CONTENTS

OF

THE FIRST

FIRST VOLUME.

CHAPTER I.

LIVES OF THE CHIEF JUSTICES FROM THE CONQUEST TO THE REIGN OF EDWARD 1.

Origin and Functions of the Office of Chief Justiciar, or Chief Justice, of England,

Page 1. ODO, the first Chief Justiciar, 4. His birth, 4. He accompanies

William the Conqueror in the Invasion of England, 4. He is appointed Chief

Justiciar, 5. Cause tried before him, 6. His Quarrel with the King, 7. He is

liberated from Imprisonment, 8. He conspires against William Rufus, 9. He

is banished from England, 10. His Death, 11. WILLIAM FITZ-OSBORNE Chief

Justiciar, 11. WILLIAM DE WARRENNE and RICHARD DE BENEFACTA Chief

Justiciars, 12. WILLIAM DE CARILEFO Chief Justiciar, 13. FLAMBARD Chief

Justiciar, 15. First Sittings in Westminster Hall, 15. ROGER, BISHOP OF

SALISBURY, Chief Justiciar, 16. RALPH BASSET Chief Justiciar, 16. PRINCE

HENRY (afterwards Henry II.) Chief Justiciar, 17. RICHARD DE LUCI Chief

Justiciar, 17. ROBERT, EARL OF LEICESTER, Chief Justiciar, 18. RANULFUS

DE GLANVILLE, 19. His Birth, 19. He is Sheriff of Yorkshire, 19. He takes

William the Lion, King of Scots, Prisoner, 20. How the News was received

by Henry II., 21. Glanville made Chief Justiciar, 23. Glanville as a Law

Writer, 24. Preface to Glanville's Book, 25. Mode of Trial by Grand Assize

or by Battle, 27. Glanville's Conduct to the Welsh, 30. Glanville's Prohi-

bition in the Suit between Henry II. and the Monks of Canterbury, 31. A new

Crusade, 32. Glanville takes the Cross, 33. Glanville is killed at the Siege of

Acre, 34. HUGH PUSAR, BISHOP OF DURHAM, Chief Justiciar, 35. His licen-

tious youth, 35. His meritorious middle age, 36. His seven years of Blind-

ness, 36. His Death, 37. WILLIAM LONGCHAMP, 37. WALTER HUBERT,

ARCHBISHOP Of Canterbury, Chief Justiciar, $7. Case of William with-the-

Long-Beard, 38. Hubert deposed from the Justiciarship, 40. GEOFFREY

FITZPETER Chief Justiciar, 40. Trial of the Case of Fauconbridge v. Faucon-

bridge, 42. PETER DE RUPIBUS, 43.

Henry III., 44. He takes the Cross, 45.

His Death, 46. HUBERT DE BURGH, 46.

47. His Character by Shakspeare, 47.

Justiciar for life, 49.

takes to Sanctuary, 50.

Hubert de Burgh, 53.

Peter de Rupibus in favour with

He gains a Battle for the Pope, 46.

Hubert de Burgh under Richard I.,

Hubert de Burgh appointed Chief

Hubert removed from his office of Chief Justiciar, and

He is confined in the Tower of London, 52. Death of

STEPHEN DE SEGRAVE, 54. Obscure Chief Justiciars,

HUGH LE DESPENCER Chief Justiciar,

55. HUGH BIGOD Chief Justiciar, 55.

57.

59.

60.

Death of Hugh le Despencer, 59.

PHILIP BASSET Chief Justiciar,

His Death, 60. Whether Simon de Montfort was ever Chief Justiciar?

HENRY DE BRACTON Chief Justiciar, 62. Bracton's Book, "De Legibus

et Consuetudinibus Angliæ," 63. First Chief Justice who acted merely as

a Judge, 64. Lord Chief Justice BRUCE, 64. Origin of the Bruces, 64.

