Star chamber

About the film, see Star Chamber (film)

Star Chamber ( Eng. Star Chamber , Lat. Camera stellata ) - existed in the years 1487-1641, an extraordinary court under the king of England. Created by Henry VII for trials of nobles after the Scarlet and White Rose Wars .

Initially, the Star Chamber was an appellate court designed to minimize the influence of aristocrats on justice and to protect the rights of commoners (commoners), but during the reign of Henry VIII it became an instrument for closed reprisals against the king’s real and imaginary opponents and in many cases acted as the sole court. The Star Chamber court was canceled during the English Revolution by an act of parliament that affirmed the principle of habeas corpus (not to be confused with the more famous habeas corpus act of 1679).

Name of unclear origin; the most frequent explanation, first recorded a century after the creation of the court, was due to the fact that the ceiling of the courtroom (already mentioned in the XIV century) was decorated with gilded stars, but there are other etymologies of the name (also written as Sterred chambre and Sterne-chamere) .