Legal History Miscellany
@legalmiscellany.bsky.social
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Blogging on the history of law, crime, and justice at www.legalhistorymiscellany.com.
Guest post by
@kaycrosby.bsky.social
: 'Identifying Women Jurors and Institutionalising Women's Citizenship'
legalhistorymiscellany.com/2026/02/19/i...
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Identifying Women Jurors and Institutionalising Womenâs Citizenship
In this guest post, Kay Crosby uses the early history of womenâs jury service to explore the criteria by which the state recognized some women (but not others) as citizens.
https://legalhistorymiscellany.com/2026/02/19/identifying-women-jurors-and-institutionalising-womens-citizenship/
5 days ago
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Sara M. Butler đ¨đŚ
19 days ago
My latest post is up! Enjoy. Agnes de Frowyk: Widow, âNext Friend,â and Medieval Tiger Mom
legalhistorymiscellany.com/2026/02/05/a...
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Agnes de Frowyk: Widow, âNext Friend,â and Medieval Tiger Mom
Posted by Sara M. Butler, 5 February 2026. The church tried its best to vilify social mobility in late medieval England, encouraging good Christians to embrace their place in society (no matter howâŚ
https://legalhistorymiscellany.com/2026/02/05/agnes-de-frowyk-widow-next-friend-and-medieval-tiger-mom/
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New post from
@sarabutler.bsky.social
: 'Agnes de Frowyk: Widow, "Next Friend," and Medieval Tiger Mom'.
legalhistorymiscellany.com/2026/02/05/a...
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Agnes de Frowyk: Widow, âNext Friend,â and Medieval Tiger Mom
Posted by Sara M. Butler, 5 February 2026. The church tried its best to vilify social mobility in late medieval England, encouraging good Christians to embrace their place in society (no matter howâŚ
https://legalhistorymiscellany.com/2026/02/05/agnes-de-frowyk-widow-next-friend-and-medieval-tiger-mom/
19 days ago
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Kathleen Commons
27 days ago
I am once again imploring people to not abuse Calvin's Case to argue against birthright citizenship in the US: it simply summarised a bunch of (contested) legal thinking. More important is that in 17thC legal practice, birthright subjecthood most certainly *was* a thing
tinyurl.com/2rjyvwnb
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History Matters - Why is a 17th century English court case being used to justify Donald Trump
Kathleen Commons | 2 May 2025 â American History | Birthright Citizenship| English Legal History | Immigration Law
https://tinyurl.com/2rjyvwnb
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Legal History Miscellany
Holly Brewer
about 1 month ago
Important scholarship on British crown ownership of slaves in the West Indies in the early 19th c has bern done by scholars from the West Indies like Alvin Thompson in 2002
www.abebooks.com/978976640120...
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Unprofitable Servants: Crown Slaves in Berbice, Guyana, 1803-1831 - Thompson, Alvin O.: 9789766401207 - AbeBooks
In 1803, during the Napoleonic Wars, the British imperial government conquered the Dutch colony of Berbice and took over the management of presumed governmental slaves. These consisted of persons on f...
https://www.abebooks.com/9789766401207/Unprofitable-Servants-Crown-Slaves-Berbice-9766401209/plp
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Legal History Miscellany
Jennifer Aston
about 1 month ago
đ˘
#CfP
@divorcehistory.bsky.social
conference: Marital breakdown in the English common law world 1801-1969 đ 20 April 2026 đNorthumbria University đ¤ Keynote: Baroness Hale of Richmond DBE đ° Speaker bursaries available!
#legalhistory
#socialhistory
#genderhistory
#VictorianHistory
#law
#humanities
.
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Broken Bonds - New Perspectives on Marital Breakdown in the English Common Law World 1801-1969
This conference invites paper proposals from scholars in history, legal studies, human geography, anthropology, English, film studies, sociology, politics, and related disciplines. We welcome research...
https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/news-events/events/2026/04/broken-bonds---new-perspectives-on-marital-breakdown-in-the-english-common-law-world-1801-1969/
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Legal History Miscellany
Keith Grant
about 2 months ago
Fascinating look at the policing of fish and meat consumption (and fasting) in early modern England (and today), by
@kjkesselring.bsky.social
. Saving this for my lecture on fasting in Bittersweet Histories of Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate.
add a skeleton here at some point
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Krista Kesselring
about 2 months ago
A new post for the new year: "A New Yearâs Gift: Fish, Flesh, and âUnlawful Dietâ in Early Modern England"
legalhistorymiscellany.com/2026/01/06/a...