Scottish Branch of the Bruces, 65. Birth of the Chief Justice, 66. He is

educated in England, 66. He is a Puisne Judge, 66. He is taken Prisoner in

the Battle of Lewes, 66. He is made Chief Justice, 67. He loses the Office on

the Death of Henry III., 67. He returns to Scotland, 67. He is a Commis-

sioner for negotiating the Marriage of the Maid of Norway with the Son of

Edward I., 68. On her Death he claims the Crown of Scotland, 68. He ac-

knowledges Edward I. as Lord Paramount of Scotland, 68. Decided against

him, 69. His Death, 69. His Descendants, 69.

CHAPTER II.

THE LIVES OF THE CHIEF JUSTICES FROM THE ACCESSION OF EDWARD 1. TO THE

APPOINTMENT OF CHIEF JUSTICE TRESILIAN.

His Speech

Sir William

Judicial Institutions of Edward I., 70. RALPH DE HENGHAM Chief Justice of

the Court of King's Bench, 71. His Origin, 72. His Progress in the Law, 72.

Law Books composed by him, 72. He is appointed Guardian of the Kingdom,

74. He is charged with Bribery, 74. Convictions of the Judges, 75. De

Hengham is fined 7000 Marks, 75. Opinions respecting him in after-times, 75.

He is restored to public Employment, 76. His Death, 76. DE WEYLAND Chief

Justice of the Common Pleas, 77. His Conduct, 77. He absconds in Disgrace,

77. His Punishment and Infamy in after-times, 78. DE THORNTON Chief

Justice of King's Bench, 78. ROGER LE BRABAÇON, 78. He is employed by
Edward I. in the Dispute about the Crown of Scotland, 79. His Address to

the Scottish Parliament, 80. He assists in subjecting Scotland to English Ju-

risdiction, 81. He is made Chief Justice of the King's Bench, 82.

at the Opening of the English Parliament, 83. His Death, 83

Howard, qu. whether a Chief Justice? 84. HENRY LE SCROPE, 85.

to the House of Lords, 85. Chief Justice of the King's Bench, 86.

STAUNTON Chief Justice of the King's Bench, 86. Ballad on Chief Justice

Staunton, 87. SIR ROBERT PARNYNG, 88. SIR WILLIAM DE THORPE, 88. His

professional Progress, 89. He is made Chief Justice of the Court of King's

Bench, 89. His Addresses to the two Houses of Parliament, 89. He is charged

with Bribery, 90. He is found guilty: qu. whether he was sentenced to death?

90. SIR WILLIAM SHARESHALL Chief Justice of the King's Bench, 92. His Ad-

dresses to both Houses of Parliament, 92. SIR HENRY GREEN, 93. SIR JOHN

KNYVET, 94. SIR JOHN DE CAVENDISH, 94. His Origin, 94. He is made

Chief Justice of the King's Bench, 94 He is put to death in Wat Tyler's

Rebellion, 94. His Descendants, 95.

Summoned

HENRY DE

CHAPTER III

CHIEF JUSTICES TILL THE DEATH OF SIR WILLIAM GASCOIGNE.

SIR ROBERT TRESILIAN, 96. He is made a Puisne Judge of the Common Pleas, 96,

Chief Justice of the King's Bench, 96. His Plan to enable Richard II. to

triumph over the Barons, 97. The Opinion of the Judges on the Privileges of

Parliament, 98. Measures prompted by Tresilian against the Barons, 100.

The Barons gain the Ascendancy, 101. Tresilian prosecuted for High Treason,

102.

He absconds, 102. Proceedings in Parliament, 102. Tresilian attainted,

103. He comes to Westminster in Disguise, 104. He is discovered, appre

hended, and executed, 105. His Character, 108. SIR ROBERT BELKNAPPE, 109.

His Family, 109. He is made Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, 109. The

Manner in which he was coerced into the giving of an illegal Opinion, 110.

He is arrested and convicted of High Treason, 110. Judges attainted of High

Treason, 111. The Sentence commuted for Transportation to Ireland, 112.

