August 23, 2015: This site remains under construction. Comments are welcome.
"A London barrister of 1540, quick-frozen and revived in New York
today, would only need a year’s brush-up course at NYU School of Law to
begin civil practice in a midtown or Wall Street corporate-law firm."
-- Norman F. Cantor, Imagining the Law (1997), p.
192.
How could this be true? What can you learn from the
following
outline that might help you answer this question?
Legend:
British dates are at the left margin
* Dates from the Continent (or even further afield) are marked
with an asterik
American dates
are indented
43 A.D. Roman troops subdue southeastern England
www.roman-britain.org/main.htm
www.britannia.com/history/romantime.html
* 312 Edict of
Milan
* 325
Council of Nicea
* 380 Edict of Thessalonica directed
Roman citizens to conform to the Christian orthodoxy proclaimed by the
Council of Nicea
c. 410 Departure of last Roman troops from England, followed by chaos, death, destruction, etc.
* 410 Rome sacked by the Visigoths
c. 450 Angles and Saxons, two Germanic tribes, begin to
migrate into England
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/angsax.asp
History of the Britons, avalon.law.yale.edu/medieval/nenius.asp
* 476 Last Roman Emperor turns out the lights on what's left of the Western Empire
* 529-565 Codification of Roman Law by order of
(Eastern)
Emperor Justinian (called the “Corpus Juris Civilis” from 17th
century)
www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook-law.html
and other links
597 St. Augstine of
Canterbury, a Christian missionary, arrives in the Kingdom of Kent,
eventually converting King Ethelbert some time before 601
* 732 The Franks, led by Charles Martel, stop the Moorish (Muslim) invasion of western Europe at the Battle of Tours
c. 865-1045 Viking invasions and wars
www.viking.no/e/england/danelaw/index.html
871-899 reign of Alfred the Great, the first monarch to claim the title, "King of the Anglo-Saxons"
1066 William, Duke of Normandy, invades England,
defeats
the Anglo-Saxon king Harold at the Battle of Hastings (October
14);
Norman
troops subdue the rest of England; William installed as King William I
(Christmas Day)
www.essentialnormanconquest.com/
and
The
Statutes
of William the Conqueror, avalon.law.yale.edu/medieval/lawwill.asp
* 1075-1122 The Papal Revolution (a.k.a. the
"Investiture
Controversy")
avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/investm.asp
see also
Berman
1086 Domesday Book compiled, a complete record of
British
landholdings, including the roughly 1,500 tenants-in-chief who
held directly of the King
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/domesday/
and
www.domesdaybook.co.uk/
* 1088 Law school founded at Bologna, by
Irnerius.
Was center of scholarship on the recently rediscovered Justinian's
Institutes (see 529-565, above).
* 1095-1099 First Crusade
1100 Charter of Liberties of Henry I,
foreshadowing
Magna Carta (1215)
www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/hcoronation.html
c. 1188 Glanvill (treatise), vi.uh.edu/pages/bob/elhone/glanvill.html
* 1189-1192 Third Crusade (a.k.a. the "Kings' Crusade," involving Richard I ("Lionheart") and other kings as commanders)
1199-1216 reign of John I1265 Parliament meets for the first time
* 1272 Ninth (and final) Crusade ends
1272-1307 Reign of Edward I (Longshanks, and the Hammer
of the Scots; also the "English Justinian," according to Coke)
www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/KingsandQueensofEngland/ThePlantagenets/EdwardILongshanks.aspx
1290 Statute Quia Emptores
avalon.law.yale.edu/medieval/land.asp
1295 Model Parliament summoned by Edward I, "generally
regarded as the first representative assembly"
www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/originsofparliament/birthofparliament/overview/edward/
* 1337-1453 The Hundred Years' War
websites
1341 Commons and Lords meet separately for the first
time
www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/originsofparliament/birthofparliament/overview/riseofcommons/
The Manner
of Holding Parliament, a mid-14th century document
avalon.law.yale.edu/medieval/manner.asp
1349-1351 “Black Death”
www.fidnet.com/~weid/plague.htm
1455-1487 Wars of the Roses
www.warsoftheroses.com/
1509-1547 Reign of Henry VIII
www.luminarium.org/renlit/tudor.htm
and englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/henry8.html
* 1519 Martin Luther’s 95 Theses; beginning of the
Reformation
www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook02.html
1534 Henry VIII takes the Church in England out of the Catholic Church
1536 Henry VIII begins seizure and sale of the monasteries and their property
1547 Henry VIII dies, is succeeded by his young son, Edward VI (who was to reign only 6 years)
1553-1558 Reign of "Bloody" Mary I, who attempts to return England to the Catholic Church
1558-1603, Reign of Elizabeth I, who re-commits England to
Protestantism
and dies childless, setting the stage for the Stuart dynasty.
