Ranulf de Glanville

Born in Suffolk around 1130, Ranulf de Glanville rose to become one of the most powerful servants of King Henry II. He held the office of chief justiciar, acting as a senior royal administrator and judge during a period when the English crown was strengthening its courts and legal procedures.

He is traditionally associated with Tractatus de legibus et consuetudinibus regni Angliae, often called the earliest treatise on English common law. Scholars do not always agree about exactly how much of the book he personally wrote, but his name has long been linked with it because it reflects the legal world in which he played such an important part.

Near the end of his life, he took the cross and joined the Third Crusade. He died in 1190, before Acre, leaving behind a reputation as an important figure in the early development of English law and royal government.