Williams, C. H. ed., Year Books of Henry VI. 1 Henry VI, A.D. 1422 (London: Quaritch. Selden Society, vol. 50.)
Text name(s): Year books of Henry VI
Number of pages of primary source text: 196
Author(s):
Dates: 1421 - 1422
Archival Reference:
Original Language(s):
- Anglo-Norman
- Latin
Translation:
- Translated into English.
- Original language included.
Translation Comments: facing page text and translation
Geopolitical Region(s):
- England
County/Region:
Record Types:
- Court Roll
Subject Headings:
- Economy - Trade
- Family / Children
- Government
- Law - Crime
- Law - Secular
- Towns / Cities
Apparatus:
- Index
- Introduction
Comments:
The Year Books contain notes on cases heard before the Court of Common Bench (and, on occasion, the Eyre Courts) from about 1268 to 1535. Written in dialogue form and highly abbreviated, they were composed to provide instruction to lawyers by showing different arguments and legal points. After c. 1363, the court arguments were more often conducted in English so the Anglo-Norman used in the Year Books tends to deteriorate. Cases usually begin with the action or writ beginning the suit, a brief discussion of the case, and then a verbatim or paraphrased account of the lawyers’ arguments and the Justices’ responses. Besides offering crucial information on the development of common law and legal procedure, the cases in the Year Books are often interesting in their own right for the light they shed on property, debts, family relations, trade, and even everyday life in the middle ages. For a bibliography of works using the Year Books, as well as searchable database of cases printed between 1378 and 1535, see the Boston University School of Law project supported by the Ames Foundation, at: http://www.bu.edu/law/seipp/.
Introduction Summary:
Introduction, I-lxi.
Cataloger: mak
