Star Chamber

As the Court of Star Chamber (Latin Camera stellata, dt Star Chamber ) is called an English court which was established by King Edward II (the first mention is found in 1398 as Sterred chambre ) and was until 1641. The name derives from the dish was a space in which the Curia Regis met and whose ceiling was probably decorated with gilded stars. Judgments of the Court of Star Chamber were incontestable, the negotiations secret.

Formation

Members of the Star Chamber were royal councilors ( members of the Privy Council ) and judges. The Court of Star Chamber was not bound by the common law, as it drew its powers directly from the unlimited power of the king. The court fulfilled the function of the Supreme Court, such as when a prominent defendant possessed so much power that subordinate courts would make no condemnation. In addition, the court heard cases that were not covered by the common law (equity), so did not constitute violation of any law in the strict sense. This the Star Chamber was, however, also the possibility of the hand to arbitrarily decide what was used for example by Henry VII as a means to control the nobility after Wars of the Roses.

Abuse

Under Henry VIII, the Court has increasingly become an instrument of policy, the subjugation of Wales after the union with England ( 1538-43 ) was funded by expropriation Welsh landowners in favor of the English Lords. Especially under Chancellor Thomas Wolsey (1515-1529) the number of cases grew that were heard in the Star Chamber - Wolsey urged even to itself without the prior trial in lower courts directly to the Star Chamber to turn.

Charles I used the Star Chamber, instead of the resolution of his Parliament 1629-1640 in pursuit of his opponents, often Puritans.

1641 abolished the Long Parliament to the Court of Star Chamber. The excesses of the court of Charlemagne played a role in the debate about his execution.

Comments

• History of England in the early modern period
• Legal History of the Middle Ages (England)