The Anglo-Norman period was more important than the Angevin period in the
development of English common law. How far do you agree?
Common law refers to a set of laws that are common throughout the whole country. The Anglo-Norman period
(1066-1154) saw a number of developments to English common law such as the development of the bench and
equality in the eyes of the law. However, there were still major, inherent weaknesses in the Anglo-Norman system,
mainly the variations in customs and laws between shires, and it wasn’t until Henry II and the Angevin period (1154-
1216) that these weaknesses were solved, therefore making the Angevin period rather than the Anglo-Norman
period more important in the development of English common law.
It is undeniable that the Anglo-Norman period saw some crucial developments to English common law but these
developments are limited as they mainly continued the Anglo-Saxon legal system which had some inherent flaws,
most notably the variations of law between shires. So, whilst the Anglo-Norman period saw some developments,
they were not the most important. Rather, they laid the foundations for the Angevin developments. The two key
figures in leading to developments in the Anglo-Norman period were William I and Henry I. William I primarily
continued to use the Anglo-Saxon legal system as it was already efficient, therefore showing a lack of development.
He did however introduce some developments, namely the feudal system and the new church legal code. The
church legal code was introduced under Lanfranc and meant that legal matters regarding the church would be heard
in church courts by specialists. This new legal code was used throughout the whole country which was a major
change and helped to develop the use of common law. William I also introduced the feudal system and this policy of
giving land to followers in return for service led to the need for a common approach across the country for cases
involving land holding. However, the feudal system also arguably slowed the development of common law rather
than encouraging it, thus leading to regression in the development of common law, because feudalism led to the
growth of feudal courts which the local barons ran as they saw fit. This therefore slowed the development of
common law as it led to an increase in local variations in the law. Moreover, Henry I also added developments to the
legal system, mainly the bench (6 itinerant judges to see cases in his absence) and equality in the eyes of the law,
both of which were used throughout the whole country so helped to develop common law. However, neither king
solved the inherent weakness of the system, which was the variation between shires, thus meaning that the Anglo-
Norman period did not see the most development in common law. The Anglo-Norman period also saw stagnation
during William II’s reign and regression during Stephen’s when he decentralised government, leading to even more
variations. Therefore, even though the Anglo-Saxon period helped to lay the foundations for the development of
common law, it was not more important than the Angevin period in developing common law.
On the other hand, the Angevin period saw major improvements to the legal system, particularly under Henry II, so
was clearly more important in developing common law. During the Angevin period, the inherent weaknesses in the
Anglo-Norman system, namely the local variations of law, were solved. First of all, the end of the Anglo-Norman
period, during Stephen’s reign, saw the legal system regressing as the bench and chancery were disbanded, leading
to decentralisation and exploitation of the system. Henry II reversed this process by not only reinstating the bench
and general eyres but expanded them and gave the Chancery a permanent base at Westminster.. Also, at the assize
of Clarendon 1166, and later confirmed at the assize of Northampton 1176, common law was officially established
and it was decided that all major crimes were to be tried in the same way throughout the country, which was a huge
development in common law. Henry II is often accredited as being the founder of England’s common law so it is
evident that most developments in common law would occur under his and thus the Angevin reign. Moreover, Henry
II also set up a chief court at Westminster which became the headquarter of itinerant justices where judges would
discuss cases. This led to the use of precedence which again developed common law as this meant the same case law
would be used throughout the country due to judges discussing the law. Although not as major as Henry II, Richard
and John’s reigns also saw developments to common law. For example, in Richard’s reign, chief justiciar Hubert
Walter set up the eyre of 1194 which ensured all shires were firmly under royal control and restored royal justice,
meaning the same approach was to be used in all shires with no local variations. Also, although never being put into
practice during his reign, Magna Carta during John’s reign was a significant step towards common law as it
established the rights and freedoms of freemen throughout the whole kingdom. Therefore, it is evident that the
Angevin period was most important in developing common law.
