Copyright (C) 2004, 2012 by S. A. Reilly
OUR LEGAL HERITAGE
King AEthelbert - King George III, 1776, 600 A.D. - 1776
By
S. A. Reilly, Attorney
175 E. Delaware Place
Chicago, Illinois 60611-7715
S-Reilly@att.net
Copyright (C) 2004, 2012
Preface
This book was written for people with an interest in Englishlegal history who don't know where to start reading, as I didn't. Itspurpose is also to look at history through its laws, which do not lendthemselves to interpretation, and thus points of view, as doesconventional history; one cannot argue with the black letter of thelaw. Attorneys will be interested in reading about the historicalcontext in which the legal doctrines they learned in law schooldeveloped. This book includes the complete law codes of King Alfred andof King Aethelbert, the law code of King Canute, paraphrased, excerptsfrom the law code of Henry I, the entire Magna Carta, and the statutesof England relevant to English life, but excluding such topics asScottish affairs and wars with Ireland. It also includes the inceptionof the common law system, which was praised because it made law whichwas not handed down by an absolutist king; the origin of the jurysystem; the meaning of the Magna Carta provisions in their historicalcontext; and the emergence of attorneys. This book is a primer. One may read it without prior knowledgeof history 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 unique toEnglish legal history. However, the meaning of some terms in KingAethelbert'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 that chapter.Each chapter is divided into three sections: The Times, The Law, andJudicial Procedure. The Times section sets a background and context in which tobetter understand the law of that period. The usual subject matter ofhistory such as battles, wars, royal intrigues, periods of corruption,and international relations are omitted as not helping to understandthe process of civilization and development of the law. Standardpractices are described, but there are often variations with locality.Also, change did not come abruptly, but with vacillations, e.g. thechange from pagan to Christian belief and the change to allowance ofloans for interest. The scientific revolution was accepted only slowly.There were often many attempts made for change before it actuallyoccurred, e.g. gaining Parliamentary 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. TheMagna Carta, which is quoted in Chapter 7, is the first statute ofEngland and is listed first in the "Statutes of the Realm" and the"Statutes at Large". The law sections of Chapters 7 - 18 mainly quoteor paraphrase almost all of these statutes. Excluded are statutes whichdo not help us understand the development of our law, such as statutesgoverning Wales after its conquest and statutes on succession rights tothe throne. The Judicial Procedure section describes the process ofapplying the law and trying cases, and jurisdictions. It also c