Bertha Haven Putnam (1872 – February 26, 1960) was an American historian, specialising on the judicial and administrative history of medieval England.
She later taught at the Brearley School in New York City, before getting her doctorate from Columbia University in 1908.
[1] Her career, from Bryn Mawr to Holyoke, ran parallel to that of Nellie Neilson, a fellow medievalist.
In particular she proved the importance of the Statute of Labourers in giving these officers the right to decide cases, and thereby establishing them as justices.
[5] Some of her main contentions, particularly that this process represented a radical devolution of judicial authority to the localities, have since been challenged.