Henry de Bracton (c.1210-1268) was a medieval jurist and priest whose treatise on Common Law and procedure provided a framework for the early English legal system. During the reign of England's King Henry III, Henry de Bracton wrote in 1240, "De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae" ("On the laws and customs of England") which borrowed from the Justinian Code (Corupus Iurus Civilis), compiled by the Byzantine Roman Emperor Justinian in 534 AD.
De Legibus was the first encyclopedia of English Common Law, described as "the first great book on English law" and "the crown and flower of English jurisprudence," providing a systematic guide for lawyers and judges. It became the authority on English law until 1765, when William Blackstone began publishing his Commentaries.
Bracton collected over 2,000 decisions in the world's first law report, called the Note-Book. The Note-Book pioneered the use of precedents and the rule of stare decisis, which deterred arbitrary decisions. Bracton's example was followed by English judges who collected decisions in Yearbooks published between 1291 to 1535. The Yearbooks were written in French, the language of the royal court since the Norman Conquest of 1066.
Henry de Bracton's famous statement frames the entry to the Harvard Law Library:
<Not under man but under God and law (Latin: "non sub homine sed sub deo et lege").> 1210HB001
In the opening stanza of De Legibus, 1240, Henry de Bracton wrote:
<To rule well a king requires two things, arms and law, that by them both times of war and of peace may rightly be ordered.
Each stands in need of the other, that the achievement of arms be conserved by the law, the law preserved by the support of arms.
If arms fail against hostile and un-subdued enemies, then will the realm be without defense;
If law fail, justice will be extirpated; nor will there be any man to render just judgment.> 1210HB002
Henry de Bracton wrote De Legibus, 1240:
<An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.> 1210HB003
American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1210HB001. Henry de Bracton, statement, Harvard Law Library entrance. 1210HB002. Henry de Bracton, "De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae" ("On the laws and customs of England"), 1240, opening stanza.
1210HB003. Henry de Bracton, "De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae" ("On the laws and customs of England"), 1240.