Project Gutenberg
2025-04-11
Public domain in the USA.
403
White, Edward J. (Edward Joseph)
1869
1935
White, Edw. J. (Edward Joseph)
White, Edward Joseph
13001567
Legal antiquities : $b A collection of essays upon ancient laws and customs
$aSt. Louis, Mo. :$bThe F. H. Thomas law book co., $c1913.
Marriage laws and customs -- Witchcraft and sorcery -- Recall of judges -- Trial by battle -- Trial by ordeal -- Peine forte et dure -- Wager of law -- Benefit of clergy -- Privilege of sanctuary -- Ancient punishments -- Wills, quaint and curious.
WebRover, Tim Lindell, Turgut Dincer and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
"Legal Antiquities: A Collection of Essays upon Ancient Laws and Customs" by White is a scholarly collection of historical essays written in the early 20th century. The book explores the development and peculiarities of ancient legal systems, primarily focusing on Anglo-Saxon and English law, with occasional references to Roman and other traditions. Its main topic is the evolution of various legal institutions and customs—ranging from marriage laws to trial by ordeal and witchcraft—exploring how these practices shaped and reflected the societies that created them. The opening of "Legal Antiquities" offers a comprehensive introduction that situates the study of old laws and customs within the context of the rapid changes and restlessness of modern (early 20th-century) society. The author advocates for a thoughtful examination of legal history to avoid blindly discarding valuable traditions or repeating past mistakes, underlining the need for a careful balance between reform and preservation. Chapter I begins with an in-depth survey of marriage laws and customs, tracing their origins from early tribal societies through Roman and Hebrew practices, up to medieval and early modern England. It details the evolution of marriage forms (monogamy, polygamy, polyandry), related customs such as dowries and wedding rings, legal implications, and strange traditions like "smock-marriages." The text consistently ties legal developments to social change, emphasizing the historical contingency and cultural diversity of the laws shaping personal relationships. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
https://archive.org/details/legalantiquities00whitrich
20200929151525white
1913
US
Reading ease score: 65.0 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read.
en
Law -- History
Law, Ancient
Criminal law -- History
Punishment -- History
K
Text
Category: History - British
Category: History - Ancient
Category: Law & Criminology
921208
2025-07-30T05:25:26.372097
text/html
858858
2025-04-11T16:51:46
text/html
449087
2025-07-30T05:25:41.760012
application/epub+zip
457782
2025-07-30T05:25:29.449108
application/epub+zip
393540
2025-07-30T05:25:27.773116
application/epub+zip
920451
2025-07-30T05:25:49.041981
application/x-mobipocket-ebook
896603
2025-07-30T05:25:40.269047
application/x-mobipocket-ebook
649883
2025-07-30T05:25:23.284128
text/plain; charset=us-ascii
629905
2025-04-11T16:51:46
text/plain; charset=us-ascii
17444
2025-07-30T05:25:49.200981
application/rdf+xml
9894
2025-07-30T05:25:28.274071
image/jpeg
1854
2025-07-30T05:25:28.023085
image/jpeg
613543
2025-07-30T05:25:26.447123
application/octet-stream
application/zip
Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at
https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog