John de Breton - Death and Legacy

Death and Legacy

Breton died on or before 12 May 1275, when the custodian of the bishopric was given orders to seize Breton's estate because of debts owed to the king. These debts dated back over 20 years, to his time as sheriff. A Thomas le Breton, presumably a relative, was a canon at Hereford Cathedral from 1273, and probably owed his office to John.

A number of chronicles that mention Breton's death also note that he was the author of a legal treatise entitled le Bretoun, but this cannot be the surviving work called Britton, at least not in the current form, as that work discusses laws composed 15 years after Breton's death. It is unclear why he was credited with the work, and whether this attribution is just a confusion of Breton with the real author or if he did in fact author the work, which was later revised. The fact that the Britton is written in French, not Latin, and that it contains little information about the theory of law, being mostly concerned with the practical application of laws, points rather strongly to an author who was a royal justice, which Breton was.