www.luminarium.org/renlit/eliza.htm
and englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/eliz1.html
and www.elizabethi.org/
1603-1625 Reign of James I (Stuart)
www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/stuart.htm
1604 The Apology
of Parliament, in whcih Parlimaent asserts that it speaks for the
entire "state of the realm" and makes the first significant use of the
word "rights" in an English politcal/legal document
coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst201/ApologySatis.htm
1605 The Gunpowder Plot
("remember, remember the fifth of November")
1607
Jamestown
Colony (Va.) founded. First English settlement in what is to
become
the USA.
13 Colonies: A Timeline,
www.timepage.org/spl/13timeline.html
1610 Parliament lodges the Petition of Grievances with James I
1611 King James Version of the Bible
* 1618-1648 Thirty Years’ War rages on the Continent
1620 Plymouth Colony (Mass.), avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/mayflower.asp
1625-1649 Reign of Charles I, a believer in the "divine
right of Kings" = much conflict with Parliament
www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/stuart_2.htm
1628 Petition of Right lodged by Parliament
against
Charles I
odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/D/1601-1650/england/por.htm
or oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=669&chapter=206109&layout=html&Itemid=27
or www.historyguide.org/earlymod/petition1628.html
about
Edward Coke oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=911&chapter=106237&layout=html&Itemid=27
1649 Execution of Charles I
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/museum/item.asp?item_id=22
Charles's
defense excerpted at www.royal.gov.uk/pdf/charlesi.pdf
Charles's
death warrant discussed at
www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/parliamentaryauthority/civilwar/collections/deathwarrant/
1649-1660 The Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell (d. 1659)
www.olivercromwell.org/
www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/cromwell_oliver.shtml
athome.harvard.edu/programs/kishlansky/
(video, maps, timeline)
1651 Thomas
Hobbes, Leviathan
oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/texts/hobbes/leviathan-contents.html/
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3S1uqgGfB4
1653 Instrument
of Govenrment, the first written constitution
in England
1660-1685 Restoration of the monarchy, reign of Charles
II
www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/KingsandQueensoftheUnitedKingdom/TheStuarts/CharlesII.aspx
1685-1688 Reign of James II
1688 Glorious Revolution (Parliament ousts James II,
installs
William and Mary (James II’s daughter))
www.thegloriousrevolution.org/
www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/KingsandQueensoftheUnitedKingdom/TheStuarts/MaryIIWilliamIIIandTheActofSettlement/MaryIIWilliamIII.aspx
recent
book
by Michael Barone describes the Glorious Rev and links it to the
American
Revolution;
1689 English Bill of Rights
avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/england.asp
1690 John Locke, Second Treatise of Government
www.constitution.org/jl/2ndtreat.htm
or
oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/texts/locke/locke2/2nd-contents.html
-- see
especially sections 95-99, press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch4s1.html
1701 Act of Settlement includes in its section III a
huge
step toward an "independent" judiciary, with judges' tenure defined in
terms of good behavior ("quamdiu se bene gesserint") rather than the
pleasure
of the Monarch -- three paragraphs from the end
www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2000/dec/06/monarchy
australianpolitics.com/democracy/documents/act-of-settlement.shtml
1707 Act of Union merges England and Scotland under one monarch, creates the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
