Failed Arbitrations before the Court of Common Pleas: Cases Relating to London and Londoners, 1400-1468

摘要

This article uses data gathered by the University of London, Centre for Metropolitan History's recent project ‘Londoners and the Law: Pleadings in the Court of Common Pleas’, which sampled London-related cases pleaded before the fifteenth-century court of Common Pleas, to analyze the use of arbitration by sub-gentry and mercantile class disputants. It examines the relationship between arbitration and litigation at common law, the volume of London-related cases pleaded at common law which cited a prior failed arbitration, and in what types of disputes arbitration was employed. It presents the hypothesis that the use of arbitration by sub-gentry and mercantile class disputants in cases relating to London and Londoners may have declined between 1400 and 1468, and that arbitration was most widely used in certain types of multifaceted and exceptional disputes. This article tentatively suggests that developments in disputants' use of common law remedies may have related to changes in the frequency with which arbitration was employed, calling for further study.View full textDownload full textRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01440361003633353