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‘London Sheriffs’ Court Roll, 1320'
Matthew Stevens 
British History Online
Swansea University Author:
Matthew Stevens
Abstract
This online resource contains an English translation of London's only surviving medieval Sheriffs' Court roll, covering cases heard before sheriff John de Preston over the period 1 July to 25 September 1320. Throughout the Middle Ages, the city of London was a legal liberty exercising its...
| Published in: | British History Online |
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| Published: |
London
Institute of Historical Research
2011
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| Online Access: |
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/ |
| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa16299 |
| Abstract: |
This online resource contains an English translation of London's only surviving medieval Sheriffs' Court roll, covering cases heard before sheriff John de Preston over the period 1 July to 25 September 1320. Throughout the Middle Ages, the city of London was a legal liberty exercising its own local customary law. Later medieval London had the legal status of a county and could, following a grant of Henry I in 1131, elect its own sheriffs. From at least the thirteenth century, two sheriffs were elected annually for concurrent twelve–month terms. Probably originally hearing and determining minor pleas on an ad hoc basis, by the final quarter of the thirteenth century the London Sheriffs presided over 'the city court of first resort for most individuals and most kinds of minor criminal and civil cases' (Tucker, 2007, p. 98). The vast majority of disputes handled by the Sheriffs' Court were, in 1320, cases of debt and trespass (see below, II. Presentation and Content). |
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| College: |
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |