Common law
The common lawso named because it was "common" to all the king's courts across Englandoriginated in the practices of the courts of the English kings in the centuries following the Norman Conquest in 1066. Prior to the Norman Conquest, much of England's legal business took place in the local folk courts of its various shires and hundreds. A variety of other individual courts also existed across the land: urban boroughs and merchant fairs held their own courts, as did the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and large landholders also held their own manorial and seigniorial courts as needed. Additionally, the Catholic Church operated its own court system that adjudicated issues of canon law.
Brocard (law)
Although the Romans first came to Britain in 55 BC, Roman Law has had negligible influence on English common law. Latin legal phrases are used in English only because Latin was the "lingua franca" of the Medieval era. Although some of these phrases are in common use in law, such as "res ipsa loquitur", "novus actus interveniens", "talem qualem", "de minimis non curat lex", and "consensus ad idem", the common law is not premised on the principles of civil law, and their use is being replaced by that of vernacular substitutes. For example, "Black's Law Dictionary" previously included numerous brocards among its entries.