Editing Common law (section)

=== Origins ===
The common law{{mdash}}so named because it was common to all the king's courts across England{{mdash}}originated in the practices of the courts of the English kings in the centuries following the [[Norman Conquest]] in 1066.{{sfnp|Langbein|Lerner|Smith|2009|p=4}}  Prior to the Norman Conquest, much of England's legal business took place in the local folk courts of its various [[shires]] and [[Hundred (county division)|hundreds]].{{sfnp|Langbein|Lerner|Smith|2009|p=4}}  A variety of other individual courts also existed across the land: urban boroughs and merchant fairs held their own courts, and large landholders also held their own manorial and seigniorial courts as needed.{{sfnp|Langbein|Lerner|Smith|2009|p=4}} The degree to which common law drew from earlier [[Anglo-Saxon kingdoms|Anglo-Saxon]] traditions such as the [[jury]], [[ordeals]], the penalty of [[outlawry]], and [[writs]] {{ndash}} all of which were incorporated into the Norman common law {{ndash}} is still a subject of much discussion. Additionally, the [[Catholic Church]] operated its own court system that adjudicated issues of [[Canon law of the Catholic Church|canon law]],{{sfnp|Langbein|Lerner|Smith|2009|p=4}} which included much of what would today be regarded as [[family law]].

The main sources for the history of the common law in the Middle Ages are the [[plea rolls]] and the [[Year Books]]. The plea rolls, which were the official court records for the Courts of Common Pleas and King's Bench, were written in Latin. The rolls were made up in bundles by law term: Hilary, Easter, Trinity, and Michaelmas, or winter, spring, summer, and autumn. They are currently deposited in [[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|the UK National Archives]], by whose permission images of the rolls for the Courts of Common Pleas, King's Bench, and Exchequer of Pleas, from the 13th century to the 17th, can be viewed online at the Anglo-American Legal Tradition site (The O'Quinn Law Library of the University of Houston Law Center).<ref>Documents from Medieval and Early Modern England from the National Archives in London.[http://aalt.law.uh.edu/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306122827/http://aalt.law.uh.edu/|date=6 March 2016}}  Publications of the [[Selden Society]] include a Year Books series and other volumes transcribing and translating the original manuscripts of early common law cases and law reports, each volume having its editor's scholarly introduction. [http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/selden_society/pub.html Publications of the Selden Society]</ref><ref>One history of the law before the Norman Conquest is [[Sir Frederick Pollock, 1st Baronet|Pollock]] and [[Frederic William Maitland|Maitland]], ''The History of English Law before the Time of [[Edward I]]'', .[https://archive.org/details/historyofenglish00polluoft]</ref>

The doctrine of precedent developed during the 12th and 13th centuries,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Jeffery |first=Clarence Ray |year=1957 |title=The Development of Crime in Early English Society |journal=Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science |volume=47 |issue=6 |pages=647–666|doi=10.2307/1140057 |jstor= 1140057 |url=https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc/vol47/iss6/2 }}</ref> as the collective judicial decisions that were based in tradition, [[custom (law)|custom]] and [[precedent]].<ref>Winston Churchill, ''A History of the English Speaking Peoples'', Chapter 13, ''The English Common Law''</ref>

The form of reasoning used in common law is known as [[casuistry]] or [[case-based reasoning]]. The common law, as applied in [[civil case]]s (as distinct from [[criminal case]]s), was devised as a means of [[damages|compensating]] someone for wrongful acts known as [[tort]]s, including both [[intentional tort]]s and torts caused by [[negligence]], and as developing the body of law recognizing and regulating [[contract]]s. The type of [[legal procedure|procedure]] practiced in common law courts is known as the [[adversarial system]]; this is also a development of the common law.