Abstract

This series of three articles describes the history of land law shared by the British and American legal systems, and how and why these legal traditions have diverged from each other in modern times. This Article - part 1 in this series - describes the emerging customs and laws regarding land rights among early inhabitants of Britain, and how succeeding invasions and occupation by Celtic, Roman, Germanic, and Norman peoples altered these customs and laws. The Article details the profound changes in land law worked by massive economic changes in early British society, including sociological occurrences such as the Black Death, and the adoption of laws, such as the Statute of Uses in 1536.