The making of the English constitution, 449-1485

Front matter

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Preface

A TEXT in English constitutional history which is neither antiquated nor obscure has long been needed. It has been the author's ambition to meet this need. In preparing the present book, he has made three main assumptions: that a college text in history should be brief, and designed for the accompaniment of much collateral reading; that it is impossible in the medieval period, with which this voltmie is concerned, to combine the narrative of English history and an account of the making of the constitution; and that to follow rigidly either the chronological or topical arrangement in a constitutional history of England does violence to the nature of the subject. It has been taken for granted that the student will use some good text to acquaint himself thoroughly with the general history of a period before attempting to study its institutions; and, in the matter of arrangement, it has been the aim to show the general evolution of the English government as a whole, without, at the same time, artificially dividing the great topics into reigns or other time units. A constant compromise between the demands

O

30809 iv Preface

of chronology and the desire for continuity in the treatment of the theme in hand has been found necessary.

The emphasis throughout has been upon evolution rather than upon description. The purpose has been to furnish a logically satisfying account of the genesis of each institution as far as present knowledge permits — ^to show exactly how it has become what it is. This has made it necessary to hold steadfastly to a given line of argument and to shim many alluring, and perhaps profitable, bypaths; while, on the other hand, it has sometimes entailed an apparent interruption of the theme in order to develop a line of thought needed for logical completeness. More time has been spent upon origins than upon descriptions of finished products or upon definitions, in the belief that students should obtain much from detailed and special works which would clog a general accoimt of institutional development.

On the basis of his experience as a teacher, the author has brought out a college text upon the English constitution which closes at 1485. At that date, the distinctively creative period, the period when the constitution was in the making, ended. In studying this period, it is possible and, indeed, essential to separate sharply between the work on the narrative and that on the institutions. Moreover, upon the English middle ages, the scholarship of the last generation has been especially active; but its work is at present in a complex and unformulated state, and the average student should not be directed immediately to the mass of monographs and detailed works of reference; he needs an intermediary and guide. The

Preface v

modem period, on the other hand, has not been primarily a period of creation; in it, the newly made constitution has been tested and developed, and institutional concerns have borne a very intimate relation to the events and conditions prominent in a general narrative; it lacks the long sequences of institutional evolution which characterise the middle ages. In studying it, the narrative and the constitution must be handled almost simultaneously, and its literature is much better prepared for the immediate use of the tmdergraduate. A text-book dealing with the constitution after 1485 should be a superfluity.

While it is the office of this book to present to students the results of scholarship and serve as an introduction to the writings of the leading authorities, the author is ready to claim that its general conception and construction are largely his own. There has been no attempt to make an ideal allotment of space to the several divisions of the subject. Here the author has been influenced by what he has regarded as desiderata in other texts and by the present state of knowledge. He has felt, for instance, that the judiciary has been slighted, while Maitland's work has made possible a treatment of it which cannot be accorded some other topics which have traditionally received more attention. Moreover, classes in English constitutional history ought to contain a good number of prospective lawyers. It seems hardly necessary to seek to justify the copious quotations from Maitland. If nothing further were accomplished than to properly introduce the student to this scholar's writings, the author would feel quite content. In general, there vi Preface

has been more of quotation than is customary ; but it is believed that when an important or difficult point has been stated superlatively well, it is justifiable to use such statement in a work of this sort, especially if it originally appeared where it would not be likely to.be widely read by undergraduates.

The present volume has not undertaken the complete analysis or exposition of documents or provided any substitute for the first-hand study of documents in class. In the case of any given document, only its most salient feature, as bearing upon the matter under consideration, has been pointed out. The lists of suggested reading are only designed to indicate a moderate amotmt of reading that is scholarly, stimulating, and to the point. Their chief virtue, perhaps, is their freedom from the trammels of traditional authorities. The bibliography, it is hoped, contains most of the material likely to be of real service to undergraduates. The author here takes pleasure in acknowledging a debt, in the matter of bibliographical data, to Professor Gross's Sources and Literature of English History, The indebtedness to the works of Maitland, Stubbs, and Medley is apparent throughout, while, in particular parts, the obligation to other well-known authorities has been equally great. The author wishes to make an especial acknowledgment of what he owes Professor George B. Adams. It was Professor Adams who introduced him to the study of the English constitution, and whose influence determined him to make history his life-work; and, in the preparation of this book, he has received encouragement and invaluable suggestions from the same source. The author is also under obligation to Professors West

Preface vii

and Anderson of the University of Minnesota for much kindly encouragement and counsel.

A. B. W.

The University op Minnesota, August 12, 1908.

Contents

Bibliography ......

Suggestions for Collateral Reading

PART I. THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD. 44^1066 SBCnOM

I. The Anglo-Saxon Conquest and its Problems ......

PACK

xiii

XXV

II. The Local Government

1. The Classes of Men

2. The Hundred and Shire and their Courts

3. Origin and Early History of Boroughs

4. Anglo-Saxon Feudalism .

III. The Central Government

1. The King

2. The Witan .

IV. The Anglo-Saxon Church .

Part II. The Norman Conquest— Its More Immediate Results. 1 066-1 100

I. Norman Institutions and Ideas at the Time OF THE Conquest .....

II. Norman and Anglo-Saxon Institutions COME Together .....

I. The Classes of Men and the Introduction of Feudalism .....

16 16 17 31 37

SO SO 57

Contents

tON PACB

2. The Local Courts, Communal and Private . 90

3. The Boroughs ..... 96

4. The Central Government — King and Curia

5. Taxation. 104 ^. The Church. 109

Part III. The Period Of Constitution Making. 1 100-1485

[. The Making of the Judiciary . . .123

1. Origin and Early Development of the

Three Central, Common-law Courts and

the Circuit Court System . .124

2. The Displacement of the Old Local Courts

by a New Local System of Royal Courts 167

3. The Later Judicial History of ' the Curia

Regis, Especially the Origin and Early History of the Court of Chancery . 200

4. The Common Law . .220 t^. Relations of the State Courts and the

Church Courts ....

I IL The Executive

' I. The Genesis of Limited Monarchy

2. The Council .....

^ III. The Making op Parliament

r

1. Origin of the House of Lords .

2. Why there was a Middle Class in England

Origin of Popular Election and its Connection with Representation .

3. Origin of County Representation in a Cen

tral Assembly ....

253 285

298 298

306 317

Contents xi

PAGB

4. Condition of the Boroughs in the Thirteenth

Century, and the Origin of their Representation in a Central Assembly . .322

5. Form and Composition of Parliament from

1265 to the Middle of the Fourteenth Century . . . . . .326

6. The Electors, the Elected, and the Election

in County and Borough during the First Two Centuries of Pariiament . .341

7. Origin of the Chief Powers of Pariiament.

Control over Taxation; Legislation; a Share in Administration . . -354

8. Parliament in the Fifteenth Century. The

Lancastrian Constitution . . .378

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adams, G. B. "Anglo-Saxon Feudalism." Atnerican Historical Review vii., 11-35. New York, 1901.

Bmphasiaes the fact that all the fundamental ideas of institutional feudalism were brought to England from the continent through the Norman Conquest.

'* The Critical Period of English Constitutional History. "

American Historical Review v., 643-658. New York, 1900.

A valuable discussion of the fundamental principles of Magna Carta.

**The Origin of the English Constitution," I. and II.

American Historical Review, xiii., 229-245; 713-730. New York, 1908.

The author finds the germ of constitutional monarchy in the contract dement in feudalism.

and Stephens, H. M. Select Documents of English

ConstiHUioncd History, New York, 1901. Reprinted, 1902, 1904, 1906.

The best collection of translated documents for the study of the constitution.

Andrews, C. M. The Old English Manor, Baltimore, 1892. A useful account of the life and internal relations of tile manor.

