ISLAMABAD, Feb 1: British historian David Corner has argued that the principle of English common law was established much earlier than the 12th century.

The generally held belief that it was the product of major enactments of the 12th century was wrong, said the historian

in his first lecture “The authenticity of 12th century English legal text” at the Allama Iqbal Open University here on Thursday.

During his visit to Pakistan, Dr Corner will deliver a series of four lectures on historical texts.

He said the historical methods depended on seeing significant events only as shallow currents in the river of time.

However, there were also a number of substantial sub-currents associated with mentalities of the people in history and the environment and circumstances in which they lived.

In his view, historians had been misreading historical documents, and saw them as happenings and events instead of looking at them as refinements of existing mentality.

He asked the scholars present a the lecture to test the validity of fresh approach to the study of historical text he illustrated during the talk, and said scholars should apply it in their area of interest.—JI