Serjeants-at-law

Early history

The history of Serjeants-at-Law goes back to within a century of the Norman Conquest; Alexander Pulling argues that Serjeants-at-Law existed "before any large portion of our law was formed", and Edward Warren agrees that they existed (in Normandy), supporting him with a Norman writ from approximately 1300 which identifies Serjeants-at-Law as directly descending from Norman conteurs; indeed, they were sometimes known as Serjeant-Conteurs. The members of the Order initially used St Paul's Cathedral as their meeting place, standing near the "parvis" where they would give counsel to those who sought advice. Geoffrey Chaucer makes reference to the Serjeants in the Canterbury Tales, General Prologue, writing: