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On Despising English Liberties and Other Wisdom from the Founders

Posted by: Nathan Dorn

Today is the anniversary of the ratification of the first written constitution in American history, the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, which took place on January 14, 1639. The Fundamental Orders outlined the form of government that would be established over the Connecticut River Towns, enumerating its powers and describing the duties of citizens active in government. A fascinating document …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Bacon and the Law Redux

Posted by: Nathan Dorn

Sunday (January 22) was the 451st birthday of the English philosopher and politician, Francis Bacon (1561-1626). Francis Bacon is usually remembered as the father of modern science and the founder of the empirical method of inquiry. Opinions vary on how important he was for any particular science, but he is generally held to have been …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Laws in a Crusader State

Posted by: Nathan Dorn

On November 27, 1095, Pope Urban II declared the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont. In so doing, he inaugurated a period of centuries of intense, though intermittent, warfare fought at the peripheries of Christendom. The Crusades exist in our historical memory as a period of near constant bloodshed and destruction, but out of the chaos …