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7 - Legal and Liberal Education

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 January 2023

Wilfrid R. Prest
Affiliation:
University of Adelaide
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Summary

‘ The inns of court man that never was studient’ argues that the contemporary stereotype of the idle and dissolute young inns of court gallant with more interest in playgoing than reading law reports, while doubtless exaggerated for moral and satirical effect, is corroborated by an abundance of biographical evidence.It also reflects two prime causes of student delinquency and disinclination for legal studies: lack of supervision and the intractability of the common law as a subject of study. ‘Guides to Method’ surveys the legal literature available to students, concluding that it offered little assistance to those attempting to navigate the law’s complexities. ‘Lay and Professional Legal Knowledge’ emphasises the gulf between the practising barrister’s expertise and the kinds of legal knowledge which most laymen were likely to need or possess.

Yet members acquired and exercised a remarkably wide range of non-legal accomplishments and skills. ‘Accomplishments and the Decline of Creativity’ argues that the inns did little to encourage such activities, especially after c.1615. ‘Varieties of Learning’ surveys the remarkably diverse intellectual life of the early modern inns, while the closing section ‘Achievements, Failures, Prescriptions’ evaluates their diverse roles as educational institutions, and the few contemporary proposals for their reform.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • Legal and Liberal Education
  • Wilfrid R. Prest, University of Adelaide
  • Book: The Inns of Court under Elizabeth I and the Early Stuarts
  • Online publication: 15 January 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108955737.009
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  • Legal and Liberal Education
  • Wilfrid R. Prest, University of Adelaide
  • Book: The Inns of Court under Elizabeth I and the Early Stuarts
  • Online publication: 15 January 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108955737.009
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Legal and Liberal Education
  • Wilfrid R. Prest, University of Adelaide
  • Book: The Inns of Court under Elizabeth I and the Early Stuarts
  • Online publication: 15 January 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108955737.009
Available formats
×