For mediæval history the municipality assumes a greater relative importance. The actions of councils and town meetings are more truly legislative, for in many cases the cities were independent republics. In some instances the town is in a position to prescribe for its local wants alone, in others it may conduct diplomatic correspondence or even declare war. The town documents are therefore of very great significance in depicting the civilization of their time. In many instances there remain quite complete records of the acts of town councils, in which the scope of their action reveals the extent of their sovereignty. In the old records of Zurich,1for example, one finds curious transitions from serious to trivial matters. At one moment the council is fixing penalty for crime, at another the price of wine. One day they consider a treaty with a neighboring monarch and on another they decide whether a building encroaches upon the street. The mixture of powers would prevent a close classification of medieval city documents, even if they were abundant, but from them as a whole there are to be gathered many interesting details of social life. We look first for the conception of government. How minute were the regulations for buying and selling; what were the sanitary conditions, the paving, the water supply; how far was it deemed necessary to regulate private conduct by sumptuary laws. Information on these points will be found sometimes in an ordinance, sometimes in the trial of a case; in a fine imposed, or a banishment declared. 1 Stadtbücher von Zürich. Edited by H. Zeller-Werdmüller. Mediæval Ordinances. Modern Ordi nances. In an ordinance of the city of Basel, called the Tax-Ordnung of 1646, there is to be found a complete list of all commodities or services worth mentioning for sale in that town. It was not left to the seller to put a price on his wares but the city council performed this duty for him, as it does nowadays for public conveyances. One may know the cost in 1646 of the various kinds of cloth and the cost of making them into garments, the price of men's shoes and horseshoes, the wages of a carpenter or of a day laborer, in short, the value of every service down to the price of a shave. The city of London was not a sovereign state, but under its charter could prescribe its own local ordinances. Its mediæval records are extremely interesting, and among these one of the most valuable compilations is the Liber Albus, dating from 1419. Although it was simply a compilation of the ordinances then in force and prepared for the use of the magistrates, it is now a mine of information about the social conditions of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Sometimes by direct statement, sometimes by inference, the life of London can be seen in this commonplace book of laws.1 For modern times municipal ordinances are equally the mirrors of social custom, but they are supplemented by so much other material that their value is not so unique. There will be found in them, however, many things which the ordinary descriptive writer of the period may not think necessary to mention, but which may be decidedly significant. 1 Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain. Liber Albus. Edited by H. T. Riley. See editor's introduction for further suggestions concerning the life of the period. CHAPTER XVI JUDICIAL DOCUMENTS JUDICIAL functions form in reality a branch of governmental administration, consequently the documents are to be interpreted as evidences of the execution of law rather than its creation. Judicial reports and records of cases show in the first place how the laws were interpreted at the time they were in force. They do not necessarily show the complete workings and social effect of a law, because a statute may remain in force a long time without conflict, or with few occasions for bringing the matter before the courts. It is only when broken, or when disputes arise under the law, that there is reason for judicial opinion to go on record. It is the business of judge and jury to decide Judicial Prowhether a public law has been transgressed or whether cedure. private rights have suffered injury. Whether a certain individual is guilty or not is of importance to the historian in a few cases only, but the facts brought out in the course of trials may be of great significance to the student of civilization. Even the details of judicial procedure are of interest to the general historian because it is important to know whether the system in vogue would permit the attainment of substantial justice. The contrast between the medieval trial by ordeal, or by com History in purgators, and the modern trial by jury is clear, and needs no argument to prove the insufficiency of the former, but the systems and conditions of any period need careful inquiry to find out to what degree they serve the ends of law and equity. If the system permits of easy evasion by dishonest officials, conditions are to be judged differently from those where good regulations are boldly overridden. In ancient times the trial of a case called for complicated technical formalities which must be employed with infallible exactness, and the knowledge of which was confined to the priests or professional lawyers. The chances of equity depended almost on a lottery of words, and contrasted sharply with the practices of certain Swiss cantons in modern times, where advocates were prohibited and cases must be presented by the parties in person, or by their friends without pay. Not many centuries ago an English court could prevent a man on trial from having an attorney to defend him, and a jury could be imprisoned for giving a verdict contrary to the wishes of the judges. The earlier history of other countries will also show deficiencies of grave importance to society, but, assuming that the courts are up to the standard of their times in rendering substantial justice to all men, there are many things of interest in their proceedings. Questions of national importance frequently appear in the reports of the higher tribunals. The "State Trials," for example, contain among other things the great political cases in the history of England, such as the trials of John Hampden and Charles I. These reports are in many of the earlier cases compiled from contemporary chronicles, others are official notes, but in either way their value is great. Matters also of great constitutional importance may be found in the court records of every country, the courts of the United States holding a unique position in that the constitutionality of a statute may come under review. It is this which makes the decisions of the Federal Supreme > Court an indispensable part of the constitutional history of that country. Data. Besides these well-known facts there are to be Economic found in law reports matters which are more likely to be overlooked. The testimony given as to economic and social conditions is often of the highest value. In civil cases the disputes over property and business transactions bring out the value and extent of commerce, as well as the cost of services and commodities. In a seaport town like Baltimore much light is thrown on foreign commerce through litigation over shipping. One is likely to find evidence of what is customary in the commercial life of the time. This kind of information has the value of sworn testimony which, though not infallible proof, has a serious presumption in its favor. The data involved have a still greater security in a case of appeal where the opponents agree upon a statement of facts in order to obtain a decision upon a point of law. The lowest courts do not take cognizance of great issues, but their functions are important in every society. That the justice of the peace in certain cantons of Switzerland is |