Hubert Walter was an influential royal adviser in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries in the positions of Chief Justiciar of England, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Lord Chancellor. As chancellor, Walter began the keeping of the Charter Roll, a record of all charters issued by the chancery. Walter was not noted for his holiness in life or learning, but historians have judged him one of the most outstanding government ministers in English history.
Ranulf de Glanvill was Chief Justiciar of England during the reign of King Henry II (1154–89) and was the probable author of Tractatus de legibus et consuetudinibus regni Anglie, the earliest treatise on the laws of England.
Murdrum was the crime of murdering someone in a secret manner in medieval English law.
William of Poitiers was a Norman priest who served as the chaplain of Duke William II of Normandy, for whom he chronicled the Norman conquest of England in his Gesta Willelmi ducis Normannorum et regis Anglorum. He had trained as a soldier before taking holy orders.
In old English law, an essoin is an excuse for nonappearance in court. Essoining is the seeking of the same. The person sent to deliver the excuse to the court is an essoiner or essoineur.
The legal term peace, sometimes king's peace or queen's peace, is the common-law concept of the maintenance of public order.
Anglo-Saxon law was the legal system of Anglo-Saxon England from the 6th century until the Norman Conquest of 1066. It was a form of Germanic law based on unwritten custom known as folk-right and on written laws enacted by kings with the advice of their witan or council. By the later Anglo-Saxon period, a system of courts had developed to administer the law, while enforcement was the responsibility of ealdormen and royal officials such as sheriffs, in addition to self-policing by local communities.
In tort law, detinue is an action to recover for the wrongful taking of personal property. It is initiated by an individual who claims to have a greater right to their immediate possession than the current possessor. For an action in detinue to succeed, a claimant must first prove that he had better right to possession of the chattel than the defendant, and second, that the defendant refused to return the chattel once demanded by the claimant.
Henry of Bracton, also known as Henry de Bracton, Henricus Bracton, Henry Bratton, and Henry Bretton, was an English cleric and jurist.
Quia Emptores is a statute passed by the Parliament of England in 1290 during the reign of Edward I that prevented tenants from alienating their lands to others by subinfeudation, instead requiring all tenants who wished to alienate their land to do so by substitution. The statute, along with its companion statute Quo Warranto also passed in 1290, was intended to remedy land ownership disputes and consequent financial difficulties that had resulted from the decline of the traditional feudal system in England during the High Middle Ages. The name Quia Emptores derives from the first two words of the statute in its original mediaeval Latin, which can be translated as "because the buyers". Its long title is A Statute of our Lord The King, concerning the Selling and Buying of Land. It is also cited as the Statute of Westminster III, one of many English and British statutes with that title.
The title Leges Edwardi Confessoris, or Laws of Edward the Confessor, refers to a collection of laws, purporting to represent English law in the time of Edward the Confessor, as recited to the Norman invader king William I in 1070, but which was not composed until probably the early years of the reign of King Stephen.
The Leges Henrici Primi or Laws of Henry I is a legal treatise, written in about 1115, that records the legal customs of medieval England in the reign of King Henry I of England. Although it is not an official document, it was written by someone apparently associated with the royal administration. It lists and explains the laws, and includes explanations of how to conduct legal proceedings. Although its title implies that these laws were issued by King Henry, it lists laws issued by earlier monarchs that were still in force in Henry's reign; the only law of Henry that is included is the coronation charter he issued at the start of his reign. It covers a diverse range of subjects, including ecclesiastical cases, treason, murder, theft, feuds, assessment of danegeld, and the amounts of judicial fines.
The Regiam Majestatem is the earliest surviving work giving a comprehensive digest of the Law of Scotland. The name of the document is derived from its first two words. It consists of four books, treating (1) civil actions and jurisdictions, (2) judgments and executions, (3) contracts, and (4) crimes.
The Tractatus de legibus et consuetudinibus regni Angliae, often called Glanvill, is the earliest treatise on English law. Attributed to Ranulf de Glanvill and dated 1187–1189, it was revolutionary in its systematic codification that defined legal process and introduced writs, innovations that have survived to the present day. It is considered a book of authority in English common law.
Hugh Bardulf or Hugh Bardolf was a medieval English administrator and royal justice. Known for his legal expertise, he also served as a financial administrator. He served three kings of England before his death.
Roger fitzReinfrid was a medieval English sheriff and royal justice. Probably born into a knightly family, Roger first was in the household of a nobleman before beginning royal service. His brother, Walter de Coutances, was a bishop and archbishop and likely helped advance Roger's career. Besides holding two sheriffdoms, Roger was entrusted with the control of a number of royal castles.
Infangthief and outfangthief were privileges granted to feudal lords under Anglo-Saxon law by the kings of England. They permitted their bearers to execute summary justice on thieves within the borders of their own manors or fiefs.
Caput lupinum or caput gerat lupinum are terms used in the English legal system and its derivatives. The terms were used in Medieval England to designate a person pronounced by the authorities to be a dangerous criminal, who could thus be killed without penalty.
Reginald de Warenne was an Anglo-Norman nobleman and royal official. The third son of an earl, Reginald began his career as an administrator of his brother's estates and continued to manage them for his brother's successor, William, the second son of King Stephen. Reginald was involved in the process that led to the peaceful ascension of Henry fitzEmpress to the throne of England in 1154 and served the new king as a royal justice afterwards. He played a minor role in the Becket controversy in 1170, as a member of the party that met Becket on his return to England from exile in 1170.
Osbert fitzHervey was an Anglo-Norman royal judge. Brother of Hubert Walter and Theobald Walter, Osbert served three kings of England and may have contributed to the legal treatise attributed to his uncle, Ranulf de Glanvill. Ralph of Coggeshall, a medieval writer, praised Osbert's knowledge of law, but condemned his acceptance of gifts from plaintiffs and defendants in legal cases. Osbert was one of a group of men who are considered the first signs of a professional judiciary in England.