Anson, W. R. The Law and Custom of the Constitution, Oxford, 1886. 2nd edition, 1892. Vol. ii.. pt. i.. 3rd edition, 1907.

The book aims "to state the law relating to existing institutions, with so much of history as is necessary to explain how they have come to l)e what they are." The historical explanations, briefly connecting the past with the present, are very enlightening to the student.

Ashley, W. J. An Introduction to English Economic History and Theory, 2 vols. London, 1 888-1 893. 3rd edition of vol. i., 1894.

Vol. i. is very useful to the student of history; ch. i. contains an excellent accoant of the manor.

' Surveys, Historic and Economic. London, 1900.

Contains valuable reviews and summaries of important books and articles on medieval agrarian and urban history.

xiv Bibliography

Baildon, W. p. (editor). "Select Cases in Chancery." Pub^ licaiions of the Selden Society x. Introduction, pp. xi.-xlv. London, 1896.

Baldwin, J. F. "Beginnings of the King's Council." Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, vol. xix. London, 1905. "Early Records of the King's Council." American Historical Review xi., 1-15. New York, 1905. "Antiquities of the King's Council." English Historical Review xxi., 1-20. London, 1906. "The Privy Council of the Time of Richard II." American Historical Review xii., 1-14. New York, 1906. "The King's Council from Edward I. to Edward III. " English Historical Review xxiii., 1-14. London, 1908.

These studies are excellently supplementing Dicey's brief work.

— The Scutage and Knight Service in England. Chicago, 1897.

Bateson, Mary (editor). " Borough Customs. " Publications of the Selden Society, xxi. Introduction, pp. xv.-clix. London, 1906.

"The chief purpose of this Introduction must be to explain how the borotigh customs differed from the law of the land, why they diflFered. and in what way they were brought ultimately into such harmony that borough custom has ceased to be a matter of much practical interest."

Beard, C. A. The Office of Justice of the Peace in England, in its Origin and Development. New York, 1904.

B^mont, C. Chartes des Liberies Anglaises (i 100-1305), pub- Hies avec une Introduction et des Notes.

The most useful text of Magna Carta and its early confirmations. The Introductioif and biographical notes are of much value.

Bigelow, M. M. History of Procedure in England (1066-1204). London, 1880.

Bohmer, H. Kirche und Stoat in England und in der Normandie im XI. und XII. Jahrhundert. Leipzig, 1899.

The best account of the constitutional effects of the Conquest upon the church, and a valuable introduction to the relations of church and state until the Reformation.

Brunnbr, H. Die Entstehung der Schwurgerichte. Berlin, 187 1. This work proved that the jury was of continental origin.

Chadwick, H. M. Studies on Anglo-Saxon Institutions. Cambridge, 1905.

The Origin of the English Nation . Cambridge , 1907.

This and the preceding throw new light upon several Anglo-Saxon institutions, especially upon the origin of kingship.

Bibliography xv

Cheyney, E. p. "The Disappearance of English Serfdom." English Historical Review xv., 20-37. London, 1900.

Dicey, A. V. The Privy Council, Oxford, i860. Reprinted, London, 1887.

An excellent brief work. There is no detailed history of the Privy CotmcU.

DowELL, Stephen. A History of Taxation and Taxes in England. 4 vols. London, 1884. 2nd edition, 1888.

The best work on taxation, but not entirely satisfactory for the middle ages.

Essays in Anglo-Saxon Law. Boston, 1876. " Courts of Law.*' By Henry Adams. ** Land Law." By H. C. Lodge. '* Family Law." By E. Young. "Legal Procedure." By J. L. Laughlin.

FoRTESCUE, Sir John. Governance of England. Edited by Charles Plummer. Oxford, 1885.

Freeman, E. A. History of the Norman Conquest. 6 vols. Oxford, 1867-1879. 2nd edition of vols, i.-iv., 1870-1876. 3rd edition of vols, i., ii., 1877.

