Definition
*Itinerantes* (Latin: "traveling ones") is a historical Latin term referring to itinerant justices — royal judges commissioned to travel circuits throughout England administering justice on behalf of the Crown. The term identifies these justices by their defining characteristic: they moved through the realm rather than sitting at a fixed court. The institution was established under Henry II as part of his systematic effort to extend royal judicial authority across England, and the justices so designated were sometimes called justices in eyre.
Why It Matters in Research
This term appears almost exclusively in Latin legal records and early English legal history sources. Researchers encountering *itinerantes* in primary or secondary sources should understand that it describes an institutional role, not merely a physical condition of travel — the word carries constitutional and administrative significance tied to the development of the common law court system.
The term connects directly to the eyre system, one of the most important instruments of Angevin judicial administration. Records of the general eyre are among the earliest organized common law records, and understanding *itinerantes* as the human actors within that system is essential for navigating those sources accurately.
A key navigational trap: the Black Book of the Exchequer's variant phrasing — *deambulantes et perlustrantes* ("wandering and surveying") — appears in some scholarly references alongside or instead of *itinerantes*. A researcher who knows only one of these formulations may fail to recognize they describe the same institution. Cross-referencing all three Latin phrases when working in medieval exchequer records or early legal chronicles is advisable.
The eyre fell into disuse by the fourteenth century and was not revived in its original form. By the time of the later Year Books and the institutional writers, the word *itinerantes* had become an antiquarian reference rather than a living term of practice. Researchers working in post-medieval sources will encounter it only as historical description, not as operative legal language.
Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill's Law Dictionary is the primary shelf source providing a formal entry for *itinerantes*, and its treatment, while brief, is accurate and useful. Burrill correctly anchors the term to Henry II's institutional innovation and identifies the Black Book of the Exchequer as a supporting source. The citation to chapter 8 of the Black Book (*deambulantes et perlustrantes*) is a genuine and valuable cross-reference that Burrill's entry preserves, though Burrill does not elaborate on the constitutional significance of the eyre system itself.
Other major historical legal dictionaries — including Jacob's Law Dictionary, Tomlin's Law Dictionary, and Bouvier's Law Dictionary — do not carry a dedicated entry for *itinerantes* as a standalone term, though they address justices in eyre under related headings. This reflects the word's status as specialized Latin vocabulary of medieval record-keeping rather than a term that persisted into the common law's working vocabulary. Researchers relying solely on English-language historical dictionaries risk missing the term entirely; Burrill's Latin coverage is its comparative advantage here.
No meaningful divergence exists among sources on the core meaning. The only substantive variation is in the degree of historical context provided, with Burrill's entry standing essentially alone among standard shelf dictionaries in giving the term direct treatment.
Jurisdictional Note
*Itinerantes* is a term of English legal history with no counterpart in American law. It carries no operative meaning in any current common law jurisdiction. Research use is confined to English medieval legal history, the history of the common law, and the institutional origins of circuit court systems.