Thinking About Law

Abstract

This chapter will demonstrate that the authors of Bracton thought of the early common law as part of the same body of knowledge as Roman and canon law. Indeed, they wanted to demonstrate that the law they administered was one local instantiation of the universal law of Latin Christendom, a local instantiation which diverged in its specifics from what they had learned in the texts of Roman and canon law, but that could still fit within the universal law’s four corners. Rather than using Roman and canon law to fill gaps in their own law or to justify changes to their law, the authors of Bracton worked hard to demonstrate that the law they applied in the king’s courts was already in perfect accord with the rules of the two laws.