A Book on the Ideological Philosophical Legal Theory of the Magna Carta?
June 12, 2016 4:02 AM

I"m looking for a more philosophical (political philosophy / legal jurisprudential) work on the Magna Carta. A book that discusses the text and its ideological and philosophical context. For example, on the conflict between feudal customary law and theocratic canon/roman law at the time. Do you have any suggestions of texts or authors that would offer trustworthy relatively academic commentary on the text and context?

I have been reading Walter Ullmann's "Law and Politics in the Middle Ages" and it seems that the Great Charter of June 1215 would be an interesting point to focus in on in more detail. He suggests it is one of the earliest formulation of a notion of basic interests of freemen etc. I quite like Ullman's text and style.
posted by mary8nne to Education (1 answer total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
The classic is J.C. Holt's Magna Carta, but the most up-to-date scholarly works are Nicholas Vincent's Magna Carta: Origins and Legacy and David Carpenter's Magna Carta (an edition with commentary), both published for the anniversary last year. The website of the Magna Carta Project is also a useful resource.
posted by verstegan at 5:02 AM on June 12, 2016


« Older How do I use heart rate as guidance to run faster?   |   Link me to more cunning linguists. Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.