Laws, Lawyers and Texts

The essays in this volume in honour of Paul Brand, Senior Research Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, match his career and interests in the world of legal history as well as medieval social and economic history and textual studies. The topics explored include the Angevin reforms, legal literature, the legal profession and judiciary, land law, the relation between the crown and the Jews, the interaction of the Common Law with Canon and Civil Law, as well as procedural and testamentary procedures, the management of both ecclesiastical and lay estates and the afterlife of medieval learning. Like Brand's own work, all the essays are grounded on detailed studies of primary sources. The result is a high quality scholarly book that will be of interest and use to medieval scholars, students and non-specialists with wide-ranging and varied interests. Contributors include Sir John H. Baker*, David Carpenter, David Crook, Charles Donahue, Jr, Barbara Harvey, Richard H. Helmholz, John Hudson, Paul Hyams, David J. Ibbetson, Susanne Jenks, Janet S. Loengard, Alexandra Nicol, Bruce R. O'Brien, Robert C. Palmer, Sandra Raban, Jonathan Rose, Henry Summerson and Sarah Tullis. *Professor Jon Baker is the winner of the American Society for Legal History's 2013 Sutherland Prize. The prize, which is awarded annually, is for the best article on English legal history published in the previous year. The Prize was awarded to John baker for his article Deeds Speak Louder Than Words: Covenants and the Law of Proof, 1290-1321 in Laws, Lawyers and Texts: Studies in Medieval Legal History in Honour of Paul Brand, ed. Susanne Jenks, Jonathan Rose and Christopher Whittick (2012). For more information about the Prize see: http://aslh.net/about-aslh/honors-awards-and-fellowships/sutherland-prize/

Review:

...In Anerkennung seiner grossen Verdienste um die anglophone Rechtsgeschichte haben seine Freunde, Kollegen und Schuler die vorliegende Festschrift verfasst. Sie enthalt ausser einer einfuhlsamen Wurdigung [...] insgesamt 16 eindringliche Studien [...] Eine Bibliographie der zahlreichen weiterfuhrenden Arbeiten des Geehrten und ein umfangreicher Index schliessen das mit Illustrationen und einem Brustbild Brands geschmuckte vielseitige Werk benutzerfreundlich ab und zugleich auf. Gerhard Kobler, Innsbruck, February 2014 (http://www.koeblergerhard.de/ZIER-HP/ZIER-HP-04-2014/LawsLawyersandTexts.htm) This volume is both a worthy tribute to the person it honours, Professor Paul Brand, formerly of All Souls, Oxford, and recently visiting Professor in the University of Michigan Law School, and a significant contribution in its own right to the areas of research made possible by Brand's scholarship. [...] There is much here for readers interested in the history of specific actions in the English common law [...] This book deserves a wider readership than the specialist nature of its subject matter will no doubt allow. This is to compliment the editors and contributors for appositely paying tribute to their dedicatee; on the other hand, such rich scholarship deserves to read by all. Jason Taliadoros, (School of Law, Deakin University), Parergon, Vol. 30, 2, 2013, pp. 202-204 ...This festschrift is a richly-deserved tribute to Brand's continuing collegiality and influence. [...] Taken as a whole, this collection not only stands as a testament to the influence of Paul Brand himself on his friends, colleagues, and students, but as a testament to the high quality of scholarly production among current historians of medieval English law. [...] all demonstrate the kind of meticulous scholarship and accessible presentation for which Brand is justifiably well known. [...] In the final analysis, this is not only a welcome addition to the body of work on English law and procedure, it is also a fitting tribute to one of the most productive and significant members of that community. Those interested in the topics of the articles themselves will find much to value in them; those curious about the state of English legal history today will find it well represented here. Linda E. Mitchell (University of Missouri--Kansas City), The Medieval Review 13.09.46 ...einem sauber bearbeiteten umfangreichen Index...die hohe Konsistenz der Einzelbeitrage untereinander...Alle Beitrage beziehen sich ganz explizit auf das zentrale Arbeitsgebiet des Jubilars: Recht und Rechtspflege im England des langen 13. Jahrhunderts....Damit ist schon ein weiterer Schwerpunkt angesprochen, der die meisten der versammelten Beitrage durchzieht: der standig wiederkehrende und wohltuende Bezug zur Quellenkunde und Quellenkritik...Diese Festschrift stellt einen facettenreichen und doch thematisch konsistenten Beitrag zur englischen Rechtsgeschichte des hohen und spaten Mittelalters dar, mit der die Forschungsinteressen des Jubilars aufgegriffen und uberzeugend weitergefuhrt werden. Hiram Kumper (Universitat Bielefeld), Francia-Recensio 2013/3 | Mittelalter - Moyen Age (500-1500) ...The focus of the volume is predominantly on the Common Law and the English legal system, reflecting Brand's expert knowledge and interpretation of medieval law and legal practice, and it would have been easy to locate the essays purely within this comfortable domain. One of the key strengths of this book, however, is that many of the contributions range more broadly, examining overlaps between other legal traditions and jurisdictions... Anthony Musson (Bracton Centre for Legal History Research, University of Exeter), Edinburgh Law Review. Volume 17, Page 268-269 DOI 10.3366/elr.2013.0159, ISSN 1364-9809, Available Online May 2013