Medieval source material on the internet: Common law records

For a brief guide to common law records, click here

For some medieval records in Ancestry's UK and Ireland Collection, click here

• The Anglo-American Legal Tradition (Robert Palmer, University of Houston Law Center)
  A huge project to digitise medieval and early-modern English legal records, and to make the images freely available through the Internet. The site currently contains more than 6 million images of documents, covering records covered from the period 1217-1800. The records include plea rolls, memoranda rolls, pipe rolls, liberate rolls, feet of fines, early chancery proceedings, some 13th-century patent rolls, some 16th-century close rolls and fine rolls, and a number of others. The classes of pre-1603 records covered include C 1, C 33, C 54 [1509-1540], C 60 [1529-1573], C 62, C 66 [1237-1281], CHES 14, CP 21, CP 25 [to 1509], CP 40, DL 5, E 13, E 101, E 123, E 124, E 126, E 159, E 364, E 368, E 372, JUST 1, JUST 2 [to 1483], JUST 3 [to 1483], KB 9 [to 1483], KB 26, KB 27, KB 29 and REQ 1. In addition to reference material, the site includes a wiki section with abstracts of some records, and some indexes compiled by volunteers.
• Modern indexes to some plea rolls (CP 40) of the 15th and 16th centuries. (The Anglo-American Legal Tradition)
  Lists of parties, sorted by first plaintiff, first defendant and county; in progress.
• Modern indexes to some plea rolls (KB 27) of the reign of Henry VIII. (The Anglo-American Legal Tradition)
  Lists of parties, sorted by first plaintiff, first defendant and county; in progress.
• G. Wrottesley, Pedigrees from the plea rolls. Collected from the pleadings in the various courts of law, A.D. 1200 to 1500, ... [1905] (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
  Most after 1327 (except for Staffordshire cases); mainly from the Court of Common Pleas, but with some from the King's Bench, Assize Rolls, Chester Plea Rolls, Bracton's Note Book etc.
• Early English Laws (Institute of Historical Research/King's College, London)
  Project, in progress, to publish online and in print the texts and translations of all English legal codes, edicts and treatises produced up to c. 1215, with digitized images of the manuscripts. The texts will include volume 1 of Felix Liebermann, ed., Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen (1903) and William Stubbs, ed., Select Charters and Other Illustrations of English Constitutional History (9th edition, revised by H. W. C. Davis, 1921).
• Tales of Justice and Vengeance (Paul Hyams, Cornell University)
  Online Appendix to the author's book-in-progress, Rancor and Reconciliation in Medieval England - description and discussion of about 30 legal disputes, from the 11th, 12th and early 13th centuries. Many of the descriptions reflect the violent nature of medieval life in graphic terms
• Alehouses in Derbyshire. 1577 (Eric Youle)
  Lists returned by the Justices of the Peace for the County.
• The Anglo-Saxon Dooms, 560-975 (Internet Medieval Sourcebook, Fordham University)
  From Oliver J. Thatcher, ed., The Library of Original Sources (1901)
• Betley [Staffordshire]: Betley Legal Records - Introduction (Patrick Corness, Sources for Betley history)
  Includes abstracts of a number of medieval legal records concerning Betley, including assize rolls, plea rolls and final concords.
• F. W. Maitland, ed., Bracton's note book. A collection of cases decided in the King's courts during the reign of Henry the Third, annotated by a lawyer of that time, seemingly by Henry of Bratton. Volume 1. Apparatus. (1887) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
  Latin extracts, made in the 13th century by Henry de Bracton, from the rolls of the Bench, 1217-1234, and coram rege, 1234-1239, many from originals now lost.
  [Other copies at: Internet Archive - Text Archive:  1 ;  2 ;  3 .]
• F. W. Maitland, ed., Bracton's note book. A collection of cases decided in the King's courts during the reign of Henry the Third, annotated by a lawyer of that time, seemingly by Henry of Bratton. Volume 2. Text. (1887) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
  Latin extracts, made in the 13th century by Henry de Bracton, from the rolls of the Bench, 1217-1234, and coram rege, 1234-1239, many from originals now lost.
  [Other copies at: Internet Archive - Text Archive:  1 ;  2 ;  3 .]
• F. W. Maitland, ed., Bracton's note book. A collection of cases decided in the King's courts during the reign of Henry the Third, annotated by a lawyer of that time, seemingly by Henry of Bratton. Volume 3. Text. (1887) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
  Latin extracts, made in the 13th century by Henry de Bracton, from the rolls of the Bench, 1217-1234, and coram rege, 1234-1239, many from originals now lost.
  [Other copies at: Internet Archive - Text Archive:  1 ;  2 ;  3 .]
