James Lawson

Downing College

'The Influence of Civilian and Canonist Learning on the Early Common Law, 1150-1300'

The twelfth and thirteenth centuries were a crucially formative period for the English common law.  It was during this period that most of the conceptual fundamentals of the modern English legal system were laid down and understanding this process is therefore vital to the discipline of legal history and of law more generally.  It has long been recognised that there was during this time some interaction with and influence on the common law by the ‘learned’ laws (civil and canon) that were being taught in the universities and there has been much done in the way of valuable work on civilian influence over individual forms of action and concepts.  However, there has yet to be written a broader synthesis on the topic, with one of the few contributions (an article on the influence of the canon law) being described by its author as ‘merely a sketch of an answer’.  He suggests that ‘someone could and should someday give this answer at much greater length and with far greater precision’.  This thesis is in a large part an acceptance of that invitation (whilst broadening it out to consider civilian learning more generally).  A key source will be a formulary contained in CCCC MS 297 (held at Corpus Christi College).  This text discusses the drafting of charters and it is hoped to undertake a detailed examination of it in order to shed some light on the extent of civilian influence on legal education in the period.  In addition use will be made of plea rolls, eyre records, treatises such as Bracton and other court rolls.  It is hoped and expected that a fresh examination of these primary materials in the context of the synthesis provided by the thesis will lead to fresh consideration of at least some of the arguments and ideas in the secondary literature. 

Start Date: 2011/10.

End Date: 2014/06.

B.A. (Hons.) (Cantab.) Law Tripos (2006-2010)

MPhil. (Cantab.) Medieval History (2010-2011)

Diplome universitaire des etudes juridiques francaises, Poitiers University (2008-2009)

Legal History

Civil (Roman) Law

Canon Law

Prof. David Ibbetson

Dr. Neil Jones (Advisor)