A Concise History of the Common Law [1956]
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The Online Library of Liberty A Project Of Liberty Fund, Inc. Theodore Frank Thomas Plucknett, A Concise History of the Common Law [1956] 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. 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LIBERTY FUND, INC. 8335 Allison Pointe Trail, Suite 300 Indianapolis, Indiana 46250-1684 PLL v7.0 (generated September, 2013) 2 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2458 Online Library of Liberty: A Concise History of the Common Law Edition Used: A Concise History of the Common Law (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2010). Author: Theodore Frank Thomas Plucknett About This Title: Plucknett’s work provides a common-law understanding of individual rights, not in theory only, but protected through the confusing and messy evolution of courts, and their administration as they struggled to resolve real problems. The first half of the book is a historical introduction to the study of law. Plucknett discusses the conditions in political, economic, social, and religious thought that have contributed to the genesis of law. The second half of the book consists of chapters introducing the reader to the history of some of the main divisions of law, such as criminal tort, property, contract, and succession. PLL v7.0 (generated September, 2013) 3 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2458 Online Library of Liberty: A Concise History of the Common Law 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: The copyright to this edition, in both print and electronic forms, is held by Liberty Fund, Inc. 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 v7.0 (generated September, 2013) 4 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2458 Online Library of Liberty: A Concise History of the Common Law Table Of Contents Preface to the Fifth Edition Table of Mediaeval Cases Table of Modern Cases N.b. the Report References, Which Appeared In This Table In Earlier Editions, Will Be Found Incorporated In the Footnotes In the Text. Table of Laws and Statutes A Concise History of the Common Law Book One: a General Survey of Legal History Part 1: The Crown and the State Summary Chapter 1: The Anglo-saxon Period: Races and Religion Chapter 2: The Conquest to Henry II: The Beginnings of Administration Chapter 3: The Great Charters: Law Separates From Administration Chapter 4: Edward I to Richard II: Statutes and Social Revolution Chapter 5: The Fifteenth Century: the Problem of Enforcement Chapter 6: The Tudors: Renaissance, Reformation and Reception Chapter 7: The Stuarts: Struggle For the Supremacy of Law Chapter 8: The Eighteenth Century: Industrial Revolution Chapter 9: The Nineteenth Century: Liberalism and Reform Part 2: The Courts and the Profession Summary Chapter 1: The Communal Courts Chapter 2: Seignorial Jurisdiction Chapter 3: The Crown and Local Courts Chapter 4: The Jury Chapter 5: The Origins of the Central Courts Chapter 6: The Elaboration of the Judicial System: 1307-1509 Chapter 7: The Tudors and the Common Law Courts Chapter 8: The Rise of the Prerogative Courts Chapter 9: Prerogative, Equity and Law Under the Stuarts Chapter 10: Parliament and the Privy Council Chapter 11: The Courts In the Nineteenth Century Chapter 12: The Legal Profession Chapter 13: The Growth of the Judiciary Chapter 14: Professional Literature Part 3: Some Factors In Legal History Summary Chapter 1: The Civil Law of Rome Chapter 2: The Canon Law of the Church PLL v7.0 (generated September, 2013) 5 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2458 Online Library of Liberty: A Concise History of the Common Law Chapter 3: Custom Chapter 4: Legislation Chapter 5: The Principle of Precedent Book Two: Special Part Part 1: Procedure Summary Chapter 1: The Forms of Action Chapter 2: Civil Procedure Chapter 3: Pleading Part 2: Crime and Tort Summary Chapter 1: Criminal Procedure Chapter 2: The Felonies Chapter 3: Misdemeanours, Trespass and Tort Chapter 4: Liability, Civil and Criminal Chapter 5: Defamation Part 3: Real Property Summary Chapter 1: Feudalism Chapter 2: Feudalism In England Chapter 3: Inheritance and Alienability Chapter 4: Tenures and Incidents Chapter 5: The Rise of the Entail Chapter 6: The Common Law Estates Down to 1540 Chapter 7: Uses and the Statute Chapter 8: The Later Law of Real Property Chapter 9: The Mortgage Chapter 10: Conveyances Part 4: Contract Summary Chapter 1: Origins Chapter 2: The Fourteenth Century Chapter 3: Assumpsit to Slade’s Case Chapter 4: Contract After Slade’s Case Chapter 5: Law Merchant and Admiralty Part 5: Equity Summary Chapter 1: The Early History of Equity Chapter 2: The Formative Period Chapter 3: The Work of the Chancellors Part 6: Succession Summary Chapter 1: Inheritance Chapter 2: Intestacy Chapter 3: Wills PLL v7.0 (generated September, 2013) 6 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2458 Online Library of Liberty: A Concise History of the Common Law [Back to Table of Contents] PREFACE TO THE FIFTH EDITION The decision of the publishers to reprint this work in a larger type will have made it easier for the reader to use it, I hope; it has also made it possible to effect a good deal of revision. No new subjects have been added, however, for the object of the work has always been to treat only a limited number of topics, but with sufficient detail to make them intelligible. This has made it necessary to place the history of English law in its setting of canon, civil, and general European law in order to show the intellectual influences which have moulded our own system. Comparison with other legal systems is therefore essential to the method here pursued. The point of view adopted throughout is that of a historian who surveys the law from the outside, as it were, and contributes both comparison and criticism to the historical study contained in the following pages. Besides a few additions (which are distributed fairly evenly through the book), there have been numerous revisions, occasionally rearrangements (especially in dealing with the jury), and sometimes a more ample explanation of difficult points. The general plan of the work remains unchanged. The first half of the book is an historical introduction to the study of law, and stress has therefore been placed upon those conditions in political, economic, social and religious thought which have contributed to its formation. As the readers for whom this part is designed will generally be first-year undergraduates, it seemed prudent to assume that their previous knowledge of history would be by no means extensive; hence the distinctly elementary note of the first eighty pages. The courts, the profession, and such general factors in legal development as legislation and the principle of precedent, are subjects which deserve close attention at the introductory stage, for they are the foundation of much that follows. It would, no doubt, be possible to state the essential facts in a very condensed form by using an encyclopaedic style, but such a treatment is not very helpful to beginners. Enough illustrative material has therefore been used to give, I hope, some of the spirit and atmosphere in which the common law system grew up. The place of legal history in the law school curriculum is still a matter of debate. It may be remarked, however, that if law is a difficult study to the beginner, the history of the law, with its different outlook and unfamiliar concepts, is apt to be more difficult PLL v7.0 (generated September, 2013) 7 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2458 Online Library of Liberty: A Concise History of the Common Law still. This book has therefore been planned on the principle that the first part, A“ General Survey of Legal History,” is as much legal history as a first-year student can be expected to master, in view of the fact that he is embarking upon a subject for which his earlier studies have given him little preparation.