"Not under Man, but under God and the Law": Bracton's Writings on Kingship

Only the (fool)hardiest of medievalists now wade through the unfinished treatise On the Laws and Customs of England, commonly attributed to the thirteenth-century English jurist Henry de Bracton. One of its claims, however, looms large in the history of western political thought: "The king must not be under man but under God and under the law (Quod rex non debet esse sub homine, sed sub Deo et Lege)." Seized upon by Edward Coke and other early modern thinkers, this phrase became a staple of subsequent discourses regarding sovereignty, the nature of authority, and the ordering of civil society--as well as a bedrock of the common law tradition. But Bracton's treatise is an unwieldy text, and the phrase itself is more slippery than its post-medieval interpretations might suggest. In this evening seminar, a close reading of Bracton's writings on kingship will serve as an opportunity to reflect on the intellectual underpinnings of the 'rule of law' in western political thought and practice.

Dinner will be provided to all attendees.

About the speaker

Rowan Dorin is a historian of western Europe and the Mediterranean, primarily during the high and late Middle Ages. Much of his research tries to understand how law and society interact with each other, especially where legal norms conflict with social practices. Another strand research explores the history of economic life and economic thought, especially medieval debates over usury and moneylending. He has also written on the circulation of goods, people, and ideas in the medieval Mediterranean.