OUR LEGAL HERITAGE
King AEthelbert - King George III
600 A.D. - 1776
By
S. A. Reilly, Attorney
175 E. Delaware Place
Chicago, Illinois 60611-1724
S.A.Reilly@att.net
4th Edition
Copyright (C) 2002
Preface
This was written to appreciate what laws have been in existencefor a long time and therefore have proven their success inmaintaining a stable society. Its purpose is also to see thehistorical context in which our legal doctrines developed. Itincludes the inception of the common law system, which was praisedbecause it made law which was not handed down by an absolutistking; the origin of the jury system; the meaning of the MagnaCarta provisions in their historical context; and the emergence ofattorneys.
This book is a primer. One may read it without prior knowledge ofhistory or law, although it will be more meaningful to attorneysthan to others. It can serve as an introduction on which to basefurther reading in English legal history. It defines terms uniqueto English legal history. However, the meaning of some terms inKing Aethelbert's code in Chapter 1 are unknown or inexact.
In the Table of Contents, the title of each chapter denotes animportant legal development in the given time period for thatchapter. Each chapter is divided into three sections: The Times,The Law, and Judicial Procedure.
The Times section sets a background and context in which to betterunderstand the law of that period. The usual subject matter ofhistory such as battles, wars, royal intrigues, periods ofcorruption, and international relations are omitted as not helpingto understand the process of civilization and development of thelaw. Standard practices are described, but there are oftenvariations with locality. Also, change did not come abruptly, butwith vacillations, e.g. the change from pagan to Christian beliefand the change to allowance of loans for interest. The scientificrevolution was accepted only slowly. There were often manyattempts made for change before it actually occurred, e.g. gainingParliamentary power over the king's privileges, such as taxation.
The Law section describes the law governing the behavior andconduct of the populace. It includes law of that time which is thesame, similar, or a building block to the law of today. In earliertimes this is both statutory law and the common law of the courts.The Magna Carta, which is quoted in Chapter 7, is the firststatute of England and is listed first in the "Statutes of theRealm" and the "Statutes at Large". The law sections of Chapters 7- 18 mainly quote or paraphrase most of these statutes. Excludedare statutes which do not help us understand the development ofour law, such as statutes governing Wales after its conquest andstatutes on succession rights to the throne.
The Judicial Procedure section describes the process of applyingthe law and trying cases, and jurisdictions. It also contains someexamples of cases.
For easy comparison, amounts of money expressed in pounds or marks[Danish denomination] have often been converted to the smallerdenominations of shillings and pence. There are twenty shillingsin a pound. A mark in silver is two-thirds of a pound. Shillingsare abbreviated: "s." There are twelve pennies or pence in aNorman shilling. Pence are abbreviated "d." Six shillings and twopence is denoted 6s.2d. A scaett was a coin of silver and copperof lesser denomination than a shilling.
The sour