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A New Yearâs Gift: Fish, Flesh, and âUnlawful Dietâ in Early Modern England
Tracing the phenomenon of Protestant âfish daysâ, this post explores why some people in early modern England believed that changing their diet could promote a public goodâand how they broughtâŚ
https://legalhistorymiscellany.com/2026/01/06/a-new-years-gift-fish-flesh-and-unlawful-diet-in-early-modern-england/
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A new post on the politics and legal regulation of food consumption from
@kjkesselring.bsky.social
: "A New Year's Gift: Fish, Flesh, and 'Unlawful Diet' in Early Modern England."
legalhistorymiscellany.com/2026/01/06/a...
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A New Yearâs Gift: Fish, Flesh, and âUnlawful Dietâ in Early Modern England
Tracing the phenomenon of Protestant âfish daysâ, this post explores why some people in early modern England believed that changing their diet could promote a public goodâand how they broughtâŚ
https://legalhistorymiscellany.com/2026/01/06/a-new-years-gift-fish-flesh-and-unlawful-diet-in-early-modern-england/
about 2 months ago
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Legal History Miscellany
Hidetaka Hirota
2 months ago
I'm honored to serve as one of the cochairs of the Program Committee for the 2026 American Society for Legal History Conference in Banff, Canada! The CFP is now available. Please consider submitting a proposal!
aslh.net/2026-annual-...
#ASLH
#legalhistory
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2026 Annual Meeting Call for Papers | American Society for Legal History
Call for Papers 2026 American Society for Legal History Annual Meeting (November 12 - 14, 2026) The Program Committee of the American Society for Legal History invites proposals for the 2026 meeting t...
https://aslh.net/2026-annual-meeting-call-for-papers/
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đ¨đŚ Katherine D. Watson đŹđ§
about 2 months ago
My new blog post examines a brief dispute over money between the Met Police and the Home Office - the police won, in the longer term.
legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/12/26/m...
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Murder, Medicine, Money: A Met PoliceâHome Office Dispute, 1889-90
By Cassie Watson; posted 26 December 2025. In the wake of the Thames Torso Murders (1887â89), the Jack the Ripper killings of autumn 1888, and several subsequent unsolved murders that were thought âŚ
https://legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/12/26/murder-medicine-money-a-met-police-home-office-dispute-1889-90/
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A new post from
@drkdwatson.bsky.social
, drawing on records that that could be more broadly useful for histories of policing, crime, medicine, and 'forensics': 'Murder, Medicine, Money: A Met PoliceâHome Office Dispute, 1889-90'
legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/12/26/m...
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Murder, Medicine, Money: A Met PoliceâHome Office Dispute, 1889-90
By Cassie Watson; posted 26 December 2025. In the wake of the Thames Torso Murders (1887â89), the Jack the Ripper killings of autumn 1888, and several subsequent unsolved murders that were thought âŚ
https://legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/12/26/murder-medicine-money-a-met-police-home-office-dispute-1889-90/
about 2 months ago
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Legal History Miscellany
Brodie Waddell
3 months ago
The
@socialhistsoc.bsky.social
conference will be at Lancaster in July. Call for papers just released. I'll put putting together a proposal, so hope to see some of you there!
#EarlyModern
đď¸ Details here:
socialhistory.org.uk/events/confe...
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Kiran Mehta
2 months ago
A nice surprise this morning: my article on prison reform from below is out! I believe itâs open access but let me know if you canât get a copy and would like one.
academic.oup.com/histres/adva...
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Prison reform from below: London, c.1780â1830*
Abstract. This article explores the history of the English prison reform movement from âbelowâ â that is, from the perspective of prison inmates. By highli
https://academic.oup.com/histres/advance-article/doi/10.1093/hisres/htaf032/8381389?utm_source=authortollfreelink&utm_campaign=histres&utm_medium=email
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British History Online
3 months ago
This is a great post, looking at death, law, mapping, and the physical book itself.
