Abstract
This Article examines the liberal bent of the early fourteenth century judiciary, in particular the d~cisions of the great Chief Justice of that era, William Bereford. As the dominant figure within the formative years of the early common law, Chief Justice Bereford played a role comparable to that of Chief Justice Marshall in early American law. Bereford ruled the Court of Common Pleas at a time when French speaking secular lawyers displaced Latin-speaking clerics. T.F.T. Plucknett's book Statute~ and their Interpretation in the First Half of the Fourteenth Century investigates liberal statutory interpretation during these important years of transition. This Article complements Plucknett's book both by including common law cases, and by emphasizing legal reasoning rather than doctrine. Plucknett approaches the materials with a historian's focus. In contrast, this Article takes an ant~s view of the terrain, and attempts to put the modem reaqer into the shoes of a medieval lawyer.
Recommended Citation
Lund, Thomas
(2008)
"Activist Judges of the Early Fourteenth Century,"
Utah Law Review: Vol. 2008:
No.
2, Article 3.
Available at:
https://dc.law.utah.edu/ulr/vol2008/iss2/3