The principal work upon the subject. With a long introduction upon the Anglo-Saxon period, it covers to the end of Stephen's reign and concludes with a supplementary sketch to 1372. Freeman's generalisations must be accepted with great caution. Many of them have been corrected through the work of Round and other recent writers.

FusTEL DE Coulanges, N. D. The Origin of Property in Land. (Translated by Margaret Ashley.) London, 1891. 2nd edition, 1892.

The author contends that primitive ownership of land was individualistic and aristocratic. There is a valuable Introduction by W. J. Ashley.

Gardiner, S. R. A School Atlas of English History. London, 1891.

Though supplemented in some respects by Reich's more recent work, this remains the most useful atlas of English history for students.

Gee. H., and Hardy, W. J. Documents Illustrative of English Church History. London, 1896.

The documents selected cover from the earliest times to the end of the X7th century and are translated and edited in a very scholarly manner.

Gnbist, R. Englische Verfassungsgeschichte. Berlin, 1882. Translated by P. A. Ash worth: The History of the English Constitution. 2 vols. London, 1886. 2nd edition, 1889. A one- volume edition, 1891.

The best of the constitutional histories of England by foreigners and one of the standard general works upon the subject.

xvi Bibliography

Grsbn, J. R. History of the English People. 4 vols. London, 1877-1880. Reprinted, 8 vols., 1895-1896.

**Tbe most important general history of England, devoting much atten* tion to the social condition of the people." — Gross.

' The Conquest of England (829-1071). London, 1883.

Reprinted, 2 vols., 1899.

The most valuable study of the Danish invasions and conquest.

The Making of England (449-829). London, 1881.

Reprinted, 2 vols., 1897.

Makes valuable use of the topographical features of ancient England in 8tiid3ring the invasions and settlements of the Anglo-Saxons.

Green, Mrs. J. R. Town Life in the Fifteenth Century. 2 vols. London, 1894.

Covers the period from the Norman Conquest to the end of the middle ages.

Gross, Charles (editor). ** Select Cases from the Coroners' Roll^. " Publications of the Selden Society ix. Introduction, pp. xiii.-xliv. London, 1896.

The Introduction contains the best account of the origin of the coroner and throws light upon the early history of the jury.

The Giid Merchant: A Contribution to British Municipal

History. 2 vols. Oxford, 1890.

The best work on the subject.

The Sources and Literature of English History from the

Earliest Times to about 1485, London, 1900.

The first important bibliography of English history, and a work of great completeness and authority for the period it covers. Indispensable to the student of English history.

Haskins, C. H. "Knight Service in Normandy in the Eleventh Century. " English Historical Review xxii., 636-649. London, 1907.

Holmes, O. W. The Common Law, Boston, 1881. London, 1882.

Hunt, William, and Poole, R. L. (editors). The Political History of England. 12 vols. London, 1 905-1908. i.. From Earliest Times to 1066. By Thomas Hodgkin. ii., 1 066-1 216. By G. B. Adams, iii., 1216-1377. By T. F. Tout, iv., 1377-1485. By C. Oman, v., 1485-1547. By H. A. L. Fisher, vi., 1547-1603. By A. F. Pollard, vii., 160J-1660. By F. C. Montague, viii..

Bibliography xvii

j66<>-t^2. By Richard Lodge, ix., ii02-iy6o. By I. S. Lbadam. X., 1760-1801, By William Hunt, xi., 1801-18 37, By J. C. Brodrick and J. K. Fothbrinoham. xii., 1837-igoi, By S. J. Low and L. C. Sandars.

A detailed work of collaboration, containing the results of recent scholar-

Jenrs, Edward. Edward Plantaganet {Edward /.), the English Justinian or the Maker of the Common Law. London, 1902. Contains a valuable discussion of Edward's legislation.

— — Law and Politics in the Middle Ages. London, 1898.

A brilliant and concise discussion of the origin of various governmental institutions and principles.

•* The Myth of Magna Carta. " The Independent Review

Contends somewhat violently for the aristocratic nature of the movement resulting in Magna Carta and the constitutional futility of the document itself.

Kbrley, D. M. An Historical Sketch of the Equitable Jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery, Cambridge, 1890.

Lappbnbbrg, J. M., and Pauli, R. Geschichte von England (to 1509). 5 vols. Hamburg, 1 834-1 858.

Vols, iii.-v. still remain the most valuable detailed account of large portions of the period from 1x54 to 1509.

Larson, L. M. The King's Household in England before the Norman Conquest. Madison, 1904.

Lea, H. C. Superstition and Force: Essays on the Wager of Law, the Wager of Battle, the Ordeal, and the Torture. Philadelphia, 1886. 4th edition, 1892.

The best account of the kinds of trial which antedated the jury.

Lbadam, I. S. (editor). "Select Cases in the Star Chamber, 1477-1509. " Publications of the Selden Society xvi. Introduction, pp. ix.-cliv. London, 1903.

Part i. of the Introduction contains an exhaustive discussion of the procedure, composition, and jtirisdiction of the Court of Star Chamber for the period under consideration.

"The Security of Copyholders in the Fifteenth and

Sixteenth Centuries." English Historical Review viii., 684-696. London, 1893.

xviii Bibliography

McKechnie, W. S. Magna Carta: a Commentary on the Great Charter of King John, with an Historical Introduction. Glasgow, 1905.

The best commentary uiK)n the individual articles of the Charter. The introduction is valuable.

Maitland, F. W. Domesday Book and Beyond: Three Essays in the Early History of England. Cambridge, 1897. Reprinted, 1907.

The most brilliant recent work on Anglo*Saxon institutions.

— ^— English Law and the Renaissance. Cambridge, 1901.

An illuminating discussion of the distinguishing characteristics and constitutional importance of the common law.

Justice and Police. London, 1885.

This brief work shows admirably the historical relation between the present theory and practice in justice and police and the medieval.

(editor). Pleas of the Crown for the County of Gloucester.

Introduction, pp. vii.-l. London, 1884.

The Introduction contains an excellent account of the procedure in the itinerant justice court in the early thirteenth century.

(editor). ** Records of the Pariiament at Westminster.

in 1305." [Half-title: Memoranda de Pariiamento.] Rolls Series Introduction, pp. ix.-cxxi. London, 1893.

The Introduction contains valuable comment upon the primitive Parliament and Council.

Roman Canon Law in the Church of England, London,

Consists of six essays reprinted from the English Historical Review, and the Law Quarterly Reinew. Essay iv. contains the best discussion of the matters at stake between Henry II. and Becket.

(editor). "Select Pleas in Manorial and other Seignorial

Courts. " Publications of the Selden Society ii. Introduction, pp. xi.-lxxvii. London, 1889.

The Introduction gives the best accotmt of private jurisdictions in the thirteenth century and of the origin of the sheriff's toum.

(editor). "Select Pleas of the Crown." PuhliccUions of

the Selden Society \. Introduction, pp. vii.-xxviii. London, 1888.

In the Introduction is an imix>rtant discussion of the origin and early history of the Courts of King's Bench and Common Pleas.

The Constitutional History of England. London, 1908.

A course of lectures delivered at the University of Cambridge.

Bibliography xix

Maitland, F. W. **The History of a Cambridgeshire Manor. " English Historical Review ix., 417-439. London, 1894.

Traces the history of an individual manor from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century.

"The Origin of the Borough." English Historical

Review xi., 13-19. London, 1896.

The author emphasises the importance, in mtmicipal beginnings, of the group of midland boroughs having a military origin: he finds in the hurh-peace the germ of the borough court and. through it, of the bprough government as a whole. See also pp. 112-219 in his Domesday Book and Beyond. For a criticism of Maitland's theory, see James Tait in English Historical Review xii., 772-777.

"The Suitors of the County Court. " English Historical

He argues that the duty of attending the shire court had become territorialised. only those freemen attending whose holdings owed suit of court.

Township and Borough, Cambridge, 1898.

