Littleton, or LYTTLETON, SIR THOMAS

Littleton, or LYTTLETON, SIR THOMAS, English jurist, was born in 1402 at Frankley House, near Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, his mother being the heiress of Thomas de Littleton, lord of the manor of Frankley. He was recorder of Coventry in 1450, king's sergeant in 1455, in 1466 judge of common pleas, and in 1475 a knight of the Bath. He died on 23d August 1481. Littleton's 'authentic reputation' (Fuller's phrase) rests on his work on Tenures, which was originally written in Norman-French, or rather law French. It treats of the English law relating to rights over land, and was the first scientific attempt to classify the subject. It seems to have been first printed in the year of its author's death, if not before, and passed through numerous editions. The first translation into English was made probably as early as 1500. It was the original text that Coke commented upon in his famous Coke upon Littleton (see COKE). The changes in the laws relative to property have greatly diminished its value, and it is now little studied by lawyers; yet it is considered a model from the clear and logical manner in which the subject is handled.