He is allowed to return to England, 113. His Death, 113. SIR WILLIAM

THIRNYNGE, 114. Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, 114. Justification of the

part he took in the Deposition of Richard II., 115. He is appointed to carry

to Richard II. the Renunciation of the Allegiance of the Nation, 117. The

account of the Manner in which he executed this Commission, 118. He acts as

Chief Justice under Henry IV., 120. His Death, 120. SIR WILLIAM GASCOIGNE,

121. His Origin and Education, 121. His Success at the Bar, 121. He is

appointed Attorney to represent Bolingbroke, afterwards Henry IV., 122. His

Proceedings in this capacity on the Death of John of Gaunt, 122.
He is ap-

pointed Chief Justice of the King's Bench, 123. His Refusal to try a Prelate

and a Peer, 124. Story of his committing the Prince of Wales to Prison; qu.

whether it be authentic? 126. When and where first mentioned, 126. Story

as related by Sir Thomas Elyot, 127. Represented on the Stage, 129. How

the Story is treated by Shakspeare, 130. Refutation of the Claims of other

Judges, 132. Merit of Sir W. Gascoigne in this transaction, 133. Sir William

Gascoigne's Law Reforms, 134. Curious Case in which he acted as an Ar-

bitrator, 135. Refutation of the Assertion that he died in the Reign of Henry IV.,

135. His Will, 136. His Tomb and Epitaph, 137.

CHAPTER IV.

CHIEF JUSTICES TILL THE APPOINTMENT OF CHIEF JUSTICE FITZJAMES BY KING

HENRY VIII.

SIR WILLIAM HANKFORD, 139. His ingenious Suicide, 139. His Monument and

Epitaph, 140. Obscure Chief Justices passed over, 140. SIR JOHN FORTESCUE,

141. SIR JOHN MARKHAM, 141. His professional Progress, 141. He is a Puisne

Judge, 142. He is appointed Chief Justice of the King's Bench, 142. His

Conduct on the Trial of Sir Thomas Cooke, 143. He is dismissed from his

Office, 144. His Death, 144. His Character, 144. SIR THOMAS BILLING, 145.

His obscure Origin, 145. He starts as a Lancastrian, 145. He is made King's

Serjeant, 146. He goes over to the Yorkists, 146. He is made a Puisne Judge,

147. Trials for Treason before him, 147. He is made Chief Justice of the

King's Bench, 148. Trial of Rex v. Burdet, 149. Billing again a Lancastrian,

151. Billing again a Yorkist, 152. His Conduct on the Trial of the Duke of

Clarence, 153. His Death, 154. SIR JOHN HUSSEY, 154. His legal Studies,

155. He is made Attorney General, 155. He is made Chief Justice of the

King's Bench, 155. His Submission to Richard III., 156. He is continued in

his Office by Henry VII., 157. His Death, 158. SIR JOHN FINEUX, 158.

partite Division of his Life, 159.

CHAPTER V.

Tri-

CHIEF JUSTICES TILL THE APPOINTMENT OF CHIEF JUSTICE POPHAM BY QUEEN

ELIZABETH.

SIR JOHN FITZJAMES, 160. His early Intimacy with Cardinal Wolsey, 160. He is
made Attorney General, 161. He conducts the Prosecution against the Duke
of Buckingham, 161. He is made a Puisne Judge, 161. Chief Justice of the
King's Bench, 161.
His base Conduct on the Fall of Wolsey, 162. Fitzjames
assists in drawing up the Articles of Accusation against Wolsey, 163. Fitzjames
condemns to death Protestants and Roman Catholics, 164. Trial of Bishop
Fisher, 165. Trial of Sir Thomas More, 167. Trial of Anne Boleyn and her
supposed Gallants, 168. Death of Fitzjames, 169. SIR EDWARD MONTAGU, 170.
His Family, 170. His professional Progress, 170. He is returned to the

