Hector, L. C., ed., trans.; Hager, Michael J., ed., trans., Year Books of Richard II: 8-10 Richard II 1385-1387 (Cambridge, Mass: The Ames Foundation)
Text name(s):
Number of pages of primary source text: 330
Author(s):
Dates: 1385 - 1387
Archival Reference: London, Lincoln's Inn, Hale MS. 77; London, Brit. Mus., Add. MS. 32,087; London, Lincoln's Inn, Hale MS. 187; Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodleian MS. 189
Original Language(s):
- Anglo-Norman
- Latin
Translation:
- Translated into English.
- Original language included.
Translation Comments: Facing-page translation.
Geopolitical Region(s):
- England
County/Region:
Record Types:
- Court Roll
- Law - Legislation
Subject Headings:
- Economy - Crafts and Industry
- Economy - Guilds and Labor
- Economy - Trade
- Government
- Law - Crime
- Law - Secular
- Peasants
Apparatus:
- Index
- Appendix
- Introduction
Comments:
“Year Books” are the modern English name that is now typically given to the earliest law reports of England. The documents edited in this volume contain court records of pleas (such as property disputes, trade regulations, and criminal cases) given during years 1385 and 1387 of Richard II’s reign. Hector and Hager divide the documents into 6 sections: 8 Richard II Trinity, Michaelmas, Hilary, and Easter terms, and 10 Richard II Hilary and Easter terms. Several indices conclude the volume: a concordance of this edition with other abridgments of the Year Book; a table cases and statutes cited; a table of types of legal actions taken; a table of cases; an index of people and places; and an index of subjects. A legal calendar is also included before the text proper.
The Boston University Law School has digitized many Year Books from the years 1268-1535 and organized each individual entry in a fully searchable online database
Introduction Summary:
Hector and Hager’s brief (4 pp.) introduction solely concerns the manuscripts in which the Year Book can be found. They first discuss the order of the cases in the 4 manuscripts before moving on to discuss the abridged version of the Year Books that was passed on in the tradition. They finish by briefly noting the codicology of the surviving manuscripts.
Cataloger: AM
