Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T07:14:55.607Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

11 - Shakespeare and the European ius commune

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 August 2020

Michael Lobban
Affiliation:
London School of Economics and Political Science
Ian Williams
Affiliation:
University College London
Get access

Summary

This chapter explores Shakespeare’s knowledge and use of the European ius commune. The ius commune was the amalgam of Roman and canon law taught in Europe’s universities, including England’s, and employed as the basic source of law in European legal tribunals to the eighteenth century. It was applied in the courts of the English church, the Admiralty, the universities, and some of the courts of equity that had come to life in the sixteenth century. These courts were served by a separate legal profession, the English civilians. Recent interest in Shakespeare’s knowledge and use of law takes virtually no notice of this aspect of English law. This chapter demonstrates a number of points. The first is that Shakespeare was familiar with the ius commune. He used its terminology and then made something of it in the dialogue of his plays. The second is that this knowledge had results in their thematic coverage. He employed his knowledge of the ius commune to shape and enrich the substance of the plays. The third is that his use of the civil and canon laws was connected with areas of contemporary controversy in England.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×