The History of English Law before the Time of Edward I. Frederic William Maitland

      Payments to husband and wife, Conveyances to husband and wife, The wife’s contracts, The influence of seisin, The personal relationship, Civil death of husband

       § 3. Infancy and Guardianship

      Paternal power in ancient times, The tutelage of women, Paternal power in the thirteenth century, Infancy and majority, Proprietary rights of infants, Infants in seisin, Infants as plaintiffs, Infants as defendants, Demurrer of the parol, Law of guardianship, The guardian no curator, The king’s guardianship

       Review of English private law

       Chapter VIII. Crime and Tort

       § 1. The Ancient Law

      Crime and wrong in old law, Outlawry in old law, Blood-feud, The system of wíte and bót, True punishment, Kinds of punishment, Crime and revenue, Cnut’s pleas of the crown, Pleas of the crown in Domesday Book, Norman pleas of the sword, Pleas of the crown in the Norman age, Crime and punishment in Domesday Book, Criminal law in the Leges, Changes in the twelfth century, Disappearance of wíte and bót, Oppressive character of the old system, Arbitrary element in the old system

       § 2. Felony and Treason

      Causes of the change, The king’s peace, Felony, Import of felony, Premeditated assault, Malice aforethought, The group of felonies

      Culpability in ancient law, Causation in ancient law, Absolute liability for harm done, Liability for the acts of slaves and beasts, The deodand, Restriction of culpability, Mens rea, Roman influence

      The felonies, Homicide, Justifiable homicide, Misadventure and self-defence, Pardons for excusable homicide, Practice in cases of excusable homicide, Liability and misadventure, The pardon and the offended kin, History of misadventure, Homicide by young children, Limits of misadventure and self-defence, Homicide unemendable, Murder, The murder fine, Suicide

      Wounding etc., Rape, Arson, Burglar y, Robbery, Larceny, Manifest theft, Petty larceny, Definition of larceny

      Treason contrasted with felony, Treason and the statute of 1352, Early history of treason, Elements of treason, Treason by levying war, Compass of treason in the thirteenth century .

      Accessories before the fact, Accessories after the fact, Review of the felonies

       § 3. The Trespasses

      Classification of offences, Trespass in the wide sense, Minor punishments, Amercements, Imprisonment, Fines, Other minor punishments

      Procedure against minor offences, Civil actions, Presentments in local courts, Presentments in the eyre, Misdemeanours

      Penal damages, Novelty of actions for damages, Damages and specific relief, Growth of actions for damages, The days before damages, Actions of trespass, Limits of trespass, Master’s liability, Recent history of master’s liability, Liability of slave-owner and house-father in old law, House-father’s liability in Bracton’s day, Tort, crime and master’s liability, Identification of master and servant, Respondeat superior, Damage and injury, Deceit, Fraud as a defence, Defamation, Wrongful prosecution, Forgery, Perjury

       § 4. Ecclesiastical Offences

      The sexual sins, Heresy, Heresy on the Continent, England and continental heresy, Heresy in England, Heresy in the text-books, Later cases of heresy, Was heresy criminal?, The writ for burning heretics, Sorcery, History of sorcery, Sorcery in the text-books, Cases of sorcery, Sorcery in later times, Unnatural crime

       Inefficiency of the criminal law

       Chapter IX. Procedure

       § 1. The Forms of Action

      Our formulary system, An English peculiarity, Growth of the forms, The formulary system not of Roman origin, Roman and English formulas, Life of the forms, Choice between the forms, Little law for actions in general, Modern and medieval procedure, Formalism and liberty, The golden age of the forms, Number of the forms, Statistics, Differences between the forms, Classification of the forms, Affinities between the forms, Attempts to apply the Roman classification, Roman and English lines, Civil and criminal procedure

       § 2. Self-help

      Self-help in medieval law, Distress, Distress for rent, Replevin, Distress and seisin

       § 3. Process

      Process, Summary justice, The hand-having thief, Summary justice in the king’s court, Summary justice and outlawry, Outlawry as process, Arrest, Summary arrest, Arrest after accusation, Mainprise, Replevisable prisoners, The king’s court and arrest, Royal control over justice, The writ de odio et atia, Origin of the writ

      Effect of the writ, Later history of the writ, Mainprise and bail, Sanctuary and abjuration, Civil process, Forbearance of medieval law, Process in real actions, Process in personal actions, Outlawry as civil process, No judgment against the absent, Specific relief, Final process, Costs

       § 4. Pleading and Proof

      Ancient modes of proof, The ordeal, Proof by battle, Proof by oath, Oaths of witnesses, Allotment of proof, Proof in the thirteenth century

      The plaintiff’s count, The offer of proof, The suit, Function of the suitors, Number of the suitors, The defence, Thwert-ut-nay, Examination of the plaintiff’s suit, The defendant’s offer of proof, Special pleading, The exception, Exceptions in assizes, Spread of the exception, Laxity of pleading, The exception and the jury, Proof of exceptions, Assize and jury, The jury and the appeal, Exception and denial, The jury and the general issue

      Composition of the jury, The jurors as witnesses, Arbitral element in the jury, Communal element in the jury, Quasi-judicial element, Unanimity of the jury, Verdict and evidence, Fact and law, Special verdicts, Justices and jurors, Popularity of the jury, Fate of the older proofs, Trial by battle, Wager of law, The decisory oath, Trial by witnesses, Other trials, Questions of law, Victory of the jury

      The presenting jury, Fama publica, Composition of the jury, The coroner’s inquest, Presentments and ordeal, Practice of the eyres, Indictments for felony, The second jury, Refusal of trial, Peine forte et dure, Presentments of minor offences, The trial, The collection of evidence, The canonical inquisition, English and foreign inquisitions, Torture and the law of evidence

      Miscellaneous points, The king in litigation, Criminal informations, Voucher to warranty, Appellate proceedings, Attaint, Certification, Prohibition, Removal of actions, False judgment, Error, Records and courts of record, Function of the judges, Considérants of judgments, Last words

       Index

       Notes

Preface to the Second Edition

      In this edition the first chapter, by Prof. Maitland, is new. In Book II, c. ii. § 12, on “Corporations and Churches” (formerly “Fictitious Persons”), and c. iii. § 8, on “The Borough,” have been recast. There are no other important alterations: but we have to thank our learned critics, and especially Dr. Brunner of Berlin, for various observations by which we have endeavoured to profit. We have thought it convenient to note the paging of the first edition in the margin.

      F. P.

      F. W. M.

Preface to the First Edition

      The present work has filled much of our time and thoughts for some years. We send it forth, however, well knowing that in many parts of our field we have accomplished, at most, a preliminary exploration. Oftentimes our business has been rather to quarry and hew for some builder of the future than to leave a finished building. But we have endeavoured to make sure, so far as our will and power can go, that