![](https://assets.cambridge.org/97811080/10801/cover/9781108010801.jpg)
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
- Online publication date:
- November 2015
- Print publication year:
- 2010
- First published in:
- 1887
- Online ISBN:
- 9780511707841
22 August 2024: Due to technical disruption, we are experiencing some delays to publication. We are working to restore services and apologise for the inconvenience. For further updates please visit our website: https://www.cambridge.org/universitypress/about-us/news-and-blogs/cambridge-university-press-publishing-update-following-technical-disruption
Henry of Bracton (or Bratton) (c. 1210–1268) was a jurist who worked as a Justice of Assize in the south-west of England, and was the author of the first systematic discussion of English common law. The manuscripts which form Bracton's Note Book were discovered in the British Museum in 1884 by Vinogradoff, and were edited in three volumes in 1887 by Maitland. These volumes contain a collection of over 2,000 lawsuits from the thirteenth century, each with a description of how the law should be applied to the particular circumstances of each case. This is the first example of case law in English legal writing, and its usefulness as a record of legal precedent probably led to the creation of Year Rolls (official records of court cases) from 1268. Volume 3 contains the texts of Pleas in the Bench and before the King from 1224 to 1240.
* Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.
Usage data cannot currently be displayed.