Abstract
The remarkable medieval treatise known as Glanvill , dateable to between 1187 and 1189, has long been recognised as the first detailed exposition of the English Common Law. The justice in Glanvill , both civil and criminal, was almost all by definition royal and common to all free men. In a law report of 1587 Glanvill was referred to foundationally as an actor legis , rather than an author legis and therefore of consequently 'great authority'. This chapter offers a new consideration of the later usage and citation of Glanvill in court and other arenas from the fifteenth century onwards in early modern England and colonial America. It provides a consideration of how, why and by whom this first treatise of the English Common Law continued to be owned, read and cited in manuscript or printed form when it might be supposed that its law had been superseded. Keywords:early modern England; English Common Law; Glanvill ; medieval treatise
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