Deals primarily with the change of a rural community into an urban community, showing the persistence of many rural features and their later influence.

Makowbr, F. Verfassung der Kirche von England. Berlin, 1894. Translation: The Constitutional History and Constitution of the Church of England. London, 1895. The best general work on the subject.

Medley, D. J. A Student's Manual of English Constitutional History. Oxford, 1894. 4th edition, 1908.

A condensed but comprehensive presentation in topical form, based upon the best authorities.

NoRGATE, Kate. England under the Angevin Kings. 2 vols. London, 1887.

One of the best narratives of the last half of the twelfth century.

John Lackland. London, 1902.

A continuation of the author's England under the Angevin Kings, but a work of greater scientific value.

Oman, C. W. C. (editor). A History of England. (From the earliest times down to the year 181 5.) London, 1904, etc. i., From the Beginning to 1066. By C. W. C. Oman, ii., 1066-1272. By H. W. C. Davis, iii., 1272-148 5. By Owen Edwards. iv., 1485-160J. By A. D. Innes. v., 1603-1714. By G. M. Trevelyan. vi., 1714-J815. By C. G. Robertson.

XX Bibliography

Pagb, T. W. The End of ViUainage in England, New York. 1900.

Pearson, C. H. Historical Maps of England during the First Thirteen Centuries. London. 1869. 2nd edition, 1870.

The maps are: Brittania Romana. Brittania Cambrica. Saxon England. Norman England. Monastic England. They bear the stamp of their author's originality and are accompanied by a valuable text.

Pike, L. O. A Constitutional History of the House of Lords, London, 1894.

A work of very great value; throws light upon related institutions and constitutes a history of the English nobility.

A History of Crime in England, 2 vols. London,

1873-1876.

Pollock, Frederick. The Land Laws, London, 1883. 3rd edition, 1896.

Especially tiseful in explaining the changes subsequent to Edward I.'s time.

and Maitland, F. W. The History of English Law before

tJic Time of Edward /. 2 vols. Cambridge, 1895. 2nd edition. 1898.

Has superseded all previous works on English law for the period which it covers, and. in its lavish comprehensiveness, goes far to supplement and correct the older constitutional histories.

Poole, R. L. (editor). Historical Atlas of Modern Europe , from the Decline of the Roman Empire, Oxford, 1902.

The best historical atlas. It contains about one hundred maps with explanatory text. Of these, seventeen relate to the British Isles.

Ramsay, J. H. Lancaster and York {1399-1485), 2 vols. Oxford, 1892.

The most detailed narrative of the fifteenth century.

The Angevin Empire, or the three Reigns of Henry IL,

The Foufuiations of England, or Twelve Centuries of

British History (B. C. S5^'^' ^- ^^54)- 2 vols. London, 1898.

This, with the preceding, constitutes the best general narrative of English history to 1216.

Reeves, John. A History of the English Law (to 1509). 2 vols. London, 1784. 2nd edition (to 1558), 4 vols., 1787. 3rd edition, 18 14. Vol. v.. Reign of Elizabeth, 1829. New edition in 3 vols., by W. F. Finlason, 1869.

For the period before Edward I., this has been superseded by the work of Pollock and Maitland.

Bibliography xxi

Rbich, Emil. a New Student's Atlas of English History, London, 1903.

Riess believes that the early representatives to Parliament were summoned primarily to inform the king of the condition of the local administration.

— ^^ Geschichte des Wahlrechls sum englischen Parlament im MiUelaUer. Leipsic, 1885.

A brilliant monograph. For a review of this and the same author's D^r Ursfinmg dts tnglischtn Untgrhauses, see English Historical Review v., 146-156.

Round, J. H. Feudal England: Historical Studies of the nth and 1 2th Centuries, London, 1895.

Especially valuable for the essay on the introduction of knight service, upon which subject and the early effects of the Conquest in general Round is the leading authority.

