Saturday, June 26, 2010

Hudson on Kaye's Medieval English Conveyances

John Hudson, University of St Andrews, has reviewed J. M. Kaye’s Medieval English Conveyances (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2009) in Reviews in History. The review commences:
This a remarkable book, based on decades of close study of medieval conveyancing documents. The abbreviations list more than 150 cartularies or other charter collections that are cited. Technical as many of the concerns are, the subject provides an ideal bridge between legal and other aspects of history. Kaye provides answers for the type of question that non-legal historians will ask, and the answers are expressed in readily accessible fashion: ‘From a conveyancer’s point of view the most important questions to be asked, in respect of any medieval transaction, are not only whether it was in accordance with the law, but whether it achieved its object’
More.