ABSTRACT
William Durand compared the learned lawyer to the Cherubim who enforced God’s judgement by driving Adam and Eve out of Paradise: ‘His tongue may be called “a flaming sword”, for the fire of charity sets it alight. He makes “the winds his messengers, fire and flame his ministers”.’ ‘He is resourceful, ready, and prepared for anything.’ Thirteenth-century writers on professional matters repeatedly admonished advocates about proper conduct once they had taken their places in the courtroom. They must act courteously and shun any appearance of carelessness or self-importance. An advocate needed to demonstrate that he was mature, personable, prudent and discreet. Success in court, as every advocate knew, depended in considerable measure upon securing the judge’s good will. ‘It is a perilous business to plead before an offended judge’, as Bonaguida put it. Medieval advocates accordingly tried to win the judge’s favour from the moment they began to speak, as indeed their modern successors do.
