>> Nathan Dorn: Hello,
my name is Nathan Dorn.
I'm the curator of the
rare books collection
of the Law Library of Congress.
In this video, I'd like to
talk about a recent addition
to the Law Library's
rare books collection.
This item is a 14th-century
manuscript of Registrum Brevium,
a copy of the register
of writs that were used
to initiate litigation
in medieval England.
A writ was a document written
in the name of the king
that conveyed instructions
to the king's agents
to perform an action that he
wanted to see accomplished.
Generally, in the Middle
Ages, it came in the form
of a letter written on a strip
of parchment that was sealed
with the edge of the great seal.
Writs were used in many
areas related to government,
including in the resolution
of disputes among subjects.
Their use also evolved from
doing this by executive action,
into a tool to direct
judges in royal courts
to hear legal disputes.
Over the course of
the 12th century,
a system of writs was developed
that allowed people from all
over England to be heard by
judges in the king's courts.
Plaintiffs were able to purchase
a writ, which was produced
by secretaries from
the king's court -
there was an officina brevium,
or "workshop of writs,"
that produced writs
for this purpose.
The writ contained a formula
outlining a specific action
that corresponded to the case
the plaintiff wanted to make.
The writ was then sent
to the king's judges instructing
them to hear the case.
This method of accessing
justice grew in popularity
over the next century,
eventually supplanting the
older systems of courts
that had been the
mainstays of English law
since the Norman conquest.
In that time, access to
these courts expanded
across the nation and the
strict and formulaic way
that writs operated in the
courts laid the foundation
for the medieval
English common law.
The Registrum Brevium is in
essence a list of the writs
that were available to
initiate litigation.
There was no official copy
of the register that served
as the model for all the others.
Instead, each individual
master, or cursitor,
of a writ shop kept a
copy that he annotated.
Judicial officers
probably kept and used them
for their reference as well.
Many new writs were added in
the next three hundred years
and manuscripts show
a lot of variety.
But there are some
commonalities.
Registers of writs typically
begin with breve de recto,
"the writ of right," and
continue with other subjects
in a more or less
conventional order.
The Law Library's recent
acquisition contains 167 folios.
It opens with the Writ of Right
and contains 60 chapter
headings,
concluding with De
salvo conducto,
a writ of safe conduct.
This manuscript was
once in the collection
of Alfred J. Horwood a
nineteenth-century barrister
of the Middle Temple, an
historian of English law
who edited the year
books of Edward I
and Edward III for
the Rolls Series.
Registrum Brevium
was first printed
by William Rastell in 1531.
The Law Library owns a
variant from that year,
as well as editions from
1553, 1595, 1634, and 1687.
Thomas Jefferson's copy of
this last edition is on display
with Jefferson's collection
in the Southwest Pavillion,
on the Second Floor of the
Thomas Jefferson Building.
As a reminder, rare book service
is available at the Law Library
on weekdays by appointment.
We hope to hear from you.
Thank You.