English Law and the Renaissance

This lecture was delivered at Cambridge University as a Rede's lecture in 1901 discussing English law during the Renaissance. English historian and lawyer Frederic William Maitland, in this lecture, describes the age as was the period of the Reformation, the age of the Renaissance, but more importantly, it was also the age of 'Reception' -the reception of Roman law. During this time, Roman law drove German law out of Germany or forced it to limit itself in subtle forms and hidden corners. The «Sir Robert Rede's Lecturer» is an annual arrangement to give a public lecture at the University of Cambridge. It is named on Sir Robert Rede, who was Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in the sixteenth century.