House of Commons: how a Leader of Opposition was dealt with by Henry VIII.,

170. Grand Feast when Montagu was called Serjeant, 171. He is made Chief

Justice of the King's Bench, 172. Pleasures and Discomforts experienced by

him, 172. Gives an Opinion on the Invalidity of the King's Marriage with

Anne of Cleves, 173. His Opinion on the Proofs against Catherine Howard,

173. He exchanges his Office for the Chief Justiceship of the Common Pleas,

174.
His Conduct on the Trial of the Duke of Norfolk, 175. He is employed

to make the Will of Edward VI. in favour of Lady Jane Grey, 176. He loses

his Office on the Accession of Queen Mary, 177. His Death, 177. The Five

obscure Chief Justices of the King's Bench, 178. SIR-JAMES DYER, Lord Chief

Justice of the Common Pleas, 178. Latin Verses in his Praise, 179. His

Origin and Education, 179. His early Genius for Reporting, 179.
His Merits

as a Reporter, 180. He is Speaker of the House of Commons, 180. He is

made Queen's Serjeant, 181. He conducts the Prosecution against Sir Nicholas

Throckmorton, 181. He is made a Puisne Judge, 183. Chief Justice of

Common Pleas, 184. His Reports, 185. Case on the Marriage of Minors, 185.

Case on the Benefit of Clergy, 186. Cases on the Law of Villeinage, 186. His

Conduct on the Trial of the Duke of Norfolk, 189. Charge against him for

arbitrary Conduct as Judge of Assize, 190. His Death, 191. Publication of

Reports, 192. Sad Fate of the Last of his House, 193. SIR ROBERT CATLYNE

Chief Justice of the King's Bench, 193. His Descent from Cataline the Con-

spirator, 193. Feast when he was called Serjeant, 194. He is made a Puisne

Judge, 195. Chief Justice, 195. He assists at the Trial of the Duke of Norfolk,

196. Qu. whether the fact of a Witness being a Scot renders him incompetent,

or only goes to his credit? 196. Chief Justice Catlyne passes Sentence on

Hickford, 198. His Death and Burial, 199. His Descendants, 200.
SIR

CHRISTOPHER WRAY, 200. His doubtful Parentage, 200. He is a Serjeant-at-

Law, 201. He is Speaker of the House of Commons, 201. He is made Chief

Justice of the King's Bench, 203. He tries Campion the Jesuit, 203. Trial of

William Parry for Treason, 204. Wray presides in the Star Chamber on the

Trial of Secretary Davison, 206. Trial of the Earl of Arundel, 207. Death of

Chief Justice Wray, 207. His Character, 207.

CHAPTER VI.

CHIEF JUSTICES FROM THE DEATH OF SIR CHRISTOPHER WRAY TILL THE APPOINT-

MENT OF SIR EDWARD COKE BY JAMES I.

SIR JOHN POPHAM, 209. His Birth, 209. At Oxford, 209. His Profligacy when

a Student in the Temple, 210. He takes to the Road, 210. He reforms, 211.

His professional Progress, 211. He is made Solicitor General, and Speaker of

the House of Commons, 212. His Address to the Queen at the end of the Ses-

sion, 214. He becomes Attorney General, 214. Proceeding in the Star

Chamber on the Death of the Earl of Northumberland, 214. Tilney's Case,

He prosecutes Secretary Davison for sending off the Warrant for the

Execution of Queen Mary, 217. Popham is made Chief Justice of the King's

Bench, 218. His gallant Conduct in Essex's Rebellion, 219. Essex's Trial,

220. Trial of Essex's Accomplices, 220. Sir Walter Raleigh tried before Pop-

ham, 222.

223.

225.

216.

Practice of putting Questions to the Prisoner in Criminal Trials,

The Gunpowder Plot, 225. Trial of Garnet, Superior of the Jesuits,

Death of Popham, 226. Legend respecting the manner in which he ac-

quired the Manor of Littlecote, 227. His Reports, 229. His Fortune, 230.

