Sir Matthew Hale summary

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Sir Matthew Hale, (born Nov. 1, 1609, Alderley, Gloucestershire, Eng.—died Dec. 25, 1676, Alderley), British legal scholar. Orphaned at age 5, he planned to become a minister but ultimately chose the study of law. He defended Archbishop William Laud and other Royalists during the English Civil Wars (1642–51). As a justice of the Court of Common Pleas (1654–58) and a member of Parliament (1654–60), he played a major role in reforming the legal system and promoting the restoration of Charles II. He later became chief baron of the Exchequer (1660) and chief justice of the King’s Bench (1671–76). One of the greatest scholars of the history of English common law, he is best known for his History of the Pleas of the Crown (published 1736).

common law Summary

Common law, the body of customary law, based upon judicial decisions and embodied in reports of decided cases, that has been administered by the common-law courts of England since the Middle Ages. From it has evolved the type of legal system now found also in the United States and in most of the

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Government, the political system by which a country or community is administered and regulated. Most of the key words commonly used to describe governments—words such as monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy—are of Greek or Roman origin. They have been current for more than 2,000 years and have not

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England, predominant constituent unit of the United Kingdom, occupying more than half of the island of Great Britain. Outside the British Isles, England is often erroneously considered synonymous with the island of Great Britain (England, Scotland, and Wales) and even with the entire United