1740 David Hume, A Treatise of Human
Nature
oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=342&Itemid=27
1756-1763 Seven Years' War, including
1754-1763
French
& Indian War in North America
1765-1769 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the
Laws
of England,
www.lonang.com/exlibris/blackstone/index.html
or
avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/blackstone.asp
1775 Hostilities commence in the War of Independence
1776 Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations
oll.libertyfund.org/title/197
www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Smith.html
1776 U.S.
Declaration of Independence, avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/declare.asp
1781 Articles
of Confederation, avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/artconf.asp
and British forces surrender at Yorktown, ending the War of
Independence
1787 U.S.
Constitution
promulgated, avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/usconst.asp
1787-1788 The
Federalist Papers, avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/fed.asp
1789 U.S.
Constitution
adopted
* 1789 French Revolution begins in May; the Declaration
of the Rights of Man and the Citizen is proclaimed in August.
chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/
and www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook13.html
and www.victorianweb.org/history/hist7.html
For the
Declaration,
go to avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/rightsof.asp
1789 Jeremy Bentham, The Principles of Morals and
Legislation
oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=278&Itemid=27
on
Bentham:
www.ucl.ac.uk/Bentham-Project/
1790 Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in
France
www.bartleby.com/24/3/
* 1793 In France, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette guillotined; "Committee on Public Safety" formed, followed by a "revolutionary government." The Terror begins in September, and lasts until July 1794.
* 1799 Napoleon a key member of a successful coup
in France. He expands his power steadily, with the logical
conclusion
reached in December 1804, when he crowns himself Emperor.
Napoleon's
strong interest in the civil law and its reform reflected in the Code
Napoleon,
which goes into force in April 1804.
www.napoleon-series.org/research/government/c_code.html
and www.cambaceres.org/vie-poli/code-civ/cod-civi.htm
* 1814-1815 The Congress of Vienna negotiates the
treaty ending the Napoleonic Wars, creating a system for the
co-existence
of European nations that results in a relatively peaceful 19th century
on the Continent (the so-called "Concert of Europe").
www.victorianweb.org/history/forpol/vienna.html
* 1815 Napoleon decisively defeated by the British at Waterloo, in Belgium.
1832 The Representation of the People Act (better known
as "The Reform Act") extends voting rights (a bit) and redraws voting
districts
for the House of Commons.
www.victorianweb.org/history/reform2.html
and www.historyhome.co.uk/peel/reftopic.htm
* 1840 Pierre Proudhon, What Is Property?
etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/ProProp.html
or
www.marxists.org/reference/subject/economics/proudhon/property/index.htm
* 1848 Marx & Engels, The Communist
Manifesto
www.anu.edu.au/polsci/marx/classics/manifesto.html
or www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/index.htm
1861-1870
U.S.
Civil War and the Civil War Amendments (the 13th, 14th, and
15th)
1867 The Second
Reform Act
1870 West Publishing Co. founded; Christopher Columbus Langdell becomes dean of Harvard Law School (serves for 25 years) and publishes the first half of "Cases on the Law of Contracts," the first American casebook (the second half is published in 1871)
1884 The Third
Reform Act
1887 Interstate Commerce Commission created (the first federal administrative agency)
1890
Sherman
Act (the key federal antitrust statute)
1909 The so-called Peoples
Budget (the first explicity redisributionist government budget in
the English speaking world?)
