# Fleta

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'''''Fleta''''' is an early treatise on the [common law](/source/common_law) of England. It was written in [Latin](/source/Latin) with the sub-title ''seu Commentarius juris Anglicani''.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} The anonymous author of the book is sometimes referred to as "Fleta", although this is not in fact a person's name.<ref>''[Dictionary of National Biography](/source/Dictionary_of_National_Biography)'', Oxford University Press, 1889.</ref> 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](/source/Edward_I_of_England), and it seems to have been completed shortly after the year 1290.<ref>Sayles 1984, pp. xii–xiv.</ref>

==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](/source/Books_of_authority).<ref>[William Blackstone](/source/William_Blackstone), ''[Commentaries on the Laws of England](/source/Commentaries_on_the_Laws_of_England)'', Book I, page 72 [https://books.google.com/books?id=DVkzAAAAIAAJ&q=blackstone&pg=PA72 1791 Ed.]</ref> [Edward Coke](/source/Edward_Coke) cites Fleta as authority in his [''Institutes''](/source/Institutes_of_the_Lawes_of_England) in a number of places.{{Quantify|date=March 2009}}<ref>Search of the PDF copies on [Google Book Search](/source/Google_Book_Search) on 11 March 2009</ref>

The article on ''Fleta'' in the [''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition](/source/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition)  says that it "is for the most part a poor imitation of" ''[De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae](/source/Henry_de_Bracton)'' by [Henry de Bracton](/source/Henry_de_Bracton).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} [O. Hood Phillips](/source/Owen_Hood_Phillips) described it as an "epitome of" that book.<ref>''A First Book of English Law'', Sweet and Maxwell, 4th Ed, 1960, p. 188, footnote 12</ref> [G. O. Sayles](/source/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.<ref>Sayles 1984, pp. xiv–xviii.</ref> The ''[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography](/source/Oxford_Dictionary_of_National_Biography)'' describes ''Fleta'' as "updating and abridging" Bracton.<ref name=ODNB>Seipp 2004.</ref>

==Manuscript copies==
One complete [manuscript](/source/manuscript) copy of this book survives from the fourteenth century.<ref>This date for the manuscript is given by the ''[Dictionary of National Biography](/source/Dictionary_of_National_Biography)'', Oxford University Press, 1889</ref> It is held by the [British Library](/source/British_Library) where its reference is BL, [Cotton](/source/Cotton_library) 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](/source/Cotton_library) MS Nero D.vi.<ref name=ODNB/><ref>Sayles 1984, pp. xi–xii.</ref>

==Circulation==
Because few copies survive, it is thought that this book was "not widely read by medieval lawyers."<ref name=ODNB/>

==Authorship==
It has often been assumed that the statement that the book was "written in ''Fleta''" means that it was written during the author's confinement in the [Fleet prison](/source/Fleet_prison). It has been conjectured that the author was one of those judges who were imprisoned for malpractices by Edward I.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} [Noël Denholm-Young](/source/No%C3%ABl_Denholm-Young) and Paul Brand have proposed as an alternative candidate one Matthew of the Exchequer, a [yeoman](/source/yeoman) of the royal household and lawyer, who was convicted of forgery in 1290 and committed to the Fleet for two years.<ref name=ODNB/><ref>Sayles 1984, pp. xxiv–xxv.</ref> 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.<ref name=ODNB/>

==Editions==
The first printed edition of ''Fleta'' was published by [John Selden](/source/John_Selden) in 1647. It included a dissertation written by Selden, the title of which is "Joannis Seldeni ad Fletam dissertatio". A second edition was published, with corrections, in 1685. A new edition of the first of the six books of ''Fleta'' was published in 1735, edited by [Thomas Clarke](/source/Thomas_Clarke_(judge)), a future [Master of the Rolls](/source/Master_of_the_Rolls): however, he published no more. The next edition appeared in France in 1776, edited by [David Hoüard](/source/David_Ho%C3%BCard): this was based on the previous printed editions, and was abridged in places. All these editions are regarded, for various reasons, as imperfect.<ref name=ODNB/><ref>Sayles 1984, pp. ix–xi.</ref>

The standard modern edition (with English translation) was edited by [H. G. Richardson](/source/Henry_Gerald_Richardson) and [G. O. Sayles](/source/G._O._Sayles), and published in three volumes, covering books 1-6, by the [Selden Society](/source/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](/source/Britton_(law))'' was based on this book.<ref name=ODNB/><ref>Sayles 1984, p. xxv.</ref>

==See also==
*[Books of authority](/source/Books_of_authority)

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Fleta|volume=10|page=496}}
*{{Cite encyclopedia |first=David J. |last=Seipp |author-link=David Seipp |title=Fleta ([fl.](/source/floruit) 1290-1300) |encyclopedia=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2004 |edition=online |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/9716 }} {{subscription required}}

;Modern edition
*{{cite book |editor1-first=H. G. |editor1-last=Richardson |editor2-first=G. O. |editor2-last=Sayles |editor2-link=G. O. Sayles |title=Fleta: Volume II (Prologue, Book I, Book II) |publisher=[Selden Society](/source/Selden_Society) |series=Selden Society |volume=72 |year=1955 |place=London }}
*{{cite book |editor1-first=H. G. |editor1-last=Richardson |editor2-first=G. O. |editor2-last=Sayles |editor2-link=G. O. Sayles |title=Fleta: Volume III (Book III and Book IV) |publisher=[Selden Society](/source/Selden_Society) |series=Selden Society |volume=89 |year=1972 |place=London }}
*{{cite book |editor-first=G. O. |editor-last=Sayles |editor-link=G. O. Sayles |title=Fleta: Volume IV (Book V and Book VI) |publisher=[Selden Society](/source/Selden_Society) |series=Selden Society |volume=99 |year=1984 |place=London }}

Category:English law
Category:Works of unknown authorship
Category:Legal treatises

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