Proceedings in the Court of Chancery up to c.1460

Abstract

This thesis is intended, not primarily as a study of the Court of Chancery, but as an examination of material, the 'Early Chancery Proceedings', which has hitherto been rather neglected. The 'Proceedings' originating in the counties of Essex and Kent, in the period from the reign of Richard II to 1460, have been systematically examined. The problem of the origin of the equitable Court of C Chancery has only been briefly touched upon, but an attempt has been made to throw some light upon its later development, the chief value of a systematic study of the 'Proceedings' is that the boundaries of the Chancellor's jurisdiction can be clearly seen. Upon analysis, it appears that the scope of this jurisdiction changed and became increasingly specialised during the period under discussion. These changes illustrate the process by which the Chancery be-came distinct from the Council. With this specialisation, came the growth of 'equitable principles which were applied chiefly in the fields of contract and of uses and trusts. The cases of contract and uses also illustrate many aspects of English life and society in the fifteenth century. As the business of the Chancery grew, and the Court became more specialised in its functions, rules of procedure developed. The ' equitable' procedure of the Court of Chancery has been discussed, and an attempt made to reconstruct, from the surviving documents, the stages and variations of this procedure. The early development of the Court owed much to the failure of the common law courts in certain contexts, and the petitions to the Chancellor provide much interesting, though difficult material, upon the 'problem of disorder' in the fifteenth century in England. The Court of Chancery was not always successful in dealing with these problems, but on the whole, suitors who came into Chancery for relief did not go away unsatisfied.