Power and Justice in Medieval England
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€55.99
A01=Joshua C. Tate
advowson
anglo saxon
Author_Joshua C. Tate
bishop
britain
Category=LAFC
Category=LNS
Category=NHDJ
dispute
ecclesiastical benefice
england
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
king
landowners
local economy
lord
manor
middle ages
nobility
ownership
parish church
parson
political appointment
political influence
roman law
tithe
vacant position
Product details
- ISBN 9780300163834
- Dimensions: 156 x 235mm
- Publication Date: 14 Jun 2022
- Publisher: Yale University Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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How the medieval right to appoint a parson helped give birth to English common law
Appointing a parson to the local church following a vacancy—an “advowson”—was one of the most important rights in medieval England. The king, the monasteries, and local landowners all wanted to control advowsons because they meant political, social, and economic influence. The question of law turned on who had the superior legal claim to the vacancy—which was a type of property—at the time the position needed to be filled.
In tracing how these conflicts were resolved, Joshua C. Tate takes a sharply different view from that of historians who focus only on questions of land ownership, and he shows that the English needed new legal contours to address the questions of ownership and possession that arose from these disputes. Tate argues that the innovations made necessary by advowson law helped give birth to modern common law and common law courts.
Appointing a parson to the local church following a vacancy—an “advowson”—was one of the most important rights in medieval England. The king, the monasteries, and local landowners all wanted to control advowsons because they meant political, social, and economic influence. The question of law turned on who had the superior legal claim to the vacancy—which was a type of property—at the time the position needed to be filled.
In tracing how these conflicts were resolved, Joshua C. Tate takes a sharply different view from that of historians who focus only on questions of land ownership, and he shows that the English needed new legal contours to address the questions of ownership and possession that arose from these disputes. Tate argues that the innovations made necessary by advowson law helped give birth to modern common law and common law courts.
Joshua C. Tate is a professor of law at the SMU Dedman School of Law. He is an academic fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and serves the Selden Society as a member of the council and as the honorary treasurer for the United States.
