author
Ranulf de Glanville
1130–1190
A powerful royal official in the age of Henry II, he is remembered as one of the figures most closely linked with the earliest great treatise on English common law. His life joined government, war, and legal history in a way that still makes him stand out centuries later.
1 Audiobook
A translation of Glanville
by Ranulf de Glanville
About the author
Ranulf de Glanville was an Anglo-Norman statesman who died in 1190 and served as chief justiciar of England under King Henry II from 1180 to 1189. Sources agree that he was one of the king’s most important officials, acting at the center of royal government during a period when English law and administration were becoming more organized.
He is best known because his name is attached to the Tractatus de legibus et consuetudinibus regni Angliae, often called the earliest treatise on English law. Modern reference works describe him as the probable or reputed author rather than naming him with complete certainty, but the book’s connection with him has made “Glanvill” a lasting name in legal history.
Accounts of his final years note that he took the cross after Henry II’s reign and died at Acre in 1190 during the Third Crusade. Little is firmly documented about his early life compared with his public career, so his reputation today rests mainly on his service to the crown and on the legal work associated with his name.