The Civil Pleas of the Suffolk Eyre of 1240

Edition and translation of an important legal document, shedding new light on legal developments in medieval England. The eyre was an organised judicial visitation to the counties of England by the king's justices to hear all types of plea, civil and crown, as well as to investigate any matters for the king that pertain to the county; it was thusa hugely important part of the legal process. This volume presents an edition and translation of the civil pleas in the Suffolk Eyre Roll of 1240, now in the National Archives, the first civil pleas from a Suffolk eyreroll to be fully published. It throws light on common law in mid thirteenth-century England and its application within the county. It shows that the development of the King's justice in the counties was in accordance with the 13th century De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae, commonly called Bracton after the 13th century judge, who supposedly wrote this book of medieval jurisprudence. And, more widely, it also illustrates the nature and government of local society and how people at all levels fared in this particular eyre. The editor's introduction provides a summary of the eyre system and an analysis of those attending the eyre, the types of plea used and the outcome of those pleas. It attempts to estimate how much money was raised for the king and why the system became such a huge source of royal revenue. Finally it provides reasons for the demise of the eyre system in the latethirteenth and early fourteenth centuries.