Before the Norman Conquest the law in England was administered according to local Anglo-Saxon custom, with the church playing a major role. The Normans brought a new set of attitudes; for example, serious crimes were treated as public matters, not as matters concerning the injured only, as formerly was the case; and the power of the church was restricted to ecclesiastical courts. Although Roman law was being revived on the continent at this time, the Normans opposed its introduction into England. The Normans, in effect, created English common law by establishing a central judiciary that administered common (that is, general) laws based on the writ system. A writ is a written order requiring a person to appear and provide proof of compliance with the decision of the court or to stand trial.
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Abroad, law was in a state of flux. The customs of northern France were codified in 1453, and modified Roman law became a main source of imperial German law in 1495 and of Scots law in 1532.