The Roots of Liberty

by Ellis Sandoz (Editor)

Overview

The Roots of Liberty is a critical collection of essays on the origin and nature of the often elusive idea of liberty. The essays address early medieval developments, encompassing such seminal issues as the common-law mind of the sixteenth century under the Tudor monarchs, the struggle for power and authority between the Stuart kings and Parliament in the seventeenth century, and the role of the ancient constitution in the momentous legal and constitutional debate that occurred between the Glorious Revolution and the American Declaration of Independence.

Ellis Sandoz is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Eric Voegelin Institute at Louisiana State University.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780865977099
Publisher:	Liberty Fund, Incorporated
Publication date:	08/01/2008
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

Table of Contents

Preface to the Liberty Fund Edition xi

Editor’s Introduction: Fortescue, Coke, and
Anglo-American Constitutionalism 1
ELLIS SANDOZ

1. The Ancient Constitution in Medieval England 32
J. C. HOLT

2. The Place of Magna Carta and the Ancient Constitution in Sixteenth-Century English Legal Thought 75
CHRISTOPHER W. BROOKS

3. Ancient Constitutions in the Age of
Sir Edward Coke and John Selden 115
PAUL CHRISTIANSON

4. The Jurisprudence of Liberty
The Ancient Constitution in the Legal Historiography of the
Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries 185
JOHN PHILLIP REID

Epilogue: Diverse Viewpoints on Ancient Constitutionalism 309
CORINNE COMSTOCK WESTON

Appendix: Text and Translation of Magna Carta 335

Notes on Contributors 351

Index 353

Editorial Reviews

Edited and introduced by Sandoz (political science, Louisiana State U.), this volume collects four essays examining the roots and evolution of the idea of liberty in Anglo-American constitutionalism and law. Topics include the significance of the Magna Carta for English constitutionalism; the "ancient constitution" and the sources of the common law jurisprudence of Sir Edward Coke (1552-1634), the traditions of constitutional discourse involved in the 17th century struggle between the English Parliament and the English Crown, and the manifestations of common law and ancient constitutionalism in legal thought from the Glorious Revolution of 1688 to the founding of the United States. This is a paperbound edition of a work first published in 1993. 

Reference & Research Book News
August 2008

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