of Liberty Project, please contact the Director at [email protected]. LIBERTY FUND, INC. 8335 Allison Pointe Trail, Suite 300 Indianapolis, Indiana 46250-1684 Online Library of Liberty: The History of English Law before the Time of Edward I, vol. 1 Edition Used: The History of English Law before the Time of Edward I. Reprint of 2nd edition, with a Select Bibliography and Notes by Professor S.F. Milsom. (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2010). Vol. 1. Author: Sir Frederick Pollock Author: Frederic William Maitland About This Title: First published in 1895, Sir Frederick Pollock and Frederic William Maitland’s legal classic The History of English Law before the Time of Edward I expanded the work of Sir Edward Coke and William Blackstone by exploring the origins of key aspects of English common law and society and with them the development of individual rights as these were gradually carved out from the authority of the Crown and the Church. Although it has been more than a century since its initial publication, Pollock and Maitland’s work is still considered an accessible and useful foundational reference for scholars of medieval English law. Volume one begins with an examination of Anglo- Saxon law, goes on to consider the changes in law introduced by the Normans, then moves to the twelfth-century “Age of Glanvill,” with the first great compilation of PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 2 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2313 Online Library of Liberty: The History of English Law before the Time of Edward I, vol. 1 English laws and customs, followed by the thirteenth-century “Age of Bracton,” author of another major treatise on the same subject. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 3 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2313 Online Library of Liberty: The History of English Law before the Time of Edward I, vol. 1 About Liberty Fund: Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. Copyright Information: Select bibliography and notes by Professor S. F. C. Milsom, published here as an appendix, was originally published in Cambridge University Press’s 1968 reissue of The History of English Law before the Time of Edward I. Reprinted by permission of Cambridge University Press. Fair Use Statement: This material is put online to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. Unless otherwise stated in the Copyright Information section above, this material may be used freely for educational and academic purposes. It may not be used in any way for profit. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 4 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2313 Online Library of Liberty: The History of English Law before the Time of Edward I, vol. 1 Table Of Contents Preface to the Second Edition Preface to the First Edition List of Abbreviations List of Texts Used. 1 Additions and Corrections Book I: Sketch of Early English Legal History Chapter I: The Dark Age In Legal History Chapter II: Anglo-saxon Law Chapter III: Norman Law 1 Chapter IV: England Under the Norman Kings Chapter V: Roman and Canon Law Chapter VI: The Age of Glanvill Chapter VII: The Age of Bracton Book II: The Doctrines of English Law In the Early Middle Ages Chapter I: Tenure Chapter II: The Sorts and Conditions of Men Chapter III: Jurisdiction and the Communities of the Land PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 5 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2313 Online Library of Liberty: The History of English Law before the Time of Edward I, vol. 1 [Back to Table of Contents] Preface To The Second Edition In this edition the first chapter, by Prof. Maitland, is new. In Book II, c. ii. § 12, on “Corporations and Churches” (formerly “Fictitious Persons”), and c. iii. § 8, on “The Borough,” have been recast. There are no other important alterations: but we have to thank our learned critics, and especially Dr. Brunner of Berlin, for various observations by which we have endeavoured to profit. We have thought it convenient to note the paging of the first edition in the margin. f. p. f. w. m. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 6 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2313 Online Library of Liberty: The History of English Law before the Time of Edward I, vol. 1 [Back to Table of Contents] Preface To The First Edition The present work has filled much of our time and thoughts for some years. We send it forth, however, well knowing that in many parts of our field we have accomplished, at most, a preliminary exploration. Oftentimes our business has been rather to quarry and hew for some builder of the future than to leave a finished building. But we have endeavoured to make sure, so far as our will and power can go, that when his day comes he shall have facts and not fictions to build with. How near we may have come to fulfilling our purpose is not for us to judge. The only merit we claim is that we have given scholars the means of verifying our work throughout. We are indebted to many learned friends for more or less frequent help, and must specially mention the unfailing care and attention of Mr. R. T. Wright, the Secretary of the University Press. Portions of the book have appeared, in the same words or in substance, in the Contemporary Review, the English Historical Review and the Harvard Law Review, to whose editors and proprietors we offer our acknowledgments and thanks. f. p. f. w. m. Note. It is proper for me to add for myself that, although the book was planned in common and has been revised by both of us, by far the greater share of the execution belongs to Mr. Maitland, both as to the actual writing and as to the detailed research which was constantly required. f. p. 21 Feb. 1895. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 7 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2313 Online Library of Liberty: The History of English Law before the Time of Edward I, vol. 1 [Back to Table of Contents] List Of Abbreviations A.-S. Anglo-Saxon. Bl. Com. Blackstone’s Commentaries. Co. Coke. Co. Lit. Coke upon Littleton. D. B. Domesday Book. D. G. R. Deutsches Genossenschaftsrecht. D. R. G. Deutsche Rechtsgeschichte.1 E. H. R. English Historical Review. Fitz. Abr. Fitzherbert’s Abridgement. Fitz. Nat. Brev. Fitzherbert’s Natura Brevium. Harv. L. R. Harvard Law Review. Lit. Littleton’s Tenures. L. Q. R. Law Quarterly Review. Mon. Germ. Monumenta Germaniae. P. C. Pleas of the Crown. P. Q. W. Placita de Quo Warranto. Reg. Brev. Registrum Brevium. Rep. Coke’s Reports. R. H. Hundred Rolls. Rot. Cart. Charter Rolls. Rot. Cl. Close Rolls. Rot. Parl. Parliament Rolls. Rot. Pat. Patent Rolls. Sec. Inst. Coke’s Second Institute. Sel. Chart. Stubbs’s Select Charters. X. Decretales Gregorii IX. Y. B. Year Book. 1The second edition of Schröder’s D. R. G. is referred to. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 8 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2313 Online Library of Liberty: The History of English Law before the Time of Edward I, vol. 1 [Back to Table of Contents] List Of Texts Used.1 [R = Rolls Series. Rec. Com. = Record Commission. Seld. = Selden Society. Camd. = Camden Society. Surt. = Surtees Society.] Collections of ancient laws and documents. Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, ed. F. Liebermann, in progress. Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, ed. Reinhold Schmid, 2nd ed., Leipzig, 1858. Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, 8vo ed. (Rec. Com.). Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents, ed. Haddan and Stubbs, vol. iii. Oxford, 1871. Quadripartitus, ed. F. Liebermann, Halle, 1892. Consiliatio Cnuti, ed. F. Liebermann, Halle, 1893. Leges Edwardi Confessoris, ed. F. Liebermann, Halle, 1894. Instituta Cnuti, ed. F. Liebermann, Transactions of Royal Hist. Soc. N. S. vol. vii. p. 77. Codex Diplomaticus Ævi Saxonici, ed. J. M. Kemble (Eng. Hist. Soc.). Diplomatarium Anglicum Ævi Saxonici, ed. B. Thorpe, London, 1865. Cartularium Saxonicum, ed. W. de G. Birch, 1885 ff. Placita Anglo-Normannica, ed. M.
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