#History
add a skeleton here at some point
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Miriam Posner
3 months ago
Really neat example of how everything about an objectâbinding, foxing, water damage, annotationsâcan help us understand it.
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A new guest post by Helen Rutherford: 'Mapping Death: The Atlas of Victorian Coroners' Districts'
legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/12/11/m...
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Mapping Death: The Atlas of Victorian Coronersâ Districts
In this guest post, Helen Rutherford explores what a unique atlas of Victorian coronersâ districts might tell us about technologies of knowledge and death investigation.
https://legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/12/11/mapping-death-the-atlas-of-victorian-coroners-districts/
3 months ago
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New post by
@sarabutler.bsky.social
: 'Bracton and the History of Emotions':
legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/11/30/i...
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Bracton and the History of Emotions
Posted by Sara M. Butler, 30 November 2025. Even though medievalist Barbara Rosenwein was among the first group of English-language historians to embrace emotion as an analytical construct, medievaâŚ
https://legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/11/30/ibracton-i-and-the-history-of-emotions/
3 months ago
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New guest post by Susannah Wilson, on homicide, forensic psychology, and perceptions of criminal culpability in late 19th century France:
legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/11/20/t...
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The Body by the Canal: The Abduction and Murder of Henriette Barbey in 1882
In this guest post, Susannah Wilson gives a snapshot of the killing and trial at the centre of her new book on forensic psychology and female violence: âA Most Quiet Murder: Maternity, AfflicâŚ
https://legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/11/20/the-body-by-the-canal-the-abduction-and-murder-of-henriette-barbey-in-1882/
3 months ago
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Sara M. Butler đ¨đŚ
4 months ago
Fantastic new post by Krista Kesselring!
legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/10/27/c...
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Crime, Culpability, and the Devil in the Details
Did claims of having fallen for the devilâs seductions heighten or lessen perceptions of a personâs guilt in early modern English legal processes?
https://legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/10/27/crime-culpability-and-the-devil-in-the-details/
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What if the Devil made them do it? A new post by
@kjkesselring.bsky.social
'Crime, Culpability, and the Devil in the Details'.
legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/10/27/c...
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Crime, Culpability, and the Devil in the Details
Did claims of having fallen for the devilâs seductions heighten or lessen perceptions of a personâs guilt in early modern English legal processes?
https://legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/10/27/crime-culpability-and-the-devil-in-the-details/
4 months ago
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New post by
@drkdwatson.bsky.social
and Carolyn Strange: "Poisoning Crimes and the âMushroom Murdererâ: Patterns and Precedents"
legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/09/23/p...
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Poisoning Crimes and the âMushroom Murdererâ: Patterns and Precedents
By Cassie Watson and Carolyn Strange; posted 23 September 2025. The prosecution and sentencing of the Australian âMushroom Murdererâ to life in prison for the poisoning of three relatives and the aâŚ
https://legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/09/23/poisoning-crimes-and-the-mushroom-murderer-patterns-and-precedents/
5 months ago
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Sara M. Butler đ¨đŚ
6 months ago
My new post is up! Butler, "Resisting Visitation in Late Medieval England" (2025).
legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/08/14/r...
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Resisting Visitation in Late Medieval England
Posted by Sara M. Butler, 14 Aug. 2025. There is no medieval record more enjoyable to peruse than visitation returns. Although visitations developed over the course of the ninth century, it was notâŚ
https://legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/08/14/resisting-visitation-in-late-medieval-england/
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New post by
@sarabutler.bsky.social
: 'Resisting Visitation in Late Medieval England':
legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/08/14/r...
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Resisting Visitation in Late Medieval England
Posted by Sara M. Butler, 14 Aug. 2025. There is no medieval record more enjoyable to peruse than visitation returns. Although visitations developed over the course of the ninth century, it was notâŚ
https://legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/08/14/resisting-visitation-in-late-medieval-england/
6 months ago
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Krista Kesselring
8 months ago
My new post
@legalmiscellany.bsky.social
: 'Arresting Developments', on the abduction of an heiress in 1702 and the dangers of arrests.
legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/07/14/a...
