Dunham, William Huse, ed., Casus Placitorum and Reports of Cases in the King's Courts 1272-1278. (Selden Society, vol. 69)
Text name(s): Casus Placitorum
Number of pages of primary source text: 141
Author(s):
Dates: 1231 - 1278
Archival Reference: MS Additional 38821; MS. Additional 5762; MS. Harley 748;
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
- Treatise - Instruction/Advice
Subject Headings:
- Agriculture
- Architecture and Buildings
- Economy - Crafts and Industry
- Economy - Trade
- Education / Universities
- Family / Children
- Government
- Law - Crime
- Law - Secular
- Literature - Other
- Material Culture: Food, Clothing, Household
- Nobility / Gentry
- Towns / Cities
- Women / Gender
Apparatus:
- Index
- Introduction
Comments:
The Casus Placitorum is a law-teacher’s book of notes, which Dunham believes might mark the first step in the growth of medieval law-reporting. It includes many rules and decisions from cases decided by the justices on the king’s courts between 1231 and 1261. The text is included in this volume along with two collections of reports made from cases heard in the king’s courts in the 1270s which are similar in style to the Year Books (many of which have been printed by the Selden Society). Appended to the introduction the reader will find Latin notes of cases and some select “pages from a student’s work-book.” In addition to containing incidental information about the cases, this volume is a valuable resource for those interested in investigating how the law was taught.
Introduction Summary:
In his introduction Dunham analyzes the Casus Placitorum and the two collections of reports. He tentatively concludes that men of law were writing up and teaching legal rules a generation before most historians had previously assumed.
Cataloger: SES
