(Source: Boydell & Brewer)
Boydell and Brewer has published
a study on the lordship courts in medieval England.
ABOUT THE BOOK
About the year 1000, hundreds and
shires were the dominant and probably the only local assemblies for doing legal
and other business in England. However, this simple pattern did not last long,
for lords established separate courts which allowed them to manage and
discipline their dependents without external interference, and therefore to
intensify and redefine their claims over their dependents. These can be seen
clearly by the early twelfth century, and were the basis from which the later
manorial courts, courts leet and honour courts originated.
The appearance of these courts
has long been recognised; what is novel about this book is that it shows how
they came into being. It argues that lordship courts ultimately originated
through subtracting business from the public courts of Anglo-Saxon England, not
from the rights inherent in land ownership. It also shows how and when royal
justices appeared for the first time as a response to these changes, and how
the earliest generation of judges differed from their successors in their roles
and functions, which has considerable consequences for how we understand the
changing roles of justices in shaping English law. Overall, the changing
pattern of assemblies and courts helped to redefine lordship, peasant status
and royal authority, and to expectations about how business should be
transacted, with widespread implications across Anglo-Norman society, culture
and politics
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
NICHOLAS KARN is Associate
Professor of History in the University of Southampton.
More info here
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