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INFIDELS IN ENGLISH LEGAL THOUGHT: CONQUEST, COMMERCE AND SLAVERY IN THE COMMON LAW FROM COKE TO MANSFIELD, 1603–1793

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

CAVANAGH, EDWARD 

Abstract

jats:pEnglish common law reports are dense with ideas. Yet they remain mostly untapped by intellectual historians. This article reveals how intellectual history can engage with law and jurisprudence by following the notion that “infidels” (specifically non-Christian individuals) deserved to receive exceptional treatment within England and across the globe. The starting point is Sir Edward Coke: he suggested that infidels could be conquered and constitutionally nullified, that they could be traded with only at the discretion of the monarch, and he confirmed their incapacity to enjoy full access to the common law. This article uncovers how each of these assertions influenced the development of the imperial constitution in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when it came to war, trade and slavery. Identifying each of the major moves away from Coke's prejudices, this article argues that sometimes common lawyers responded to political change, but at other times anticipated it.</jats:p>

Description

Keywords

4303 Historical Studies, 43 History, Heritage and Archaeology, 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Journal Title

Modern Intellectual History

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1479-2443
1479-2451

Volume Title

16

Publisher

Cambridge University Press (CUP)