Geoffrey de MandeviUe: A Study of the A narchy. London ,

The life of Geoffrey is presented as "the most perfect and typical presentment of the feudal and anarchic spirit that stamps the reign of Stephen." For a somewhat different estimate of the degree of anarchy prevailing, see H. W. C. Davis in Ef^ish Historical Review xviii., 630-^41. Various matters of constitutional interest are dealt with.

The Commune of London and Other Studies, Westminster, 1899.

These studies are mainly on the twelfth century. In En^ish Historical Review xix.. 702-706. G. B. Adams contends that London was a commune in the technical, continental sense during a part of the reigns of Richard I. and John.

Sbbbohm, Prbdbrick. The English Village Community: An Essay on Economic History. London, 1883. 4th edition, 1890. Reprinted, 1896 and 1905.

A work which contained much new information upon classes and tenures in the primitive settlements and precipitated a long contest over the question of the freedom or servility of these settlements. In his later writing. Seebohm has modified his theory of the Roman origin of the BngUsb village community while holding to its essentially servile character.

— -^ Tribal Customs in Anglo-Saxon Law. London, 1902.

Starting with the conclusions reached in his Tribal System in Wales, London. 1895. and edition. 1904, the author shows that tribal custom was one important element in shaping Anglo-Saxon institutions.

Shirley, W. W. (editor). ** Royal and other Historical Letters Illustrative of the Reign of Henry III. " Rolls Series. 2 vols. Preface (to Vol. ii.), pp. vii.-xxvi. London, 1 862-1 866.

This preface contains a good brief account of the beginning of representation in Parliament.

xxii Bibliography

Stephen, J. F. A History of the Criminal Law of England. 3 vols. London, 1883.

This and Pike's A History of Crime in England are the most detailed works on the subject.

Stubbs, William. Historical Introditctians to the Rolls Series, Edited by A. Hassall. London, 1902.

This publication in one volume of the "historical portions of the late Bishop Stubbs's Introductions to certain volumes of the Rolls Series" contains invaluable material upon the reigns of Henry II., Richard I.. John, Edward I., and Edward II. "No better judge of the value of Henry II.'s work ever lived; no historian has ever given us a truer and more forcible picture of King John."

Lectures on Early English History, Edited by A.

Hassall. London, 1906.

Select Charters and other Illustrations of English Constitutional History from the Earliest Times to the Reign of Edward the First. Oxford, 1870. 8th edition, 1895.

The best collection of constitutional docimients for the use of students. The Latin documents are not translated.

The Constitutional History of England in its Origin and

Development. 3 vols. Oxford, 1 874-1883. 6th edition of vol. i., 1897; 4th edition of vol. ii., 1896; 5th edition of vol. iii., 1895.

The best constitutional history of England. It covers only to 1485. The work of Gneist has long stood near that of Stubbs both in scope and authority. As a foreigner, Gneist was impressed with the local origin of much in England's administrative system and the importance of the gentry, especially in the local government; these aspects of the constitution are emphasised in his books. During the last generation, the work of Stubbs and Gneist has been supplemented by a great deal of valuable monographic writing, and Pollock and Maitland's great treatise on the history of English law touches many phases of constitutional history.

The Early Plantagenets {1135-1327), London, 1876.

5th edition, 1886.

An excellent short narrative of the period, containing much of value to the student of the constitution.

Taswbll-Langmead, T. P. English Constitutional History. London, 1875. 6th edition, by P. A. Ashworth, 1905. Especially valuable after the thirteenth century.

Thayer, J. B. A Preliminary Treatise on Evidence at the Common Law. Part i., "Development of Trial by Jury." Boston, 1896. Reprinted with part ii., 1898.

The best general work on the jury; especially valuable for the institution's later history.

Bibliography xxiii

Traill, H. D. (editor). Social England: A Record of the Progress of the People in Religion, Laws, Learning, Arts, Industry, Commerce, Science, Literature, and Manners, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. By various writers. 6 vols. London, 1894-189 7. Vol. i., 2nd edition, 1894. A new edition (illustrated), Traill, H. D., and Mann, J. S. (editors), 1 901-1904.