tenure, he gained renown for his legal acumen and
received a number of royal favors. In spite of the strug-
gles between the MONARCHYand the nobility, Bracton
emerged as a nonpartisan jurist who was respected by
both sides. He served as an early model for the nonbi-
ased judiciary. He collected some 2,000 decisions in a
casebook, or law report, that pioneered the use of
precedents and stare decis(“let the decision stand” of
lower courts). Bracton’s casebook would be emulated
from 1291 to 1535 in the publication of an annual
legal yearbook. After his retirement from the court,
Bracton continued to serve on judicial commissions
and as a legal advisor to the monarchy.
Bracton’s opus On the Laws and Customs of En-
glandwas the first systemic attempt to codify the
common law of Great Britain. Although it is now
accepted that much of the work was done previously
and that Bracton’s main contribution was to edit
these early pieces, many of the later sections were
authored by the jurist. Bracton sought to provide
guidance for lesser judges because English common
law was not codified or written down; instead, com-
mon law was based on accepted customs and tradi-
tions. Judges needed guidance because customs
and traditions varied from locality to locality. In addi-
tion, Bracton understood that justices often misap-
plied the law as a result of their own ignorance or
inexperience or applied the law according to their
own purposes.
The work contends that justice comes from God
and that laws are accepted restraints on offenses
against the community or individuals. Bracton asserted
that the English legal system was a combination of
accepted traditional law and church law, thereby merg-
ing justice and law. Nonetheless, Bracton argues for
the existence of both judges and the church. Judges
or magistrates are needed to interpret and administer
the law, and priests to interpret and administer the
will of God. On the Customs and Laws of Englandfur-
ther reaffirms the supremacy of the monarch but main-
tains that the monarch must be subject to God and
law. Without the supremacy of law, Bracton proclaims
that the monarch’s rule would be based solely on per-
sonal will. Leaders of the anti-Royalist faction in the
English civil war used Bracton’s arguments on the
supremacy of law to support their rebellion against
Charles I.
In 1264, Bracton was appointed to be the archdea-
con of Barnestable. This appointment was followed
within the year by his selection as chancellor of Exeter
Cathedral. The bishop of Exeter also named Bracton to
honorary posts at both Exeter and Bosham. He died in
1264 and was buried in Exeter Cathedral.Further Reading
Van Caenegem, R. C. The Birth of the English Common Law.
Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press, 1988.Buber, Martin (1878–1965) German philoso-
pher, Jewish theologian, and Zionist activist
In 1898, Buber joined the Zionist movement that
strove to establish a Jewish homeland in Israel. Con-
nected with his vision of an ideal Jewish nation was
his book Paths in Utopia(1949), which examined the
COMMUNITARIAN, decentralized aspects of the SOCIALIST
theoretical tradition and partly implemented in the
modern Israeli society.
Most of Buber’s writings were on religion, and they
influenced both Judaism and Protestant Christianity,
especially his book I and Thou(1937). From 1916 to
1924, he edited a German Jewish journal Der Jüde.He
taught theology and ethics at Frankfurt University.
With the rise of HITLERand the NAZIParty in Germany
in the 1930s, systematic persecution of Jews began,
forcing Buber to leave the country. He assumed a pro-
fessorship at the University of Jerusalem.
Buber’s political thought, representative of some
leftist Israeli ideology, grows out of his activist mysti-
cism that strives to infuse spiritual values into daily
life.Further Readings
Diamond, Malcolm Luria. Martin Buber, Jewish Existentialist.
New York: Harper & Row, 1968.
Friedman, Maurice S. Martin Buber’s Life and Work: The Early
Years, 1878–1923.New York: Dutton, 1981.
Manheim, Werner. Martin Buber.New York: Twayne Publishers,
1974.
Susser, Bernard. Existence and Utopia: The Social and Political
Thought of Martin Buber.Ruther ford, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickin-
son University Press, 1981.Buckley, William F., Jr. (1925– ) American
political commentator and libertarian thinker
William F. Buckley, Jr., describes himself as a LIBERTAR-
IANjournalist. This title, reflected on his most recent
book cover, describes a fusion between the ideological
underpinnings of conservatism and libertarianism,38 Buber, Martin