Harvard Law School Professor Ties English Felony Law to Ancient Veil in Lecture

Harvard Law School professor Elizabeth P. Kamali ’97 lectured on the development of 13th century English felony law through the lens of historical artifacts during her Chair Lecture on Tuesday.

The event marked Kamali’s appointment as the Austin Wakeman Scott Professor of Law. Kamali specializes in criminal law in medieval English legal history with a focus on the transition from trial by ordeal to trial by jury.

Interim HLS Dean John C.P. Goldberg introduced Kamali and lauded her humility, wisdom, and humor.

“The hallmark of her scholarship is the way in which it gives color and life to practices and ideas long dead,” Goldberg said.

During the event, Kamali honored Scott, her chair’s namesake, a graduate of the law school and longtime HLS professor. In his lifetime, Scott served as a leading authority on trust law.

After recognizing Scott, Kamali also nodded to her predecessors in the professorship, saying that “I’m also grateful for the previous holders of this chair, even those I did not have the pleasure of knowing.”

Kamali said her interest in medieval law dates back to her senior thesis research on 14th century Manor court rolls during her time at Harvard College. She later obtained her J.D. from HLS in 2007 before returning eight years later to serve on Harvard’s Standing Committee on Medieval Studies as an assistant professor of law.

During her lecture, Kamali used the fourth century story of the Veronica — an ancient veil said to bear the image of Jesus’ face — to reveal the complexities of the development of England’s tradition of trial by jury.

According to Kamali, scholars have typically framed the rise of the English jury trial as a process distinct from the development of church courts in continental Europe — but she offered a different view.

“I want to emphasize that the English jury cannot be understood in isolation,” she said.

Instead, Kamali used the Veronica story to reframe the relationship between English and European jurisprudence at the beginning of the 13th century.

“In its emphasis on proof by sight and touch, material evidence, and the use of inquisitorial strategies, England shared jurisprudential priorities with continental Europe, just as they shared a common faith and a common reservoir of popular literature like the Veronica story,” she said.

According to Kamali, legal stories may begin in “apocrypha” — works outside of canon scripture — and appear true through ritual repetition and periodic display. Kamali tied the tale of the Veronica to the development of English common law, pointing to the apocryphal nature of both stories.

Though Kamali acknowledged that the “Veronica story is certainly not essential to understanding English felony law,” she said it nonetheless influenced her understanding of English legal history, pointing in particular to the practice of trial by ordeal.*

“It is in contemplation of the story,” she said, “that I have found myself shuffling the lenses through which I view England’s approach to proof in a post-ordeal world.”

“The true story is more complicated, and therefore I hope, worth telling,” she said.