“A Divine Precept of Fraternal Union”: The Maxim Quod omnes tangit in Anglo- American Thought to the Ratification of the Constitution”

No maxim of the medieval ius commune rivals the reception of quod omnes tangit ab omnibus approbetur: that which concerns all must be approved by all.2 QOT (as it will hereafter be called), has exerted a remarkable influence since the Middle Ages. Interest shows no sign of abating, as we find it in service of “radical libertarianism” and “critical theory.”3 I have no intention of discussing such views, nor do I presume to linger long in fields already surveyed by masters such as Gaines Post and Brian Tierney.4