Fleta is an early treatise on the common law of England. It was written in Latin with the sub-title seu Commentarius juris Anglicani. The anonymous author of the book is sometimes referred to as "Fleta", although this is not in fact a person's name. The book acquired its common title because its preface contains a remark that it could be called "Fleta" because it was written in "Fleta"; however, the meaning of this comment is unclear (see the section on authorship below).
From internal evidence, the work appears to have been written in the reign of Edward I, and it seems to have been completed shortly after the year 1290.
Authority
This book is one of those listed by Blackstone as being authoritative statements of the law at the time at which they were written. Edward Coke cites Fleta as authority in his Institutes in a number of places.
The article on Fleta in the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition says that it "is for the most part a poor imitation of" De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae by Henry de Bracton. O. Hood Phillips described it as an "epitome of" that book. G. O. Sayles was able to show that the author of Fleta had a copy of Bracton to hand, but that (like other copies) it was defective in places, and that he was obliged to make many additions and improvements of his own. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography describes Fleta as "updating and abridging" Bracton.
Manuscript copies
One complete manuscript copy of this book survives from the fourteenth century. It is held by the British Library where its reference is BL, Cotton MS Julius B.viii. A few passages of this book also survive in another manuscript. This is also held by the British Library, where its reference is BL, Cotton MS Nero D.vi.
Circulation
Because few copies survive, it is thought that this book was "not widely read by medieval lawyers." However, the element "fleet" (meaning both "swift" and "a watercourse") is also found in other place names in England; or the name might simply refer to the swiftness or brevity of the treatise itself.
The standard modern edition (with English translation) was edited by H. G. Richardson and G. O. Sayles, and published in three volumes, covering books 1-6, by the Selden Society between 1955 and 1984. A projected fourth volume, intended to include editorial apparatus (notes and indexes), never appeared: this would have been nominally volume 1, and so the three published volumes are numbered 2–4. Volume 4 does include a 17-page "Introduction" by Sayles, which represents the fullest synopsis of scholarly knowledge about the work to date.
Derivative book
The book known as Britton was based on this book.
See also
- Books of authority
Notes
References
;Modern edition