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The Magna Carta
King John forced to sign the original Magna Carta
In 1066 William Duke of Normandy defeated the Anglo-Saxon King, Harold II, at the Battle of Hastings and became King of England. In 1085 England was again threatened with invasion, this time from Denmark. William had to pay for the mercenary army he hired to defend his kingdom. To do this he needed to know what financial and military resources were available to him. What the Normans created is the first recorded census, the Domesday Book.
Domesday is our most famous and earliest surviving public record. It is a highly detailed survey and valuation of land holding and resources in late 11th century England. The survey was a massive enterprise, and the record of that survey, Domesday Book, was a remarkable achievement.
The Court of Common Pleas at work. The image shows pleaders and clients standing in front of seven Justices, and below them, their clerks. Started in the 12th century in England.
A collection of canon (religious) law written by the Italian jurist Gratian
The witan, the council of the Anglo-Saxon kings in and of England; its essential duty was to advise the king on all matters on which he chose to ask its opinion.
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