Tells the story of how disputes of all kinds were managed in England between AD 1154 and the first signs of the Common Law, and 1558 when a new period started in the development of the English legal system. This title also includes private papers like the Paston Letters to show how disputes were managed in practice.

This is a collection of original essays on the settlement of disputes in the early middle ages, a subject of central importance for social and political history. Case material, from the evidence of charters, is used to reveal the realities of the settlement process in the behaviour and interactions of people - instead of the prescriptive and idealised models of law-codes and edicts. The book is not therefore a technical study of charters evidence. The geographical range across Europe is unusually wide, which allows comparison across differing societies. Frankish material is inevitably prominent, but the contributors have sought to integrate Celtic, Greek, Italian and Spanish material into the mainstream of the subject. Above all, the book aims to 'demystify' the study of early medieval law, and to present a radical reappraisal of established assumptions about law and society.

This book provides an accessible collection of translated legal sources through which the exploits of criminals and developments in the English criminal justice system (c.1215–1485) can be studied. Drawing on the wealth of archival material and an array of contemporary literary texts, it guides readers towards an understanding of prevailing notions of law and justice and expectations of the law and legal institutions. Tensions are shown emerging between theoretical ideals of justice and the practical realities of administering the law during an era profoundly affected by periodic bouts of war, political in-fighting, social dislocation and economic disaster. Introductions and notes provide both the specific and wider legal, social and political contexts in addition to offering an overview of the existing secondary literature and historiographical trends. This collection affords a valuable insight into the character of medieval governance as well as revealing the complex nexus of interests, attitudes and relationships prevailing in society during the later Middle Ages.

This set is an excellent companion to J. R. Strayer's edited Dictionary of the Middle Ages (CH, Nov'87; Supplement I, ed. by W. C. Jordan, CH, Sep'04, 42-0044). The focus on warfare allows the editors to offer larger entries on major topics (e.g., "Agincourt," "Crusades," "Feudalism") and introduce many complementary topics. The editors are concerned with Europe; they expand coverage into Asia or Africa only because of the connection to medieval Europe. Coverage also includes an abundance of entries pertaining to Central and Eastern Europe. Most of the 1,000-plus entries are about a page in length, but a few approach 50 pages. Medium and large-size entries, such as "Chivalry," "Germany," and "Slavic Lands," discuss primary sources and very valuable historiographies. A thorough index helps readers locate the Knights Templar under "Orders, Military, Levantine Orders." Cross-references and bibliographies follow each of the signed entries. Locating reliable and scholarly information on the Knights Templar and Vlad Tepes (Dracula) is tricky. Some of the bibliographies include sources in foreign languages. For example, the references for the Black Army of Hungary are in Hungarian. Noticeably missing are entries for the many wars. This set is particularly suited to research libraries. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through professionals/practitioners; general readers. General Readers; Lower-division Undergraduates; Upper-division Undergraduates; Graduate Students; Researchers/Faculty; Professionals/Practitioners. Reviewed by W. M. Fontane.

This open access book explores the history of risk management in medieval and early modern European maritime business, focusing particularly on 'General Average' – a mechanism by which extraordinary expenses regarding ship or cargo, incurred during a voyage to save the venture, are shared between all participants to protect equity. This volume traces the history of this risk management tool from its origins in the pre-Roman Mediterranean through to its use in the shipping sector today. Contributions range from the Islamic Mediterranean to the Low Countries, and taken together, provide a wide-ranging analysis of social, cultural, and political aspects of pre-modern maritime commerce in Europe.

This collection of essays by British, American and French scholars uses the records of the law in Western Europe from the fall of Rome to the nineteenth century in an attempt to outline a social history of the West considered as a history of human relations. The primary themes are dispute, arbitration and conjugal relations; the primary influences considered are feud, Christianity and the state. The contributions are discussed overall by an anthropologist lawyer, Simon Roberts, who writes an anthropological introduction, and by the editor in a short historical postscript. The aim has been to strike a new note in social history by attending more closely to actual people and their actual relations; by drawing on the resources of anthropology, legal history, the history of religious feelings and institutions, and of states, to illuminate their behaviour; and by combining the efforts of scholars representing a diversity of intellectual traditions and a long perspective of human experience.