The Medieval Origins of the Legal Profession: Canonists, Civilians, and Courts » (New Edition)

James A. Brundage is the Ahmanson-Murphy Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History and Law at the University of Kansas. He is the author of nine books, including Law, Sex, and Christian Society in Medieval Europe, also published by the University of Chicago Press.

In the aftermath of sixth-century barbarian invasions, the legal profession that had grown and flourished during the Roman Empire vanished. Nonetheless, professional lawyers suddenly reappeared in Western Europe seven hundred years later during the 1230s when church councils and public authorities began to impose a body of ethical obligations on those who practiced law. James Brundage’s The Medieval Origins of the Legal Profession traces the history of legal practice from its genesis in ancient Rome to its rebirth in the early Middle Ages and eventual resurgence in the courts of the medieval church.
                        By the end of the eleventh century, Brundage argues, renewed interest in Roman law combined with the rise of canon law of the Western church to trigger a series of consolidations in the profession. New legal procedures emerged, and formal training for proctors and advocates became necessary in order to practice law in the reorganized church courts. Brundage demonstrates that many features that characterize legal advocacy today were already in place by 1250, as lawyers trained in Roman and canon law became professionals in every sense of the term. A sweeping examination of the centuries-long power struggle between local courts and the Christian church, secular rule and religious edict, The Medieval Origins of the Legal Profession will be a resource for the professional and the student alike.

American Historical Review

"The first several chapters provide sparkling synopses of legal procedures and the roles of legal experts during the Roman Empire, the early Middle Ages, and the beginnings of the revival of Roman law in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, which is ascribed to the powerful texts that drove it. . . . Brundage's discussion of the other key text of the legal revival, Gratian's Decretum, is the best lucid summary of the highly technical paleographic and legal research one is likely to find."-Thomas Kuehn, American Historical Review

— Thomas Kuehn

List of Abbreviations

1 The Foundation: The Roman Legal Profession 9

2 Law without Lawyers: The Early Middle Ages 46

3 The Legal Revival of the Twelfth Century 75

4 Church Courts, Civil Procedure, and the Professionalization of Law 126

5 Pre-Professional Lawyers in Twelfth-Century Church Courts 164

6 The Formation of an Educated Elite: Law Schools and Universities 219

7 Attaining Professional Status 283

8 Professional Canon Lawyers: Advocates and Proctors 344

9 Judges and Notaries 371

10 The Practice of Canon Law 407

11 Rewards and Hazards of the Legal Profession 466

Conclusion: The Tradition of the Legal Profession 488

Bibliography 493

Index 579

Citations Index 601