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.
Public law
Rule of law, the idea that the administration of the state should be controlled by a set of laws, originated in Greek Antiquity and was revitalized by modern philosophers in France (Rousseau), Germany (Kant) and Austria in the 18th century. It is related to the strong position of the central government in the era of enlightened absolutism, and was inspired by the French Revolution and enlightenment. It developed hand in hand with the creation of civil codes and criminal codes.