Law and Society in Medieval England

This course introduces students to some of the core areas of English medieval Law (family, property and obligations) with a focus on the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries and on the ways in which the law in these areas was changed by legislation and judicial decision making., These are core areas for understanding the relationship between the law of the period and the society which it reflected and of which it formed part.

The materials studied are contemporary legislative texts, law reports, official case records and legal treatises and instructional material and modern academic writing on the topics studied. The original materials are in medieval Latin and French, but no knowledge of these languages is required since all will be made available in modern English translation.

Assessment is by way of a submission.