Munimenta Gildhallae Londoniensis

The Corporation of London has an extensive collection of medieval records which can be used to trace the development of the City, and provide much information of all aspects of civic life - social, economic, political, ecclesiastical, legal and military. H. T. Riley (1816-78) spent many years editing and translating some of the most significant documents, and thereby establishing his scholarly reputation. Volume 1 of this three-volume work, published in 1859, contains one of the most important collections of documents, the four books of the Liber Albus. This was compiled in 1419 by the Town Clerk, John Carpenter, and is considered one of the first books of English common law. It records the laws and civic regulations relating to the City of London, beginning in 1067 but concentrating on the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. It is written mostly in Latin, with parts in French.