With legal treatises in short supply during the middle of the twelfth century, Henry de Bracton (c.1210-1268), stepped forward to bring order to English jurisprudence. He is said to have authored De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae(The Statute and Common Law of England).

Little is known of the early life of Henry of Bratton (Henricus de Brattona or Bractona). His exact birth date is unknown but it is believed that he was born during King John's reign, ca. 1210, in England. His death in 1268, just prior to the end of the reign of Henry III, put his lifetime during a period of enormous importance including events such as the granting of the Magna Carta and the death of Simon of Montfort, Earl of Leicester at the battle of Evesham.

He is believed to have been born in Devon where two parishes exist with the name of "Bratton," Bratton-Clovelly...