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Full-Text Articles in Legal History

The Magna Carta And The Beginning Of Modern Legal Thought, Vincent R. Johnson Jan 2016

The Magna Carta And The Beginning Of Modern Legal Thought, Vincent R. Johnson

Faculty Articles

As the Magna Carta, England's Great Charter of Liberties, marks its eighth centennial, it is appropriate to ask what's in it. The answer, it turns out, lives up to the legend. What's in the Magna Carta is the beginning of modern legal thought. The Great Charter set the expectations that for 800 years have shaped the development of the law in England, America, and around the globe. Like a blazing light piercing the medieval darkness, the Magna Carta illuminated the importance of legal principles, fair procedures, proportional punishment, official accountability, and respect for human dignity. It was unlike any legal …


The Hidden Influence Of Jewish Law On The Common Law Tradition: One Lost Example, Michael J. Broyde Jan 2008

The Hidden Influence Of Jewish Law On The Common Law Tradition: One Lost Example, Michael J. Broyde

Faculty Articles

Professor Berman is undoubtedly correct that the surviving literature shows little such influence of Jewish jurisprudence. Over the course of numerous conversations I had with Professor Berman at Emory, we discussed another possibility, namely that the Jewish tradition indeed had a distinct influence on the common law; however, due to the general lack of enthusiasm for the Jewish legal tradition throughout the medieval Christian world, even when Jewish sources were consulted, they were not cited. I wish to show what I think is one such example --the enigmatic origins of the common law rule that the holder of lost property …