• Common Pleas:
  • [W. Illingworth, ed.,] Placitorum in domo capitulari Westmonasteriensi asservatorum abbrevatio. (1811) (Google Books [Hints and tips])
    Latin abstracts, in record type, of pleas in the king's bench, 1272-1422, and common pleas, 1272-1290, and other pleas.
• Coram Rege Roll: Extracts from Inquisitions taken at the trial of John Northampton (Thomas Usk's The Testament of Love, R. Allen Shoaf, University of Rochester)
  Latin text from Edgar Powell and G. M. Trevelyan, eds, The Peasants' Rising and the Lollards (1899) (from P.R.O. Hil. 11 Ric. II 507, Rex 39).
• Curia Regis rolls:
  • Three rolls of the king's court in the reign of King Richard the First, A.D. 1194-1195. (Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University)
    Curia regis rolls 1, 3 and 4. Latin transcript, in record type. Pipe Roll Society, volume 14 (1891).
  • Sir Francis Palgrave, ed., Rotuli Curiae Regis ... volume 1. From the sixth year of King Richard I to the accession of King John. [1194-1199] (1835) (Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University)
    Record commission. Latin transcripts, in record type.
    [Other copies at: Google Books [Hints and tips]; Internet Archive - Text Archive.]
  • Sir Francis Palgrave, ed., Rotuli Curiae Regis ... volume 2. The first year of King John. [1199-1200] (1835) (Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University)
    Record commission. Latin transcripts, in record type.
    [Other copies at: Google Books [Hints and tips]; Internet Archive - Text Archive.]
  • Curia regis rolls of the reigns of Richard I and John. ... [volume 1] Richard I to 2 John. [1189-1201] (1922) (Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University)
    Latin transcripts.
  • Curia regis rolls of the reigns of Richard I and John. ... [volume 2] 3-5 John. [1201-1203] (1925) (Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University)
    Latin transcripts.
  • Curia regis rolls of the reigns of Richard I and John. ... [volume 3] 5-7 John. [1203-1205] (1926) (Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University)
    Latin transcripts.
  • Curia regis rolls of the reigns of Richard I and John. ... [volume 4] 7-8 John. [1205-1206] (1929) (Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University)
    Latin transcripts.
  • Curia regis rolls of the reigns of Richard I and John. ... [volume 5] 8-10 John. [1207-1209] (1931) (Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University)
    Latin transcripts.
  • Curia regis rolls of the reigns of Richard I and John. ... [volume 6] 11-14 John. [1210-1212] (1932) (Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University)
    Latin transcripts.
  • Curia regis rolls of the reigns of Richard I and John. ... [volume 7] 15-16 John [1213-1215]. Appendix: 7 Richard I-1 John [1196-1199]. (1935) (Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University)
    Latin transcripts.
  • Curia regis rolls of the reign of Henry III. ... [volume 8] 3-4 Henry III. [1219-1220] (1938) (Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University)
    Latin transcripts.
  • Curia regis rolls of the reign of Henry III. ... [volume 9] 4 and 5 Henry III. [1220] (1952) (Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University)
    Latin transcripts.
  • Curia regis rolls of the reign of Henry III. ... [volume 10] 5 and 6 Henry III. [1221-1222] (1949) (Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University)
    Latin transcripts.
• Earls Colne [Essex]: Common Law Courts and Commission of the Peace and Quarter Sessions (The Records of Earls Colne; Cambridge University)
  Transcripts of records relating to Earls Colne, 16th century and later
• Emmison's Elizabethan Life [Essex]: Disorder and Home, Work and Land (Mike Foster, GENUKI)
  Indexes to names from F. G. Emmison's Elizabethan life series, from Disorder: mainly from Essex Sessions and Assize records (1970) and Home, work & land: from Essex wills and sessions and manorial records (1976).
• List Of Executions - England 1606 Onward (Jeff Alvey) [not available, 3 February 2008; see the Internet Archive's copy of this page, from June 2007]
  from Haydn's Dictionary of Dates (1895); with a tasteful "waterfall of blood" animation
• Eyres (Internet Medieval Sourcebook, Fordham University)
  • Pleas at Bedford in the Fourth Year of the Reign of King John [1202]
  • Pleas at Launceston [Cornwall] in the Third Year of the Reign of King John (A.D.1201)
  • Pleas at Lincoln in the Fourth Year of the Reign of King John [1202]
  • Pleas at Northampton in the Fourth Year of the Reign of King John [1202]
  • Pleas at Shrewsbury in the Fifth Year of the Reign of King John [1203]
  • Pleas at Lichfield [Staffordshire] in the Fifth Year of the Reign of King John [1203]
  Extracts from F.W. Maitland, ed., Select Pleas of the Crown: Volume 1 - A.D. 1200-1225 (1888)
• Some Ancient Indictments in the Kings Bench referring to Kent, 1450-1452 (Kent Archaeological Society)
  From Kent Records, volume 18 (1964). English translations of KB 9/46-48.