SIR THOMAS FLEMING, the Rival of Bacon, 230. His Laboriousness, 230. He

is made Solicitor General in preference to Lord Bacon, 231. He breaks down

in the House of Commons, 232. He refuses to resign the office of Solicitor

General in favour of Bacon, 233. He is made Chief Baron of the Exchequer

by James I., 233. "The Great Case of Impositions," 233. Fleming appointed

Chief Justice of the King's Bench, 236. His Judgment in the Case of the

Postnati, 236. Prosecution of the Countess of Shrewsbury, 237. Death of Chief

Justice Fleming, 237.

CHAPTER VII.

LIFE OF LORD chief JUSTICE SIR EDWARD COKE, FROM HIS BIRTH TILL HE WAS

MADE CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS.

His Family, 240. His Birth, 240.

Merits of SIR EDWARD COKE, 239.

241. At the University, 241.

Bar, 243. His first Brief, 243.

great Success and professional

appointed Recorder of Coventry, &c., 246. He is made Solicitor General, 246.

He is elected Speaker of the House of Commons, 247. His Conduct as

Speaker, 249. His Address to the Queen on the Dissolution of Parliament, 250.

-Rivalry between Coke and Bacon for the office of Attorney General, 251. Coke
preferred, 251. He examines State Prisoners and superintends the Infliction

of Torture, 251. His brutal Behaviour on the Trial of the Earl of Essex, 252.

Coke in Private Life, 253. Death of his first Wife, 253. His Courtship of

Lady Hatton, 253. He breaks a Canon of the Church, 255. He is prosecuted

in the Ecclesiastical Court, 256. His Quarrels with his second Wife, 256.

Accession of James I., 257. Coke is knighted, 257. His insulting Language

to Sir Walter Raleigh, 257. Logomachy between Coke and Bacon, 260.

Bacon's Letter of Remonstrance to Coke, 261. Coke conducts the Prosecution

of Guy Fawkes, 261. Trial of Garnet the Jesuit, 264. Coke made Chief Jus-

tice of the Common Pleas, 266.

At School,

A Student of Law, 242. He is called to the

He is Counsel in "Shelley's Case," 244. His

Profits, 245. His first Marriage, 246. He is

CHAPTER VIII.

CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF SIR EDWARD COKE TILL HE WAS DISMISSED FROM
THE OFFICE OF CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE COURT OF KING'S BENCH.

His meritorious Conduct as a Judge, 268. Part taken by him in the Case of the

Postnati, 269. He opposes the Court of High Commission, 269. He resists

the Claim of the King to sit and try Causes, 270. He checks the arbitrary Pro-

ceedings of other Courts, 273. He denies the Power of the Crown to alter the

Law by "Proclamation," 273. Coke against his will is made Chief Justice of

the King's Bench, 276. He gives a qualified Support to " Benevolences," 277.

His laudable Conduct in Peacham's Case, 278. He exerts himself to bring to

justice the Murderers of Sir Thomas Overbury, 279. Bacon afraid that Coke

would be made Lord Chancellor, 281. Coke's Dispute with Lord Ellesmere

about Injunctions, 282. Coke incurs the King's high Displeasure in the Case

of Commendams, 282. He stops a Job of the Duke of Buckingham, 286. Coke

is summoned before the Privy Council: frivolous Charges against him, 287.

He is suspended from his office of Chief Justice, 288. Alleged Errors in his

Reports, 288. Proceedings against Coke before the Privy Council, 289. Coke

is dismissed from his office of Chief Justice of the King's Bench, 292.

sheds Tears on his Dismissal, 292. He soon rallies, and behaves with Firmness,

293.

He

CHAPTER IX.

CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF SIR EDWARD COKE TILL HE WAS SENT PRISONER TO

THE TOWER.

Coke's Conduct after his Disgrace, 295. His Plan to circumvent Bacon by mar-
rying his Daughter to Sir John Villiers, 296. Resentment of Lady Hatton, who