Information AboutStar Chamber |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT STAR CHAMBER | |
| 1487 establishments | |
| 1641 disestablishments | |
| court systems in england and wales | |
| parliament of england | |
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In modern usage, legal or administrative bodies with strict, arbitrary rulings and secretive proceedings are sometimes called, perhaps metaphorically or poetically, star chambers. The court took its name from the Star Chamber which was built in . The Court evolved from meetings of the King's royal council, with its roots going back to the medieval period. The court only became unusually powerful during the reign of Henry VII Of England , when in 1487 the court became a separate judicial body from the king's council with a mandate to hear petitions of redress. Initially well regarded because of its speed and flexibility, it was made up of Privy Councillors as well as common-law judges and supplemented the activities of the common-law and equity courts in both civil and criminal matters. In a sense the court was a supervisory body, overseeing the operations of lower courts, though its members could hear cases by direct appeal as well. The court was set up to ensure the fair enforcement of laws against prominent people, those so powerful that ordinary courts could never convict them of their crimes and other shenanigans. Star Chamber sessions were public. Henry Tudor utilized the power of Star Chamber to break the power of the landed gentry which had been such a cause for problems in the Wars of the Roses. When local courts were often clogged or mismanaged, the court of Star Chamber became a site of remittance for common people against the excesses of the nobility. Under the leadership of Lord Chancellor Thomas Wolsey and Archbishop Of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer ( 1515 - 1529 ), the Court of Star Chamber became a political weapon for bringing actions against opponents to the policies of Henry VIII , his Minister s and his Parliament . Although the court was initially a court of appeal, Henry VIII and his councillors Wolsey and Cranmer encouraged Plaintiff s to bring their cases directly to the Star Chamber, bypassing the lower courts entirely. The Court was used extensively as a colonial legal weapon to control the Celtic fringe, most notably Wales , after the Acts of Union of 1538-43. The Tudor-created gentry in Wales turned to the Chamber to turn out Welsh landowners and protect themselves, and in general protect the English advantages of the Acts of Union. The power of the Court of Star Chamber grew considerably under the House Of Stuart , and by the time of Charles I Of England it had become synonymous with misuse and abuse of power by the king and his circle. James I Of England and his son Charles used the court to examine cases of sedition, which meant that the court could be used to suppress opposition to royal policies. It came to be used to try nobles too powerful to be brought to trial in the lower courts. Note actions of Henry VIII above. Court sessions were held in secret, with no indictments, no right of appeal, no juries, and no witnesses. Evidence was presented in writing. Charles I used the Court of Star Chamber as a sort of Parliamentary substitute during the eleven years of Personal Rule when he ruled without a Parliament. On 17 October 1632 , the Court of Star Chamber banned all "news books" over complaints from Spain and Austria n Diplomat s that coverage of the Thirty Years' War in English Newspaper s was unfair. Newspapers had to be printed in Amsterdam and then smuggled into the country until the ban was lifted six years later. Charles I made extensive use of the Court of Star Chamber to prosecute dissenters, including the Puritans who fled to New England . ABOLITION AND AFTERMATH The Star Chamber was finally abolished in , nearby. The excesses of the Star Chamber under Charles I, including the case of John Lilburne, constituted one of the rallying cries for those who eventually executed him. Throughout its history, however, it enjoyed some degree of support from the lower classes, who saw it as a bulwark against the aristocracy and gentry. In the early 1900s , American Poet , biographer and Dramatist Edgar Lee Masters , 1868 - 1950 , commented: :"In the Star Chamber the council could inflict any punishment short of death, and frequently sentenced objects of its wrath to the Pillory , to Whipping and to the Cutting Off Of Ears . ... With each embarrassment to arbitrary power the Star Chamber became emboldened to undertake further usurpation. ... The Star Chamber finally summoned Juries before it for verdicts disagreeable to the government, and fined and imprisoned them. It spread Terrorism among those who were called to do constitutional acts. It imposed ruinous fines. It became the chief defense of Charles against assaults upon those usurpations which cost him his life. ..." |
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