Dorothy M. Owen – författare

Lynn was a 'new' port of the late eleventh century, founded on the estates of the Bishop of Norwich. This volume includes transcripts or summaries of most of the documents available in original charters, cartularies, rentals, bede-rolls and the administrative records of the borough, for a study of the origin and topography of the town, and this is discussed and interpreted in the introduction. The scope of the volume also extends to evidence available for the religious, social and economic life of the town. It draws on gild statutes, poll-tax lists, customs accounts and toll lists, the court-rolls of the Bishop's liberty and a town-clerk's memorandum book. The introduction discusses the nature and extent of these courses and provides a brief analysis of most aspects of the medieval town.

Knowledge of the canon law was essential for the medieval ecclesiastical administrator, and teaching in canon law was provided in all western universities in the Middle Ages. This study examines the provision for students (especially in Cambridge), the choice of available textbooks, and the collections of legal books made by the university and colleges and by private individuals. Dr Owen notes opportunities for the employment of canonists, and discusses a group of formularies and notebooks compiled by scholars active in the Church courts. Official teaching of canon law ceased at the Reformation, but the study continued in the faculties of civil law; medieval texts were reissued and many new guides to the current practice of Church courts written.