Thomas McSweeney
@mcsweeney1693.bsky.social
Professor of Law @wmlawschool. Legal historian, medievalist, W&M alum. Writing about English law in the 13th century. Author of Priests of the Law (Oxford 2019), on the Bracton treatise and its authors. All views my own, not W&M's.
Fun fact: the painting on the front cover, of Odysseus, washed up on the shore of Phaeacia, kneeling in front of Nausicaä, actually hung in the court’s chamber. The book contains a wonderful description of the courtroom and how it was designed to send a message of rehabilitation. 3/3
October 16, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Fun fact: the painting on the front cover, of Odysseus, washed up on the shore of Phaeacia, kneeling in front of Nausicaä, actually hung in the court’s chamber. The book contains a wonderful description of the courtroom and how it was designed to send a message of rehabilitation. 3/3
Court, Credit, and Capital, A brilliant blend of legal, economic, and cultural history that reveals how credit and trust sustained commerce during the Dutch Golden Age 2/3
October 16, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Court, Credit, and Capital, A brilliant blend of legal, economic, and cultural history that reveals how credit and trust sustained commerce during the Dutch Golden Age 2/3
Excited to see Maurits den Hollander’s Court, Credit, and Capital in print with Studies in Legal History at CUP. Court, Credit, and Capital uncovers how Amsterdam’s 17th-century insolvency court transformed insolvency law—from punishment to rehabilitation 1/3
October 16, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Excited to see Maurits den Hollander’s Court, Credit, and Capital in print with Studies in Legal History at CUP. Court, Credit, and Capital uncovers how Amsterdam’s 17th-century insolvency court transformed insolvency law—from punishment to rehabilitation 1/3
The God and the Bureaucrat is also just a great read. I enjoyed working with Zach to get it published with Studies in Legal History, and I’m happy to see it in print! 6/6
August 1, 2025 at 4:02 PM
The God and the Bureaucrat is also just a great read. I enjoyed working with Zach to get it published with Studies in Legal History, and I’m happy to see it in print! 6/6
The Roman law that has come down to us is thus not a record of how Roman law actually worked on the ground so much as it is a record of how the Roman emperors represented their rule through the medium of law. 5/6
August 1, 2025 at 4:02 PM
The Roman law that has come down to us is thus not a record of how Roman law actually worked on the ground so much as it is a record of how the Roman emperors represented their rule through the medium of law. 5/6
As Herz puts it “Classical Roman law should be understood not as a record of Classical Romans actually handling their legal business, but instead as a record of Romans using the structures of law to tell stories about their world and in particular about their state.” 4/6
August 1, 2025 at 4:02 PM
As Herz puts it “Classical Roman law should be understood not as a record of Classical Romans actually handling their legal business, but instead as a record of Romans using the structures of law to tell stories about their world and in particular about their state.” 4/6
Herz takes us through the process by which Roman law acquired these attributes. He argues that emperors used law as an important means of political representation. 3/6
August 1, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Herz takes us through the process by which Roman law acquired these attributes. He argues that emperors used law as an important means of political representation. 3/6
Herz starts with the observation that Roman law, in the form in which it has come down to us, has three important attributes: it is suprapersonal (i.e., authority does not depend on the personality of the particular emperor issuing the law), it is technocratic, and it is supreme. 2/6
August 1, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Herz starts with the observation that Roman law, in the form in which it has come down to us, has three important attributes: it is suprapersonal (i.e., authority does not depend on the personality of the particular emperor issuing the law), it is technocratic, and it is supreme. 2/6
Really excited for @zacharyherz.bsky.social's new book, The God and the Bureaucrat: Roman Law, Imperial Sovereignty, and Other Stories, out now with Studies in Legal History at CUP. 1/6
August 1, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Really excited for @zacharyherz.bsky.social's new book, The God and the Bureaucrat: Roman Law, Imperial Sovereignty, and Other Stories, out now with Studies in Legal History at CUP. 1/6
I was honored to receive this at the law school graduation ceremony yesterday.
Congratulations to the William & Mary Law School class of 2025!
Congratulations to the William & Mary Law School class of 2025!
May 18, 2025 at 10:43 AM
I was honored to receive this at the law school graduation ceremony yesterday.
Congratulations to the William & Mary Law School class of 2025!
Congratulations to the William & Mary Law School class of 2025!
As a thank-you, the very thoughtful students in the legal history society gave me these.
May 16, 2025 at 7:40 PM
As a thank-you, the very thoughtful students in the legal history society gave me these.
Happy Birthday, Phi Beta Kappa!
248 years ago today, on December 5th, 1776, a group of William & Mary students met at the Raleigh Tavern on Duke of Gloucester Street and established Phi Beta Kappa. The original minutes, running from 1776 to 1781, are held by Swem Library.
248 years ago today, on December 5th, 1776, a group of William & Mary students met at the Raleigh Tavern on Duke of Gloucester Street and established Phi Beta Kappa. The original minutes, running from 1776 to 1781, are held by Swem Library.
December 5, 2024 at 12:16 PM
Happy Birthday, Phi Beta Kappa!
248 years ago today, on December 5th, 1776, a group of William & Mary students met at the Raleigh Tavern on Duke of Gloucester Street and established Phi Beta Kappa. The original minutes, running from 1776 to 1781, are held by Swem Library.
248 years ago today, on December 5th, 1776, a group of William & Mary students met at the Raleigh Tavern on Duke of Gloucester Street and established Phi Beta Kappa. The original minutes, running from 1776 to 1781, are held by Swem Library.
