Star-Chamber
Webster's Dictionary [1]
(n.) An ancient high court exercising jurisdiction in certain cases, mainly criminal, which sat without the intervention of a jury. It consisted of the king's council, or of the privy council only with the addition of certain judges. It could proceed on mere rumor or examine witnesses; it could apply torture. It was abolished by the Long Parliament in 1641.
The Nuttall Encyclopedia [2]
A court which originated in the reign of Edward III., and consisted practically of the king's ordinary council, meeting in the Starred Chamber, and dealing with such cases as fell outside the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery; was revived and remodelled by Henry VII., and in an age when the ordinary courts were often intimidated by powerful offenders, rendered excellent service to the cause of justice; was further developed and strengthened during the chancellorship of Wolsey, and in the reign of James I. had acquired jurisdiction as a criminal court over a great variety of misdemeanours—perjury, riots, conspiracy, high-treason, &c. Already tending to an exercise of unconstitutional powers, it in the reign of Charles I. became an instrument of the grossest tyranny, supporting the king in his absolutist claims, and in 1641 was among the first of the many abuses swept away by the Long Parliament.
