The Angevin Empire and the Rise of Common Law under Henry II

This episode dives deep into the legal revolution of Henry II's reign—how a restless, energetic king transformed England's patchwork of local customs into a unified common law. We explore the Assize of Clarendon (1166), which introduced trial by jury and standardized criminal procedure; the creation of the Court of Common Pleas; and the eyre system, where royal justices traveled the country bringing the king's law to every shire. We meet Ranulf de Glanvill, the justiciar who wrote the first treatise on English law, and examine the shift from old feudal courts to a centralized royal justice. Along the way, we discuss the tension between customary rights and royal authority, the role of the exchequer, and how the writ system made justice accessible—and profitable. This is the story of how England began to think of law as something that belonged to the whole realm, not just to local lords. #HenryII #CommonLaw #AssizeOfClarendon #RanulfDeGlanvill #CourtOfCommonPleas #EyreCircuit #AngevinEmpire #EnglishLegalHistory #TrialByJury #Exchequer #WritSystem #MedievalEngland #Plantagenets #ThomasBecket #LegalRevolution #History #FexingoHistory #12thCentury Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo