Puritanism and Jurisprudence

Peter Mazzacano, Osgoode Hall School, York University, has published Puritanism, Godliness, and Political Development in Boston and the General Court (1630-1640) at 12 The Journal Jurisprudence 599 (2011). Here is the abstract.

The goal of this article is to examine the degree to which Puritanism influenced early American political culture. That is, how did Puritan values and practices facilitate the development of an exceptional political culture during the formative years of Massachusetts Bay? Utilizing a case-study method of analysis, this article examines the political developments in the General Court and the town of Boston during the decade 1630 to 1640. The research methods used are primarily the writings of leading Puritans, and concomitant town, church, and colonial records. The main finding is that the Puritans paid little heed to notions of democracy, theocracy, oligarchy, or British political traditions; instead, Puritan institutions and practices were based on the primary Puritan ideal of godliness. However, the formative influence of the godly ideal inadvertently reinforced democratic and republican ideals. The conclusion is that the focus on godliness provides a comprehensive and multiple explanations for the course of political developments in early Massachusetts Bay.

Download the article from SSRN at the link.

Bracton's Application In the Common Law

Ian Williams, Faculty of Laws, University College London, has published A Medieval Book and Early-Modern Law: Bracton's Authority and Application in the Common Law C.1550-1640 at 79 Tijdschrift voor Rechtsgeschiedenis/Legal History Review 47 (2011). Here is the abstract.

This article considers the place of the thirteenth-century book known as Bracton in the early-modern common law. Using methods from the history of reading, it examines both the uses made of Bracton and the evidence to be found in the surviving copies of the first printed edition. It addresses the impediments to the use of Bracton, the printing of the first edition, the text’s readership and its place in the early-modern common-law canon.



The second half of the article identifies topics and material in Bracton which seem to have been of particular interest. Bracton was a recognized source for criminal law and there is some evidence of impact on the law of evidence, servitudes and a little for contract law. An examination of the early-modern law of treason shows that Bracton had an important role in changing the concept of treason from a crime against the monarch to something like the much broader classical crimen laesae maiestatis. The article demonstrates that legal historians should be concerned to identify not only what lawyers read, but how they read it.

Download the article at the link.