Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- GENERAL EDITOR'S PREFACE
- Preface
- Introduction
- Abbreviations
- CHAPTER I FAMILY AND ESTATES: History of the Shareshull family and of their landed estates, with special reference to the chief justice
- CHAPTER II PROFESSIONAL CAREER: Shareshull's elementary and legal education; his career as pleader and as judge; his appointments to common pleas, king's bench and exchequer, also to innumerable commissions, special and general
- CHAPTER III PUBLIC AFFAIRS: Shareshull's relations with the king on diplomatic missions and in parliament and council; his work on the private domains of the Black Prince
- CHAPTER IV LEGISLATION: Shareshull's part in framing ordinances and statutes, especially the legal and economic enactments of 1349-52
- CHAPTER V LAW ENFORCEMENT: Shareshull's policy of law enforcement, and of the imposition of huge financial penalties by means of commissions of oyer and terminer and of eyres, by the development of the justices of the peace and of the justices of labourers, and by a novel use of the king's bench
- CHAPTER VI STAFF AND EXPENSES: The enrolment and the preservation of proceedings before Shareshull; his group of trained clerks; arrangements for travelling and for transporting documents, for housing, food and clothing; annual stipends and daily fees
- CHAPTER VII SHARESHULL AND SHARDELOW: An account of the confusion between William Shareshull and his colleague John Shardelow; an attempt at disentangling them
- CHAPTER VIII LEGAL DOCTRINE:Shareshull's judicial pleadings and opinions: his legal thought in general, his learning, his doctrines of private law and of criminal law
- CHAPTER IX VINDICATION OF CHARACTER: Analysis of the charges against Shareshull and of the attitude of his contemporaries towards him; reasons for his retirement to a Franciscan convent
- CHAPTER X His PLACE IN HISTORY: An estimate of Shareshull's personality and of his significance for legal, economic and administrative history
- APPENDIXES
- NOTES
- List of statutes cited
- List of reports of cases cited
- Index
CHAPTER IV - LEGISLATION: Shareshull's part in framing ordinances and statutes, especially the legal and economic enactments of 1349-52
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2016
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- GENERAL EDITOR'S PREFACE
- Preface
- Introduction
- Abbreviations
- CHAPTER I FAMILY AND ESTATES: History of the Shareshull family and of their landed estates, with special reference to the chief justice
- CHAPTER II PROFESSIONAL CAREER: Shareshull's elementary and legal education; his career as pleader and as judge; his appointments to common pleas, king's bench and exchequer, also to innumerable commissions, special and general
- CHAPTER III PUBLIC AFFAIRS: Shareshull's relations with the king on diplomatic missions and in parliament and council; his work on the private domains of the Black Prince
- CHAPTER IV LEGISLATION: Shareshull's part in framing ordinances and statutes, especially the legal and economic enactments of 1349-52
- CHAPTER V LAW ENFORCEMENT: Shareshull's policy of law enforcement, and of the imposition of huge financial penalties by means of commissions of oyer and terminer and of eyres, by the development of the justices of the peace and of the justices of labourers, and by a novel use of the king's bench
- CHAPTER VI STAFF AND EXPENSES: The enrolment and the preservation of proceedings before Shareshull; his group of trained clerks; arrangements for travelling and for transporting documents, for housing, food and clothing; annual stipends and daily fees
- CHAPTER VII SHARESHULL AND SHARDELOW: An account of the confusion between William Shareshull and his colleague John Shardelow; an attempt at disentangling them
- CHAPTER VIII LEGAL DOCTRINE:Shareshull's judicial pleadings and opinions: his legal thought in general, his learning, his doctrines of private law and of criminal law
- CHAPTER IX VINDICATION OF CHARACTER: Analysis of the charges against Shareshull and of the attitude of his contemporaries towards him; reasons for his retirement to a Franciscan convent
- CHAPTER X His PLACE IN HISTORY: An estimate of Shareshull's personality and of his significance for legal, economic and administrative history
- APPENDIXES
- NOTES
- List of statutes cited
- List of reports of cases cited
- Index
Summary
There is a very real difficulty in discovering for the reign of Edward III just how the work of parliament was performed in the field of legislation and just what share of this work fell to men of law in general and to special judges or Serjeants in particular. We search in vain for an illuminating remark like the often-quoted words of Hengham: ‘Do not gloss the Statute; we understand it better than you do, for we made it.’ The difficulty is caused by two main factors. The ‘feudal reaction’ under Edward III, namely, the increase in the strength of the magnates as against that of the king's ministers, undoubtedly meant a decrease in the judicial functions of parliament and eventually in the powers of judges and Serjeants as members of the council. Further, as statutes ceased to be chiefly interpretations or declarations of common law, they more nearly resembled legislation in the modern sense; that is, both ordinances and statutes although frequently sanctioning practices already in use, often contained definite additions to, or modifications of, existing law. Very often they originated, not at the initiative of a learned judge, but in commons‘ petitions, presented to the clerk of parliament for consideration by the council. It must always be remembered that in contrast to commons’ petitions, petitions of individuals whether from England or from the king's possessions in ‘foreign’ lands went to ‘receivers’ and ‘triers’ and that this latter group regularly included distinguished men of law.
But in spite of reduced responsibilities for the judicial element, modern scholars insist that in matters of law expert opinion must have prevailed: the judges were expected to be in parliament, to act as ‘triers’ of petitions, to assist with legal judgments and also with drafting legislation; the ‘council, with the expert help of the judges (and probably of the Serjeants), acted not only as a drafting committee, but also exercised wide discretion in amending the substance of the demand’ ‘judges certainly bore their part in drafting’ statutes, ordinances or provisions, often showing ‘ingenuity and resource’.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Place in Legal History of Sir William ShareshullChief Justice of the King's Bench 1350–1361, pp. 41 - 58Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2013