Introduction

Abstract This Introduction sets up felony’s primary conceptual problem: since its beginnings in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, felony has been the quintessential crime, and yet the law has never defined it. This, I suggest, has given us the impression that we know what felony is without providing any concrete vocabulary with which to describe it. In this Introduction, I lay out the central premise of the book’s argument: felony’s concept is inconsistent because it was never a creation of the law. It was created by its practice, which was shaped by the local communities to whom it was left. When they needed guidance, these communities turned not to legal theory, but to cultural concepts. I provide an outline of felony procedure from investigation to conviction, as well as an overview of the historical records that I use in the book. Finally, I describe my methodology and provide an outline for the five chapters of the book.