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Legal History: Continental Legal History

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This page contains a listing of English translations of primary sources both on the web and in hard copy.

Continental Legal History - Primary Sources

English Translations Online

Unbound Bible
Maintained by Biola University. Allows the user to view up to four translations of Biblical passages at the same time. A large number of translations are available, including the original Hebrew and Greek (I haven't tried the passages that are originally in Aramaic). For purposes of Continental Legal History the most useful combination is the Latin Vulgate ("Vulgata Clementina") plus the Douay-Rheims translation from the Latin Vulgate plus a modern scholarly translation, such as the New Revised Standard (NRSV).
Bible Study Tools from Crosswalk
Designed for preachers preparing sermons. Provides number of translations of the Bible and various dictionaries as well as concordances [alphabetical lists of words or phrases indicating where those terms are found in the Bible]. Includes Strong's interlinear translation of the bible (Hebrew or Greek) with a literal translation above. Recent "improvements" in this site have made it more difficult to use for those who are trying to use it for scholarly purposes. For this reason for most purposes we recommend the use of the Unbound Bible (above).
Internet Medieval Sourcebook
Collection of sources concerning medieval law in English translation. Idiosyncratic selection, but editor provides some guidance as to reliability of translations reproduced.
The Civil Law by S.P. Scott
Maintained by the Constitution Society, this website provides you with all 17 volumes of Samuel P. Scott's translation of the corpus of Roman law. Though the translation has frequently been criticized, it is complete.
Annotated Justinian Code by Fred H. Blume
Hosted by the University of Wyoming Law Library, this is a retyping of the complete English translation of Justinian's Code originally made by a now-deceased learned justice of the Wyoming Supreme Court over the course of many years. The notes that accompany the translation are in some cases out of date, and there are errors, but it seems to be improvement over Scott's translation of the same material.

English Translations Hard Copy

The Digest of Justinian.
Edited by Alan Watson. Rev. English language ed. Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998.
The Institutes of Justinian.
Translated into English, with an index, by J. B. Moyle. 5th ed. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1913.
The civil law, including the Twelve tables, the Institutes of Gaius, the Rules of Ulpian, the Opinions of Paulus, the Enactments of Justinian, and the Constitutions of Leo: translated from the original Latin
Edited, and compared with all accessible systems of jurisprudence ancient and modern by S. P. Scott. Cincinnati, The Central Trust Company, 1932.
The treatise on laws : (Decretum DD. 1-20)
Translated by Augustine Thompson, with the Ordinary gloss, translated by James Gordley and an introduction by Katherine Christensen. Washington, D.C. : Catholic University of America Press, 1993.