Introduction

Abstract

Abstract The amalgam of Roman and canon law now generally known as the ius commune, sometimes also referred to as the utrumqueius, has undoubtedly played a role in the history of England and in the development of Anglo-American law.2 In fact, it has played several different roles. Before the time of William Blackstone (d. 1780), it was the Roman law rather than the common law that was taught in the English universities. It had a long innings; only in the twenty-first century does the teaching of the civil law stand in some danger of being lost. Moreover, its influence was not simply academic. It was the ius commune that long governed practice in the courts of the church, the Admiralty, the universities, and (to some extent) the courts of equity. Chancery procedure, for example, drew heavily upon it. On that account, it was an important source of English legal practice in its own right. These The medieval law of sanctuary permitted any person who had committed a serious crime to take refuge in a church, churchyard, or other designated place of asylum. It was a valuable privilege. In theory, and normally in practice as well, anyone who reached a place of asylum escaped vengeance at the hands of his enemies and punishment at the hands of his rulers. Sanctuary meant everything the term implied—a refuge where a person in real danger would be safe from harm.