Vacarius and the advent of Civil Law

This is Volume 1 of the series of books about Medieval Oxford University. The series will examine a wide range of positive and negative connections between the University and the world in medieval times (c.1066-1500). How did people at Oxford's great seat of learning, by occupation or invitation, think - and what did they think about? What kinds of events happened in the area? What were the relationships between the monarch, religious leaders, local population, foreign institutions, and the university? This first volume reveals how the Italian jurist Master Vacarius who was brought to England to help the development of civil law, was brave in the face of the wrath of King Stephen who ordered the burning of his books - and how Oxford became a beacon of intellectual freedom. In this volume we look at how the civil law of the Roman Empire was brought, via European Universities such as Bologna and Padua, to England - and Oxford in particular. The book reviews the fascinating development of early law: in Egypt and Babylon, the fate of slaves, and the Roman Empire's legal refinements driven by Justinian I. We also consider the mass Saxon executions of Charlemagne, the severe rule of William the Conqueror and the work of Irnerius, Vacarius, and tragic Thomas Becket. The book also explains Anglo-Saxon laws, such as Hue & Cry and Compurgation, which existed in England as Vacarius arrived from Bologna to work for Archbishop Theobald of Bec in 1143.

Most importantly, the book shows how kind and helpful to students was Master Vacarius. He really was a 'Man for All Seasons' rather than the robotic and inflexible Becket.