Great Christian Jurists in English History

The Great Christian Jurists series comprises a library of national volumes of detailed biographies of leading jurists, judges and practitioners, assessing the impact of their Christian faith on the professional output of the individuals studied. Little has previously been written about the faith of the great judges who framed and developed the English common law over centuries, but this unique volume explores how their beliefs were reflected in their judicial functions. This comparative study, embracing ten centuries of English law, draws some remarkable conclusions as to how Christianity shaped the views of lawyers and judges. Adopting a long historical perspective, this volume also explores the lives of judges whose practice in or conception of law helped to shape the Church, its law or the articulation of its doctrine.

1. Introduction R. H. Helmholz and Mark Hill, QC; 2. Henry of Bratton (alias Bracton) Nicholas Vincent; 3. William Lyndwood R. H. Helmholz; 4. Christopher St German: religion, conscience and law Ian Williams; 5. Sir Edward Coke: faith, law and the search for stability in reformation England David Chan Smith; 6. Richard Hooker: priest and jurist Norman Doe; 7. The integrative Christian jurisprudence of John Selden Harold Berman and John Witte; 8. Matthew Hale as Theologian and natural law theorist David S. Sytsma; 9. Lord Mansfield: the reasonableness of Religion Norman S. Poser; 10. William Blackstone's Anglicanism Wilf Prest; 11. Lord Kenyon: preaching from the bench James Oldham; 12. Stephen Lushington Stephen M. Waddams; 13. Roundell Palmer, Earl of Selborne Charlotte Smith; 14. F. W. Maitland: faithful dissenter Russell Sandberg; 15. A passion for justice: Lord Denning, Christianity and the law Andrew Phang.

Mark Hill, QC is Associate or Visiting Professor at the Centre for Law and Religion, Cardiff University; the University of Pretoria; King's College London; and Notre Dame University, Sydney. His most recent book is The Confluence of Law and Religion (Cambridge, 2016). He is Consultant Editor of the Ecclesiastical Law Journal, a Recorder of the Crown Court, Deputy Judge of the Upper Tribunal and Chancellor of the Dioceses of Chichester, Leeds and Europe.
R. H. Helmholz is Ruth Wyatt Rosenson Distinguished Service Professor of Law at the University of Chicago. His most recent book is Natural Law in Court (2015), in which he traces the role played by the law of nature in legal practice of the courts of Europe, England and the United States from 1500 to the mid-nineteenth century.