At a very early time in medieval England the Lord of the Manor exercised or claimed certain jurisdictional franchises. The most important of these was the "view of frankpledge" and its associated police jurisdiction. Some time in the later middle ages the court baron, when exercising these powers, gained the name of leet, and, later, of court leet. The quo warranto proceedings of Edward I established a sharp distinction between the court baron, exercising strictly manorial rights, and the court leet, depending for its jurisdiction upon royal franchise.
The court leet was a court of record, and its duty was not only to view the pledges but to try by jury, and punish, all crimes committed within the jurisdiction. The steward of the court acted as judge, presiding wholly in a judicial character, the ministerial acts being executed by the bailiff.
The court leet began to decline in the fourteenth century, being superseded by the more modern magistrates' courts, but in many cases courts leet operated until nearly the middle of the nineteenth century. The courts leet survived for formal purposes until their legal jurisdiction was abolished in 1977 The courts were formally abolished in 1998. but the term may still be found in ceremonial use, for example at Laxton, Nottinghamshire and Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire.
References
Bibliography
- [Anon.] (1911) " Court Leet", Encyclopaedia Britannica
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Saturday May 31, 2008 at 09:42:18 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation
At a very early time in medieval England the Lord of the Manor exercised or claimed certain jurisdictional franchises. The most important of these was the "view of frankpledge" and its associated police jurisdiction. Some time in the later middle ages the court baron, when exercising these powers, gained the name of leet, and, later, of court leet. The quo warranto proceedings of Edward I established a sharp distinction between the court baron, exercising strictly manorial rights, and the court leet, depending for its jurisdiction upon royal franchise.
The court leet was a court of record, and its duty was not only to view the pledges but to try by jury, and punish, all crimes committed within the jurisdiction. The steward of the court acted as judge, presiding wholly in a judicial character, the ministerial acts being executed by the bailiff.
The court leet began to decline in the fourteenth century, being superseded by the more modern magistrates' courts, but in many cases courts leet operated until nearly the middle of the nineteenth century. The courts leet survived for formal purposes until their legal jurisdiction was abolished in 1977 The courts were formally abolished in 1998. but the term may still be found in ceremonial use, for example at Laxton, Nottinghamshire and Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire.
References
Bibliography
- [Anon.] (1911) " Court Leet", Encyclopaedia Britannica
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Saturday May 31, 2008 at 09:42:18 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation
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