The Issue of the Preservation of Peace in the Treatise by Michael Dalton «The Country Justice»

The research is devoted to the study of the legal treatise of the lawyer Michael Dalton (1561-1650) «The Country Justice» and the problem of peace preservation. The main aim of this work is to identify the concept of peace in the legal treatise and concepts closely related to it, contextualize them in the context of the legal tradition of the 16th-17th centuries, and also discover the main agents of power on the periphery and their connection with the issue of peace preservation. In addition to the main source, legal treatises by F. Pulton, A. Fitzherbert, and W. Lambarde are involved in the research. In this study, I argue that M. Dalton's treatise is not just a compilation of the work of the lawyer W. Lambarde, but an important summary of the entire 16th century both in the political and legal spheres of England. M. Dalton shows the development from one concept of peace to another, demonstrates both the difference between illegal and legal violence and agents of power from ordinary dwellers of the kingdom. Analysis of M. Dalton’s treatise demonstrates that peace is closely tied with the king. Thus, peace is both power and a whole network of connections between ordinary residents and royal agents.