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6 - Learning the Law

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 January 2023

Wilfrid R. Prest
Affiliation:
University of Adelaide
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Summary

After an introductory excursus on the concept of the inns as early modern England’s third university, this chapter outlines the form of legal instruction which they provided by means of oral ‘learning exercises’, notably case-putting in moots and other exercises involving the argument of hypothetical cases in law,and ‘readings’ or lectures at both the inns of court and chancery.

The second section (‘The State of the Learning Exercises to 1640’) considers the supposed decline in the performance of exercises. It argues that even though they may have been rendered largely obsolete by the advent of the printed law-book, there is little to suggest that they were not generally performed in a conscientious and regular fashion before the outbreak of the civil war. But it was one thing to preserve the system as a going concern, quite another to revive it after the disruptions of the 1640s and ‘50s.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • Learning the Law
  • Wilfrid R. Prest, University of Adelaide
  • Book: The Inns of Court under Elizabeth I and the Early Stuarts
  • Online publication: 15 January 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108955737.008
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  • Learning the Law
  • Wilfrid R. Prest, University of Adelaide
  • Book: The Inns of Court under Elizabeth I and the Early Stuarts
  • Online publication: 15 January 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108955737.008
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Learning the Law
  • Wilfrid R. Prest, University of Adelaide
  • Book: The Inns of Court under Elizabeth I and the Early Stuarts
  • Online publication: 15 January 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108955737.008
Available formats
×