Institutional Change and Property Rights before the Industrial Revolution Wardship in Britain, 1485–1660
Book contents
- Institutional Change and Property Rights before the Industrial Revolution
- Cambridge Studies in Economic History
- Institutional Change and Property Rights before the Industrial Revolution
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Tables and Figures
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Wardship and the Feudal Incidents, 1066–1540
- 3 The Court of Wards and Liveries, 1540–1642
- 4 The Court of Wards
- 5 The Early Stuart Fiscal State
- 6 Law and the Court of Wards
- 7 The Economic Consequences of Wardship
- 8 ‘Like Horses in Smithfielde’
- 9 Wardship and the Wars of the Three Kingdoms
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
6 - Law and the Court of Wards
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 October 2025
Book contents
- Institutional Change and Property Rights before the Industrial Revolution
- Cambridge Studies in Economic History
- Institutional Change and Property Rights before the Industrial Revolution
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Tables and Figures
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Wardship and the Feudal Incidents, 1066–1540
- 3 The Court of Wards and Liveries, 1540–1642
- 4 The Court of Wards
- 5 The Early Stuart Fiscal State
- 6 Law and the Court of Wards
- 7 The Economic Consequences of Wardship
- 8 ‘Like Horses in Smithfielde’
- 9 Wardship and the Wars of the Three Kingdoms
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The Court dealt with a surprisingly wide variety of cases and for a period, certainly under the Mastership of Lord Burghley (1561–98), usually did so in a tolerably even-handed, equitable, manner. Under the Stuarts, however, as they increasingly sought to maximise their revenues from wardship, so the Court’s legal functions were suborned to its fiscal functions – local juries were strong-armed into finding tenures beneficial to the Crown and producing wardships; previous legal precedent was jettisoned where it was found convenient to do so.
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- Institutional Change and Property Rights before the Industrial RevolutionWardship in Britain, 1485–1660, pp. 150 - 165Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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