Note 632 — MAGNA CARTA. (continued 3)
Reading edition
The gradual triumph of royal justice over all rivals in the sphere of criminal law is thus symbolized by the extension of the phrase “pleas of the Crown,” which can be traced through a series of documents—e.g. (a) the laws of Cnut; (b) Glanvill, I. cc. I, 2, and 3; (c) the Assizes of Clarendon and Northampton; (d) the ordinance of 1194; and (e) the present chapter of Magna Carta.