• Abstract made from a roll of the court of Common Pleas for the county of Kent in the National Archives, dated 1308 (Historical Manuscripts, Kenneth Jacob)
  English abstracts, from CP 40/169.
• Itinerant justices in Kent (The Research Archive of Colin Flight, Kent Archaeological Society)
  Brief introductory articles and transcriptions and translations of published records related to eyres of 1219, 1227, 1241 and 1255.
• Abstracts of Kent entries in King's Bench roll number 221, Trinity Term 1315 (KB 27/221) (Kenneth Jacob)
  Includes names of people and places, and brief details of the plea.
• King's Bench:
  • [W. Illingworth, ed.,] Placitorum in domo capitulari Westmonasteriensi asservatorum abbrevatio. (1811) (Google Books [Hints and tips])
    Latin abstracts, in record type, of pleas in the king's bench, 1272-1422, and common pleas, 1272-1290, and other pleas.
• Laws of Alfred and Ine (original - untranslated - text) (The Labyrinth Library, Georgetown University)
  From Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, MS 173
• London:
  • The London eyre of 1244 (British History Online)
    Text from the edition of Helena M. Chew and Martin Weinbaum, London Record Society, vol. 6 (1970); Latin text with English translations; crown pleas for years 10 Henry III to 27 Henry III [1225-1243], plus appeals, articles, constitutions and related material
  • The London eyre of 1276 (British History Online)
    Text from the edition of Martin Weinbaum, London Record Society, vol. 12 (1976); English translations (with some Latin); crown pleas for years 36 Henry III to 4 Edward I [1251-1276], plus civil pleas, assizes, and related material
  • A. H. Thomas, ed., Calendar of early mayor's court rolls: 1298-1307 (British History Online)
    English abstracts of proceedings in the court of the mayor of London
  • Matthew Frank Stevens, ed., London Sheriffs' Court Roll 1320. (British History Online)
    English translation, from London Metropolitan Archives, CLA/25/CT/1/1 and 2.
  • Jonathan Mackman and Matthew Stevens, Court of common pleas: The National Archives, CP 40 - 1399-1500 (2010) (British History Online)
    Draft summary translations of pleaded cases for London or involving a London litigant, for the years 1399–1409, 1420–1429, 1445–1450, 1460–1468, 1480 and 1500.
• [Index of names in] Chronicles of Newgate [Prison] (Jeff Alvey) [not available, 3 February 2008; see the Internet Archive's copy of this page, from June 2007]
  From Arthur Griffiths' book (1896); with a charming "gouged-out eyeballs" animation
• Joseph Hunter, ed., Rotuli selecti ad res Anglicas et Hibernicas spectantes ... (1834) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
  Latin transcripts in record type of the patent roll, 7 John, original writ and return of all discharges of debt, etc., granted by the Irish exchequer, Henry V and Henry VI, and six rolls of pleas de terris datis et occupatis, etc., Henry III.
  [Other copies at: Google Books [Hints and tips].]
• Charles E. H. Chadwyck Healey, ed., Somersetshire Pleas (civil and criminal), from the rolls of the itinerant justices (close of 12th century - 41 Henry III [1257]) (1897) (Google Books [Hints and tips])
  Somerset Record Society, volume 11.
  [Other copies at: Internet Archive - Text Archive:  1 ;  2 ;  3 .]
• Year Books:
  • Legal History: The Year Books (David J. Seipp, Boston University School of Law)
    The database indexes all reports printed in the chronological series for 1268-1535 and all material from 1399-1509 printed in abridgements. The reports from 1399-1535 (of which there are nearly 7000) have been fully indexed and paraphrased. The same pages include listings of manuscripts and early printed editions of the Year Books, and a bibliography of modern scholarly works.
  • Year books of the reign of king Edward the First (gallica; Bibliothèque Nationale de France; numbers for "Recherche libre" field: N050212-N050214, N050216)
    PDF format; texts and English translations (incomplete) from the edition of Alfred J. Horwood (Rolls Series 31A, vols 1-3 and 5; 1866-1879)
  • Year books of the reign of king Edward the Third (gallica; Bibliothèque Nationale de France; numbers for "Recherche libre" field: N050217-N050222, N050224-N050231)
    PDF format; texts and English translations (incomplete) from the edition of Alfred J. Horwood and Luke Owen Pike (Rolls Series 31B, vols 1-6 and 8-15; 1883-1911)