County Courts of Medieval England, 1150-1350, The
by: Palmer, Robert C.

Hardcover. Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press, 1st US, 1982, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover. 360 pages. Dust jacket with edgewear, sun-fading. Clean, tight copy. The first monograph on English medieval county courts, this book provides a major revision of traditional conceptions of the character of these courts and the organization of English society from the twelfth to the fourteenth century. THe county courts have been considered courts of custom dominated by local knights unskilled in the law. By analyzing county peronnel and their role of the courts, Robert C. Palmer shows that these courts were, on the contrary, clearly professional and controlled by the magnates through their lawyers. Nevertheless, as the author demonstrates by his study of the process of jurisdictional change, the county courts were increasingly relegated to lesser roles by changes meant to assure justice to county litigants, while the king's court became the normal court of original jurisdiction for most important cases.