Lincoln's Inn, of which Bentham became a member in 1817 Coloured engraving by J. Marsh by courtesy of the Parker Gallery, London Lincoln's Inn is ancient. Its formal records, contained in the Black Books, go back continuously to 1422. This is nearly 80 years earlier than any other Inn (Middle Temple 1501, Inner Temple 1505, Gray's Inn 1569). It is plain, too, that in 1422 the Inn had been in existence for some while. There is some ground for saying that an ordinance of Edward I made in 1292 was in some part responsible for the founding of the Inns. That Ordinance placed both branches of the profession (barristers and solicitors, as they would be called today) under the control of the judges, and hastened the end of the clergy as lawyers in the King's courts; and the new race of professional lawyers that began to emerge needed places where they could congregate, and where apprentices could be housed. It was probably early during the 14th century that the Inns first took shape. ''Inn'' (or "hospitium") then meant a town house or mansion, and in particular a mansion used as a hostel for students. Lincoln's Inn probably takes its name from Henry de Lacy, third Earl of Lincoln (died 1311); and from his arms the lion in the arms of Lincoln's Inn is derived. He seems to have been the Inn's patron, his own great house lying a mere 400 or 500 yards to the east, in Shoe Lane. 固opFoto