Modernisation Through Process: The Rise of the Court of Chancery in the European Perspective

The existence of a parallel equity jurisdiction is a fascinating peculiarity of the legal tradition of common law. For centuries, the Court of Chancery was the most important of the English equity courts. Any investigation of the development of English equity law must therefore start here. Over the years, numerous studies have been written on the historical development of the Court of Chancery, which have, however, failed to adequately explain the peculiarity of its subject. By examining the late medieval sources from the perspective of modern legal theory and classifying the development in a broader European context, this book is intended to provide a better understanding of this at first glance irritating phenomenon.