From internal evidence, the work appears to have been written in the reign of Edward I, and it seems to have been completed shortly after the year 1290.
[3] This book is one of those listed by Blackstone as being authoritative statements of the law at the time at which they were written.
[7] The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography describes Fleta as "updating and abridging" Bracton.
[1] Noël Denholm-Young and Paul Brand have proposed as an alternative candidate one Matthew of the Exchequer, a yeoman of the royal household and lawyer, who was convicted of forgery in 1290 and committed to the Fleet for two years.
It included a dissertation written by Selden, the title of which is "Joannis Seldeni ad Fletam dissertatio".
Volume 4 does include a 17-page "Introduction" by Sayles, which represents the fullest synopsis of scholarly knowledge about the work to date.