1911 The Parliament
Act reduces the power of the House of Lords
1913 Woodrow Wilson becomes 28th President; 16th Amendment (federal income taxation) and 17th Amendment (popular election of U.S. Senators) adopted; Federal Reserve System created
* 1917 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia
www.barnsdle.demon.co.uk/russ/rusrev.html
and www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook39.html
and www.casahistoria.net/Russian_Rev.htm
1918 Female
suffrage in Great Britain (extended in 1928)
1920 19th Amendment ratified,
guaranteeing female suffrage
1929 Stock
market
crash in October; Great Depression begins thereafter (more or less)
1932 Franklin Roosevelt defeats incumbent President Herbert Hoover in a landslide
1933 Roosevelt
becomes 32nd President; the "Hundred Days" usher in the New Deal
1935 Social Security Act; National Labor Relations Act (a.k.a. the "Wagner Act")
1936-37 The "Court packing" episode ends with Roosevelt losing the battle, but winning the war
* 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
adopted
by the UN
www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml
and avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/unrights.asp
1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education
1960 Ronald
Coase, The Problem of Social Cos
www.law.uchicago.edu/lawecon/coaseinmemoriam/problemofsocialcost
1962 James
Buchanan
& Gordon Tullock, The Calculus of Consent
www.econlib.org/library/Buchanan/buchCContents.html
publicchoice.info/TullockTales/index.htm
1964 Civil Rights Act of 1964; Lyndon Johnson re-elected President
1965 Medicare and Medicaid created
1970 Clean Air Act; Environmental Protection Agency established
1972 Clean
Water
Act
* 1989 Communism collapses in central
and eastern Europe
* 1991 Soviet Union declares bankruptcy, goes out of business
2010 Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)
2012 PPACA declared constitutional, for the most part, by the US Supreme Court on a 5-4 vote
2015 PPACA survives another constitutional challenge, on a 6-3 vote of the US Supreme Court
* * * *
To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain
always a child.
-- Cicero
* * * *
** Additional legal history
websites
Legal History Blog, legalhistoryblog.blogspot.com/
Legal History on the Web (Duke U.), www.law.duke.edu/legal_history/portal/
The Legal History Project, www.legalhistory.com/index.html
(Blog included)
Robert Palmer, English Legal History Materials (course page; a great
resource), vi.uh.edu/pages/bob/elhone/elhmat.html
British Legal History links (Cambridge), www.law.cam.ac.uk/resources_history.php
A.V. Dicey, The Law of the
Constitution (1885), oll.libertyfund.org/title/1684
Websites devoted to utilitarianism: www.utilitarian.net/
and www.utilitarianism.com/
and www.laits.utexas.edu/poltheory/cuws/
More legal history resources in section X of faculty.samford.edu/~medebow/web.htm
** Additional English/British history websites
History of the British Monarchy, www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/HistoryoftheMonarchy.aspxBBC’s British History in-depth, www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/
BBC's interactive timeline of British history, www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/timelines/british/index.shtml
BBC Radio's This Sceptred Isle – www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/sceptred_isle/
British History, www.britannia.com/history/index.html
Internet Medieval Sourcebook: England, www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook1n.html
Lectures in medieval history, www.vlib.us/medieval/lectures/index.html
The Founders' Constitution (1986) press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/
The American Republic: Primary Sources (2002), oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=669&Itemid=27
A Chronology of U.S. Historical Documents (U. of Oklahoma) www.law.ou.edu/hist/
Founding.com (Claremont Institute) www.founding.com/
Constitution Society (includes Cooke edition of The
Federalist
Papers) www.constitution.org/
Liberty Library of Constitutional Classics www.constitution.org/liberlib.htm
Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Common Law (1881), pds.lib.harvard.edu/pds/view/10253629
Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Path of the Law, 10 Harv. L. Rev.
457 (1897), www.gutenberg.org/files/2373/2373-h/2373-h.htm
eHistory at Ohio State University, ehistory.osu.edu/osu/default.cfm
** Additional Roman/civil law websitesRoman Law Resources -- iuscivile.com/
Q & A on Roman Law -- www.jura.uni-sb.de/Rechtsgeschichte/Ius.Romanum/english.html
The Roman Law Library -- webu2.upmf-grenoble.fr/DroitRomain/
Roman Law -- home.kpn.nl/otto.vervaart/roman_law.htm
Roman Law interactive timeline -- global.oup.com/uk/orc/law/roman/borkowski4e/resources/timeline/
Roman Legal Tradition, a journal published by the U. of Glasgow
and the Ames Foundation – www.romanlegaltradition.org/
Original material Copyright (c) 2007-15 Michael E. DeBow.