Star Chamber

Star Chamber. The origins of the Court of Star Chamber have been disputed, but it undoubtedly arose as an offshoot of the king's council. The origins of its name have also been debated but it probably derived from the fact that the king's council sat as a judicial tribunal in the ‘camera stellata’, a chamber with a starred ceiling, built in 1347 at Westminster. The court did not owe its existence to a statute of 1487 (described as the statute pro camera stellata) though this statute was regarded by some later commentators as its origin. The court was at first little more than an aspect of the council, but it became prominent especially under the Tudors as a court which would control ‘over-mighty subjects’ and prevent abuses of the courts and the justice system, as well as threats to public order. It also provided civil remedies to petitioners seeking redress which was unavailable at common law. However its main role was the enforcement of statutes and the prevention of public disorder, including riot, libel, and sedition. It was at first popular, but under the Stuarts became hated because of its increasingly draconian rulings on libel and sedition and its savage punishments. Having become a byword for tyranny, it was abolished by the Long Parliament in 1640.

Maureen Mulholland