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Henry of Bracton, c.1210-1268.

English Medieval jurist, compiler of English common law.

A cleric and chief justicar during the reign of Henry III of England , Henry of Bracton is traditionally credited as the compiler of De Legibus et Consuetudinus Angliae, a compendium of English common law, inspired by the great compilations of Lombard law, Roman civil law and Ecclesiastical canon law going on at Bologna at this time.  Although he never studied at Bologna, Henry of Bracton was greatly influenced by the meticulous Azo of Bologna, and drew large parts from the latter's Summa of Roman law.

It is now believed that the bulk of the treatise was probably written in the 1220s and 1230s, and that Henry of Bracton only had a hand as an editor in its final stages.

 

  

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Major Works of Henry of Bracton

  • De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae (On the Laws and Customs of England)  (1880-82 ed., v.1 v.2, v.3, v.4, v.5
  • Bracton's Notebook: A collection of cases decided in the King's Court (1887 Maitland ed., v.1, v.2, v.3)
 
 
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Resources on Henry of Bracton

 
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