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Arresting Developments
Beginning with the abduction of the young heiress Pleasant Rawlins in 1702, this post discusses how arrests were abused and resisted in 17th and 18th-century England.
https://legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/07/14/arresting-developments/
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'Arresting Developments': a new post, on the abuses and dangers of arrests in 17th and 18th-century England:
legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/07/14/a...
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Arresting Developments
Beginning with the abduction of the young heiress Pleasant Rawlins in 1702, this post discusses how arrests were abused and resisted in 17th and 18th-century England.
https://legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/07/14/arresting-developments/
8 months ago
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How and why do forms of assault change with wider socio-legal changes? New post from
@drkdwatson.bsky.social
on acid attacks and more.
legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/06/27/t...
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Tackling the âAssault Deficitâ
By Cassie Watson; posted 27 June 2025. In my previous post I argued that assault should be seen as an important avenue of research by crime and legal historians, but noted that it is usually more dâŚ
https://legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/06/27/tackling-the-assault-deficit/
8 months ago
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Legal History Miscellany
Daniel F Gosling
9 months ago
The first batch of STAC 5 (Elizabethan Star Chamber proceedings) catalogue enhancements went live today. Short titles, dates, party names, document type, and county as standard. For some other really exciting additions, read on.
discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/browse/r/r/C...
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Browse records of other archives | The National ArchivesThe National ArchivesThe National ArchivesOpen Government LicenceGOV.UK
The official archive of the UK government. Our vision is to lead and transform information management, guarantee the survival of today's information for tomorrow and bring history to life for everyone...
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/browse/r/r/C5372068
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Krista Kesselring
9 months ago
CFP: Workshop on 'Crime and Conjugality in Europe, pre-1800' to be held in Oxford, 6 July 2026; deadline for expressions of interest is 15 Sept 2025. Please help spread the word!
#history
#SkyStorians
www.bristol.ac.uk/law/events/2...
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Call for papers: Crime and Conjugality in Europe, pre-1800
https://www.bristol.ac.uk/law/events/2025/event---call-for-papers-crime-and-conjugality-in-europe-pre-1800-.html
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A new post from
@sarabutler.bsky.social
: 'All Bastards Are Free?'
legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/05/16/a...
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All Bastards are Free: The Medieval Origins of the Common Law Rule
Posted by Sara M. Butler, 16 May 2025. Medieval illustration of men harvesting wheat with reaping-hooks or sickles, on a calendar page for August. Queen Maryâs Psalter (Ms. Royal 2. B. VII), âŚ
https://legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/05/16/all-bastards-are-free-the-medieval-origins-of-the-common-law-rule/
9 months ago
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ChloĂŤ Kennedy
10 months ago
Now available as a (potentially affordable) paperback
www.cambridge.org/gb/universit...
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Legal History Miscellany
Brodie Waddell
10 months ago
Sara Burton and Susanna Bastwick launched the petitioning campaign against the 'arbitrary' Star Chamber, eventually resulting in its abolition.
@kjkesselring.bsky.social
's new post on
@legalmiscellany.bsky.social
reveals the
#PowerOfPetitioning
:
legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/04/22/t...
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Legal History Miscellany
Paulina Kewes
10 months ago
Never miss anything by
@kjkesselring.bsky.social
!
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A new post, on the end of the infamous Court of Star Chamber and its afterlife:
legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/04/22/t...
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The End(s) of a Lawless Court
Why and how did the Court of Star Chamber come to be seen as a lawless court? And did the act that abolished the court in 1641 end the lawless discretion people feared in it?
https://legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/04/22/the-ends-of-a-lawless-court/
10 months ago
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A new post from
@drkdwatson.bsky.social
on why and how to bring assault into studies of the history of violence:
legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/03/30/i...
