Priests of the Law - Roman Law and the Making of the Common Law''s First Professionals

This book examines the development of legal professionalism in the early English common law, with specific reference to the 13th-century treatise known as Bracton and to its likely authors.

List of contents

• 1: Setting the Stage


• 2: Law as Text


• 3: Thinking About Law


• 4: From Classroom to Courtroom


• 5: Cases and the Dialectic


• 6: The Genres of Authority


• 7: A New Plea Roll for a New Audience


• 8: An End or a Beginning?


• Appendix: Writing the Note Book

About the author

Thomas J. McSweeney is Professor of Law at William & Mary Law School. He earned his J.D. and Ph.D. in history at Cornell University.

Summary

This book examines the development of legal professionalism in the early English common law, with specific reference to the 13th-century treatise known as Bracton and to its likely authors.

Additional text

The author offers a new interpretation of Henri Bracton and his fellow judges Martin of Pattishall and William of Raleigh, suggesting that their treatise (known as Bracton) was less an effort to restate or reform the Common Law than an undertaking to reinforce the status and authority of the judge.

Product details

• Authors: McSweeney , Thomas J. McSweeney, Thomas J. (Professor of Law Mcsweeney
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 30.11.2019
• EAN: 9780198845454
• ISBN: 978-0-19-884545-4
• No. of pages: 304
• Series: Oxford Legal History
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > General, dictionaries; Social sciences, law, business > Law > International law, foreign law; England, LAW / Legal History, CE period up to c 1500, Medieval History, c 1000 CE to c 1500, Legal History, History and Archaeology, HISTORY / Europe / Medieval, Roman law, Systems of law: Roman law