Legal History: The Year Books
Medieval English Legal History
An Index and Paraphrase of Printed Year Book Reports, 1268 - 1535
compiled by David J. Seipp
(Seipp's Abridgement)
Year Books are the law reports of medieval England. The earliest examples date from about 1268, and the last in the printed series are for the year 1535. The Year Books are our principal source materials for the development of legal doctrines, concepts, and methods from 1290 to 1535, a period during which the common law developed into recognizable form. More than 22,000 individual reports or 'pleas' have been printed, and others remain in manuscript. This database indexes all year book reports printed in the chronological series for all years between 1268 and 1535, and many of the year book reports printed only in alphabetical abridgements. Of these reports, almost 6,000 from 1399 forward have been fully indexed and paraphrased in this database.
David J. Seipp, Professor of Law at Boston University, is the compiler of this database. His work is supported by the Ames Foundation of Harvard Law School.
Carol F. Lee, of the District of Columbia Bar, has assisted greatly in the compilation of these records.
A reprint of the 1678-1680 Vulgate edition of Year Books, on which this database is compiled, is being published by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. in 2007 with . Set: ISBN-13: 978-158477-781-6. ISBN-10: 1-58477-781-8 (details at www.lawbookexchange.com).