Happy birthday, William & Mary Law School!
On December 4th, 1779, the Board of Visitors met and reorganized the college, establishing a chair in law, the first in the United States.
From the Virginia Gazette, December 18, 1779.
On December 4th, 1779, the Board of Visitors met and reorganized the college, establishing a chair in law, the first in the United States.
From the Virginia Gazette, December 18, 1779.
December 4, 2024 at 1:13 PM
Happy birthday, William & Mary Law School!
On December 4th, 1779, the Board of Visitors met and reorganized the college, establishing a chair in law, the first in the United States.
From the Virginia Gazette, December 18, 1779.
On December 4th, 1779, the Board of Visitors met and reorganized the college, establishing a chair in law, the first in the United States.
From the Virginia Gazette, December 18, 1779.
We had a reception for graduation award recipients yesterday, so I set this out for the students who were being inducted into the Order of the Coif.
Congratulations, class of 2024!
Congratulations, class of 2024!
May 18, 2024 at 11:15 AM
We had a reception for graduation award recipients yesterday, so I set this out for the students who were being inducted into the Order of the Coif.
Congratulations, class of 2024!
Congratulations, class of 2024!
Ducks keep appearing on my name plate. Some of the new ones appear to be royal. And I'm pretty sure the guy on the end is a spy.
May 1, 2024 at 12:37 PM
Ducks keep appearing on my name plate. Some of the new ones appear to be royal. And I'm pretty sure the guy on the end is a spy.
Just did my annual reading of the Legend of Dancing Point to try to break the tension before my students started their property exam. It's about a local property dispute between Phillip Lightfoot and the Devil. As you might expect, they settled it with a dancing competition.
April 30, 2024 at 12:47 PM
Just did my annual reading of the Legend of Dancing Point to try to break the tension before my students started their property exam. It's about a local property dispute between Phillip Lightfoot and the Devil. As you might expect, they settled it with a dancing competition.
I had a nice surprise yesterday: I found a positive review of my book by David Ibbetson in the LQR that I had missed: "Tom McSweeney has produced a first-class work, opening up new lines of inquiry into the development of the common law in the latter part of the 13th century."
March 8, 2024 at 12:06 PM
I had a nice surprise yesterday: I found a positive review of my book by David Ibbetson in the LQR that I had missed: "Tom McSweeney has produced a first-class work, opening up new lines of inquiry into the development of the common law in the latter part of the 13th century."
Well, in 1256, Henry III issued a writ to his justices saying that the defendant got the benefit of the extra day. 2/2 #leapdaylegalhistory
February 29, 2024 at 12:38 PM
Well, in 1256, Henry III issued a writ to his justices saying that the defendant got the benefit of the extra day. 2/2 #leapdaylegalhistory
In 13th-century England, a defendant who had been summoned to appear in court could, in certain types of cases, claim the essoin (excuse) of bed-sickness, claiming he was too ill to rise from his bed. He would be given a delay of a year and a day. But what do you do in a leap year? 1/2
February 29, 2024 at 12:38 PM
In 13th-century England, a defendant who had been summoned to appear in court could, in certain types of cases, claim the essoin (excuse) of bed-sickness, claiming he was too ill to rise from his bed. He would be given a delay of a year and a day. But what do you do in a leap year? 1/2
February 8, 1693: "it shall be called and denominated, forever, the College of William and Mary, in Virginia." Happy Charter Day!
February 8, 2024 at 1:34 PM
February 8, 1693: "it shall be called and denominated, forever, the College of William and Mary, in Virginia." Happy Charter Day!
Yesterday, I gave a presentation to the Colonial Williamsburg courthouse interpreters on county courts in Colonial Virginia (and how they were different from English courts). As a thank you, they took me up in the cupola of the capitol building!
February 2, 2024 at 12:00 PM
Yesterday, I gave a presentation to the Colonial Williamsburg courthouse interpreters on county courts in Colonial Virginia (and how they were different from English courts). As a thank you, they took me up in the cupola of the capitol building!
My favorite was the time autocorrect changed every instance in my paper of the Old French phrase "fet asaver" to "feta saver." It made me wonder where I could get this wonderful product that would keep my feta fresh. And then I found it.
January 9, 2024 at 3:14 PM
My favorite was the time autocorrect changed every instance in my paper of the Old French phrase "fet asaver" to "feta saver." It made me wonder where I could get this wonderful product that would keep my feta fresh. And then I found it.
I went to the dedication of the George Wythe Library at the Law School last night and guess who I met: George Wythe!
December 2, 2023 at 12:24 PM
I went to the dedication of the George Wythe Library at the Law School last night and guess who I met: George Wythe!
Found these yesterday. The Christmas ducks seem to go up earlier every year at William & Mary Law School.
November 15, 2023 at 12:10 PM
Found these yesterday. The Christmas ducks seem to go up earlier every year at William & Mary Law School.
Remember, remember...the royal charter of 1693 says that William & Mary owes the crown "two copies of Latin verses yearly" to be paid "on every fifth day of November." Some of the colonial quitrent poems survive, at least up to 1774: wm.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fu...
November 5, 2023 at 12:46 PM
Remember, remember...the royal charter of 1693 says that William & Mary owes the crown "two copies of Latin verses yearly" to be paid "on every fifth day of November." Some of the colonial quitrent poems survive, at least up to 1774: wm.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fu...