Fleta is a treatise, written in Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

, with the sub-title seu Commentarius juris Anglicani, on the common law

Common law

Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...

 of England. The anonymous author of the book is sometimes referred to as "Fleta", although this is not in fact a person's name. The book acquired the title "Fleta" because its preface contains a remark that it could be called "Fleta" as it was written in "Fleta".

It appears, from internal evidence, to have been written in the reign of Edward I

Edward I of England

Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...

, about the year 1290.

Authority

This book is one of those listed by Blackstone as being authoritative statements of the law at the time at which they were written

Books of authority

Books of authority is a term used by legal writers to refer to a number of early legal textbooks that are excepted from the rule that textbooks are not treated as authorities by the courts of England and Wales and other common law jurisdictions.These books are treated by the courts as...

. Edward Coke

Edward Coke

Sir Edward Coke SL PC was an English barrister, judge and politician considered to be the greatest jurist of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. Born into a middle class family, Coke was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge before leaving to study at the Inner Temple, where he was called to the...

 cites Fleta as authority in his Institutes

Institutes of the Lawes of England

The Institutes of the Lawes of England are a series of legal treatises written by Sir Edward Coke. They were first published, in stages, between 1628 and 1644. They are widely recognized as a foundational document of the common law. They have been cited in over 70 cases decided by the Supreme Court...

 in a number of places.

The article on this book in the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition

Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition

The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition is a 29-volume reference work, an edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. It was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. Some of its articles were written by the best-known scholars of the time...

says that it "is for the most part a poor imitation of" De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae by Henry de Bracton

Henry de Bracton

Henry of Bracton, also Henry de Bracton, also Henrici Bracton, or Henry Bratton also Henry Bretton was an English jurist....

. O. Hood Phillips described it as an "epitome of" that book. Conversely, the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography describes it as "updating and abridging" that book.

Manuscript copies

One complete manuscript

Manuscript

A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...

 copy of this book survives from the fourteenth century. It is held by the British Library

British Library

The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...

 and its reference is BL, Cotton MS Julius B.viii. A few passages of this book also survive in another manuscript. This is also held by the British Library and its reference is BL, Cotton MS Nero D.vi.

Circulation

Because few copies survive, it is thought that this book was "not widely read by medieval lawyers."

Author

The author is supposed to have written it during his confinement in the Fleet prison

Fleet Prison

Fleet Prison was a notorious London prison by the side of the Fleet River in London. The prison was built in 1197 and was in use until 1844. It was demolished in 1846.- History :...

, hence the name. It has been conjectured that he was one of those judges who were imprisoned for malpractices by Edward I.

Editions

The first printed edition of Fleta was published by John Selden

John Selden

John Selden was an English jurist and a scholar of England's ancient laws and constitution and scholar of Jewish law...

in 1647. It included a dissertation written by Selden, the title of which is "Joannis Seldeni ad Fletam dissertatio." The second edition was published, with corrections, in 1685. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography describes both of these editions as "imperfect".