Gray's Inn - History

History

During the 12th and 13th centuries, law was taught in the City of London, primarily by the clergy. During the 13th century, two events happened that destroyed this form of legal education; firstly, a decree by Henry III of England on 2 December 1234 that no institutes of legal education could exist in the City of London, and secondly a papal bull that prohibited the clergy from teaching the common law, rather than canon law. As a result the existing system of legal education fell apart. The common lawyers migrated to the hamlet of Holborn, the nearest place to the law courts at Westminster Hall that was outside the City.