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Description

The history of equity takes in questions of philosophy, theology, jurisprudence and legal history.

When we speak of 'equity', do we mean Aristotelian epieikeia, civilian aequitas, a theological or juridical conscience, the common law concept of the 'equity of the statute', or merely the rules applied by the Court of Chancery before 1875? The purpose of this volume is to chart the evolution of equity in English legal history from the medieval period to the present day. Whether by investigating the historical foundations of the modern law, the jurisprudential underpinnings of the equitable jurisdiction, or the socio-political context of discrete legal developments, this collection exposes the strands of thought which 'equity' comprises and the mechanisms by which its rules evolved.

Table of Contents

1. Historical Foundations of English Equity, David Foster (University College London, UK)
2. Semantics of Conscience in Medieval Law, David Ibbetson (University of Cambridge, UK)
3. The Statute of Richard III (1484) and the Emergence of Beneficial Ownership in Freehold Land, AJ Hannay (University of Manchester, UK)
4. Epieikeia and the Common Law: The Rise and Fall of Equitable Interpretation of English Statutes, Lorenzo Maniscalco (University of Bologna, Italy)
5. Conceptualising Conscience in the Early Tudor Conciliar Courts, Laura Flannigan (Ohio State University, USA)
6. The Ravenstone Litigation and the Jurisdiction of Chancery, Sir John Baker (University of Cambridge, UK)
7. Aspects of Equity in 1600 : Wills, Forfeitures and Trusts, DP Waddilove (Delaware Law School, USA)
8. Concepts of Equity in Hake's Epieikeia, Joanna McCunn (University of Bristol, UK)
9. 'Equitatis Causa': 'Equity' in the Practice of the Court of Chancery, 1515–1615, NG Jones (University of Cambridge, UK)
10. Insolvent Debtors in Law and Equity, 1543–1624, Fleur Stolker (University of Cambridge, UK)
11. Enforcing Equitable Rights against Non-Privies, c. 1590–1680, David Foster (University College London, UK)
12. A Re-examination of the Expectant Heir in Seventeenth-Century Chancery, Helen Saunders (Independent Scholar, Australia)
13. Equity Agreement Doctrine in the Early Eighteenth Century, Mike Macnair (University of Oxford, UK)
14. Women, Infants and 'Lunatics' before the Court of Chancery in the Wake of the South Sea Bubble, Emily Ireland (University of Liverpool, UK)
15. Constructive Fraud in the Time of Hardwicke and Thurlow, Julius AW Grower (University of Oxford, UK)
16. Family Trustees and their Duties, c. 1740–1820, Michael Lobban (University of Oxford, UK)
17. Public Trusts, 1750–1850, Charles Mitchell (University College London, UK)
18. Equity and Legal Change, 1760–1875, Stephen Waddams (University of Toronto, Canada)
19. Equity, Legal Coding, and the Foundations of Banking: Foley v Hill (1838–48), Joshua Getzler (University of Oxford, UK)
20. Accounting and Breach of Trust in the Nineteenth Century, MJ Cleaver (University of New South Wales, Australia) and Andreas Televantos (University of Oxford, UK)
21. Equity after Fusion: The View from Legal Treatises, Catharine MacMillan (King's College London, UK)

Product details

Published 02 Apr 2026
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 488
ISBN 9781509955121
Imprint Hart Publishing
Dimensions 234 x 156 mm
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Anthology Editor

David Foster

David Foster is Associate Professor of Law at Univ…

Anthology Editor

Charles Mitchell

Charles Mitchell is Professor of Law at University…

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