Definition
Brevia magistralia (Law Latin: "masterly writs" or "writs of the masters") were a category of English writs issued by the masters or clerks of chancery, the form of which was not fixed but varied to suit the particular circumstances of each case and the nature of the complaint. Unlike writs of a settled, statutory form, brevia magistralia were adaptable instruments — drafted to fit situations that did not fall neatly within the established writ forms. They represent the creative, discretionary side of early English writ practice, in contrast to writs whose language was prescribed and invariable.
Common Confusion
Brevia magistralia should be distinguished from brevia de cursu, writs of course issued as a matter of right in established forms from the chancery register. The distinction is between adaptive writs (magistralia) and standardized writs (de cursu). A researcher encountering either term in a historical source should be alert to which category is meant, as the procedural implications differ: brevia de cursu were routine and available without special application, while brevia magistralia reflected an exercise of drafting judgment by chancery officers.
Why It Matters in Research
This is a term encountered almost exclusively in medieval and early modern English legal sources. Researchers working in the history of common law procedure, the development of the forms of action, or the institutional history of chancery will encounter the term in Bracton and Fleta and in later institutional writers who drew on those sources. It signals a period in English legal history — roughly the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries — when the writ system was still elastic enough to permit drafting innovation at the chancery level, before the forms of action hardened into fixed categories.
The practical significance for corpus researchers: brevia magistralia represent the procedural pressure valve of early common law. When a plaintiff's grievance did not fit an existing writ, chancery masters could, within limits, craft a new one. Understanding this concept is essential context for tracking how the forms of action expanded (and eventually calcified), and why equity jurisdiction grew to fill the gaps that the common law writ system could no longer accommodate.
Researchers should note that the Statute of Westminster II (1285), through its provision in consimili casu, formalized a limited version of this adaptive writ-drafting power — giving clerks authority to frame new writs in cases similar to those already covered. Brevia magistralia in their earlier, broader sense predated and informed that statutory development. Sources that treat these terms loosely may conflate the pre- and post-1285 practices.
Do not expect this term to appear in modern procedural materials. It is a historical artifact of the forms-of-action era, which was abolished in England by the Common Law Procedure Acts of the nineteenth century and in American federal practice by the adoption of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure in 1938.
Historical Dictionary Support
The three source dictionaries agree closely on the core definition: writs issued by chancery masters, variable in form to suit each case. Burrill's entry is the most expansive, citing Bracton (fol. 413b), Fleta (lib. 2, c. 13, § 4), Theloall's Digest (lib. 1, c. 2), and Wooddeson's Lectures (3 Wooddes. Lect. 89) — a useful trail of primary and secondary authority for researchers pursuing deeper inquiry. Black's and Bouvier's cite Bracton at the same folio (413b, with Bouvier additionally citing Fleta lib. 2, c. 18, § 4 — note the chapter number diverges slightly from Burrill's citation, which gives c. 13; researchers consulting Fleta should verify the chapter reference against their edition). Black's description of the issuers as "masters or clerks" is slightly broader than Bouvier's "masters in chancery," though both point to the same institutional practice.
None of the three dictionaries situate brevia magistralia within the larger taxonomy of writs or explain their relationship to brevia de cursu (writs of course) — the fixed, formulaic writs available as of right — which is the natural counterpart and the term needed to understand what made magistralia distinctive. This gap is significant: without that contrast, the definition floats without context.