Guide last updated by Jed Harford, March 2025
This guide was created by Jed Harford, Graduate Trainee Library Assistant at the IALS Library.
We'd love to hear your comments about this Research Guide.
Email ials@sas.ac.uk
This guide aims to give a brief introduction to the Library's holdings on Medieval Law in the UK and Ireland. Please consult the Library Catalogue for complete information on current titles and locations. If you require further assistance please contact us.
Monday-Friday 9:00-17:00
Tel (0)20 7862 5790
Email ials@sas.ac.uk
This Subject Guide only lists a selection of Library resources we have at IALS. To find additional resources you will need to search the Library Catalogue, which covers the complete holdings of the Library. It is possible to search for books, journals and series of law reports by author, title or keyword. Please note it is not possible to search for individual chapters, journal articles or legislation (e.g. individual Acts or SIs).
IALS Library is mainly open access and readers are able to browse the shelves in the main collection. There are two main exceptions to this:
Please request these at the Library Enquiry Desk on the 2nd floor.
Please see our Finding books and e-books guide for more information on understanding a library catalogue record. For further guidance on the location of materials please refer to our Resources & Collections page.
The Library classifies textbooks either by jurisdiction (GO13, GA2 etc.) or according to subject area, examples of which include Comparative Law (SB), Public International Law (SG) and Private International Law/ Conflict of Laws (SH). All classmark sections have a FOL section for oversize volumes, which is located on the same floor of the Library.
When you are searching the Library Catalogue for books, please note that only the current edition is held on the open shelves or in the Short Loan collection. IALS has a rich collection of previous editions held in the closed basement and these will display a Depository number on the catalogue. Please request previous editions from the Enquiry Desk on the 2nd floor.
The following lists represent a selection of books on medieval law. This guide focuses primarily on the period roughly from the Norman conquest in 1066 to the end of the 15th century, when the Early Modern period began. Its scope includes England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Please check the catalogue records for further information and locations.
From the arrival of the Anglo-Norman kings to the dawn of the Tudor dynasty, great changes took place in the law and governance of the United Kingdom and Ireland. During this period the individual power of the king gradually devolved to other institutions, changing the landscape of the law and how it was implemented. These are some general introductions to law across the period and its development over time:
Below are some works pertaining to the different countries of the British Isles. They have been grouped by their relevance to those countries, even though some content may overlap. For example, Legislation of Edward I is grouped under England because that is where Edward I primarily exercised his rule, even if some legislation may relate to other parts of the UK:
ENGLAND
SCOTLAND
WALES
IRELAND
Primary sources are some of the best material we have for looking at the actions and thoughts of those from the past. Material such as the Statutes at Large volumes or law texts from medieval Wales are obvious inclusions, but also included here are charter compilations and court documents. These may not be considered laws in the same way that we think of laws nowadays, but charters give a glimpse of the origins of the law as the individual power of the king; along with the decisions from medieval courts, these documents show us the decisions and processes out of which the common law was eventually formed. They have been divided by country again to give them rough jurisdictional groupings. This is material that has been translated or summarised in English for ease of access for readers:
ENGLAND
SCOTLAND
WALES
IRELAND
Below is a small selection of material that details the changes and origins of certain areas of the law that began, or developed, during the Middle Ages:
IALS has a great selection of e-resources through our online catalogue that you can access either on site or remotely. Simply go to the Library Catalogue and search for your desired subject by using the KEYWORD function to see if we have any e-resources on that topic. Below is a selection of titles that may be of interest:
Hopefully you found this helpful!
These lists are by no means exhaustive. IALS has many more physical and online resources relating to medieval law. This guide has not touched on the history of law from other medieval societies; we have more from Continental Europe and beyond, as well as a whole range of material on medieval canon law. Hopefully this guide is a useful starting point for your studies on medieval law, but remember to browse our Library Catalogue for further resources. Good luck and don't forget to ask at the Enquiry Desk on the 2nd floor for any assistance with finding material.