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Investigating the âAssault Deficitâ
By Cassie Watson; posted 30 March 2025. According to Robert Shoemaker, quoting an eighteenth-century observer, âthe vague legal definition of assault meant that âany injury done to a man in an angrâŚ
https://legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/03/30/investigating-the-assault-deficit/
11 months ago
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Kiran Mehta
11 months ago
Had a lovely time chatting about my new book on the history of imprisonment in London with
@newbooksnetwork.bsky.social
Listen to us at the link below or wherever you normally get your podcasts:
newbooksnetwork.com/to-detain-or...
@mcgillqueensup.bsky.social
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Kiran Mehta, "To Detain or to Punish: Magistrates and the Making of the London Prison System, 1750â1840" (McGill-Queen's UP, 2025) - New Books Network
https://newbooksnetwork.com/to-detain-or-to-punish
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Legal History Miscellany
Alice Taylor
11 months ago
Extremely pleased to announce (and first ever post here) that Danica Summerlin and my special issue on 'law beyond the legal renaissance', funded by
@britishacademy.bsky.social
, is now out, with open access introduction
www.tandfonline.com/toc/flgh20/4...
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The Journal of Legal History
Volume 46, Issue 1 of The Journal of Legal History
https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/flgh20/46/1
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Legal History Miscellany
The Statutes Project
12 months ago
This is a great resource: 355 historic statutes on slavery from the Atlantic World, 1661 - 1838. Laws of Enslavement and Freedom in the Anglo-Atlantic World
slaveryandfreedomlaws.lib.unb.ca
#History
#EnslavedHistory
#LegalHistory
đď¸
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Home | Laws of Enslavement and Freedom
https://slaveryandfreedomlaws.lib.unb.ca/
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A new guest post, by Andrea McKenzie on 17th century legal shorthand and its uses - not just for speed, but also secrecy and snark:
legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/03/12/s...
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Between the Lines and Off the Record: A Sampling of Shorthand Notations from George Trebyâs Middle Temple Notebooks, 1667-72
In this guest post, Andrea McKenzie examines the uses of shorthand by a 17th-century law student (and future MP and chief justice) â speed, secrecy, and cover for lots of criticism and gossipâŚ
https://legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/03/12/shorthand-notations-from-george-trebys-middle-temple-notebooks/
12 months ago
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A new post from
@sarabutler.bsky.social
: Weird and Wonderful: The Mixed Cultural Heritage of England's Common Law
legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/02/20/w...
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Weird and Wonderful: The Mixed Cultural Heritage of Englandâs Common Law
Posted by Sara M. Butler, 20 Feb. 2025. Despite the anti-immigrant rhetoric that gushes forth from the mouths of right-leaning politicians and pervades our news and social media, it is hard to denyâŚ
https://legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/02/20/weird-and-wonderful-the-mixed-cultural-heritage-of-englands-common-law/
about 1 year ago
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Prof. Elaine Chalus
about 1 year ago
New digital resource: Rediscover the lost Court of King's Bench
#skystorians
đď¸
#c18th
kingsbench.engagedhumanities.org/?fbclid=IwY2...
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kingsbench.engagedhumanities.org
Site of some of English legal historyâs most important trials, this project seeks to bring back to life this lost courtroom and the cases it heard.
https://kingsbench.engagedhumanities.org/?fbclid=IwY2xjawIR6m1leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHfhkQ1p-KcvqtN-PN8ajdgn0QljXFWTeU-uLnF6LG-eixNXIbFe9EH9EAg_aem_6vvVFQTrFu4TlJxcIEjVBg
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Sara M. Butler đ¨đŚ
about 1 year ago
Guess who is now on Bluesky?
@legalmiscellany.bsky.social
And here's the most recent post by Krista Kesselring!
legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/01/06/c...
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Cruel Mercy? Coronation Pardons, Clemency, and Constraints
As we approach the U.S. Inauguration and the promised Day 1 pardons to people who tried to thwart the last transition, this post looks back at English coronation pardons: what did they do and why dâŚ
https://legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/01/06/cruel-mercy-coronation-pardons-clemency-and-constraints/
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đ¨đŚ Katherine D. Watson đŹđ§
about 1 year ago
For those unfamiliar with our shared blog, Legal History Miscellany,
legalhistorymiscellany.com
here is the first post of 2025!
add a skeleton here at some point
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you reached the end!!
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