Contact
Biography
Dr Will Eves arrived at the University of Nottingham in 2021. Prior to this, he was a Research Fellow at the University of St Andrews' Institute of Legal and Constitutional Research, working on the European Research Council funded comparative legal history project: 'Civil Law, Common Law, Customary Law: Consonance, Divergence and Transformation in Western Europe from the Late Eleventh to the Thirteenth Centuries'. Most of his career has involved moving between law and history departments, researching the procedural and doctrinal development of the early English common law (particularly in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries). This is reflected in his educational background. Will first obtained an LLB (1st class hons), followed by an LLM in international law (awarded with Distinction). After a period working in the legal sector, he undertook an MLitt in medieval history at the University of St Andrews (awarded with Distinction). He then completed a PhD in medieval legal history, also at St Andrews, on the use and development of the English common law action mort d'ancestor in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. During the final year of this doctoral research, Will also held a 6-month Scouloudi Junior Research Fellowship at the Institute of Historical Research (School of Advanced Study, University of London).
He has provided expertise for various forms of media, including appearing as an interviewee on 'Mystic Britain: The Sand Bodies of Sutton Hoo' (Blink Films) (aired: Smithsonian Channel, 2020), and for the BBC's online features: 'Patrick Hamilton: Recreating the trial of the first Scottish martyr', BBC News Website (4/5/2016) (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-36037253); and 'Trial by ordeal: When fire and water determined guilt', BBC News Website (9/1/2019) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45799443.
Expertise Summary
Will's main teaching and research interests combine law and history, particularly the historical development of the English common law in the medieval period. He also teaches modern English common law modules.
Research Summary
Will is currently finishing work on a new edition and translation of the Latin text of the Antiqua Consuetudo Normannie, a legal work produced c.1200, comprising the earliest part of the so-called… read more
Recent Publications
WILLIAM EVES, 2022. Common Law Routledge Resources Online.
Current Research
Will is currently finishing work on a new edition and translation of the Latin text of the Antiqua Consuetudo Normannie, a legal work produced c.1200, comprising the earliest part of the so-called Très Ancien Coutumier of Normandy. This will be the first English translation of the work, and the first edition to be based on the text found in the manuscript Ott. Lat. 2964 (Biblioteca Vaticana). He is also working on an article which discusses the aims of the author/compilers of this work, and the relationship of the text to intellectual developments in the Anglo-Norman legal world at the end of the twelfth century.