Henry de Bracton

Henry de Bracton d. 1268, English writer on law. He was the author of De legibus et consuetudinibus Angliae [on the laws and customs of England], a broad, philosophic treatise that is often called the most important work on English law before that of Sir William Blackstone . Sir Edward Coke and others used the work in their legal arguments against the king in the English civil war.

Bibliography: See edition of De legibus by G. E. Woodbine (4 vol., 1915-42); edition of Bracton's notebook by F. W. Maitland (3 vol., 1887).

Bracton, Sir Henry (c.1210–68). Bracton, one of the greatest writers on the common law, was born in Devon and became the dean of Exeter cathedral. He served Henry III as a justice in Eyre and a justice of King's Bench, but his fame rests on his great work De legibus et consuetudinibus Angliae (‘On the Laws and Customs of England’). But it has been suggested that most of the book was written by others.

Bracton, Sir Henry (c.1210–68). Bracton, ‘the flower and crown of English Jurisprudence’ (Maitland) and one of the greatest writers on the common law, was born in Devon and became the dean of Exeter cathedral, where he is buried. He served during the reign of Henry III as a justice in Eyre and a justice of King's Bench, but his fame rests on his great work De legibus et consuetudinibus Angliae (‘On the Laws and Customs of England’). This remarkable work is one of the most important books in English legal history. It was much influenced by notions of canon law and Roman law, which at this time was being ‘received’ in many European countries. But Bracton's authorship of De legibus is now doubted and it has been suggested that most of the book was written by others, and merely revised by Bracton himself.

Maureen Mulholland