Somewhat over five hundred years ago, the royal palace at Westminster contained an apartment which, it is presumed, was decorated with gilt stars upon the ceiling.
By virtue of its decoration, the room became known as the Starred or Star Chamber.
It was the practice of the reigning monarchs to hold special high courts of jurisdiction in this room, courts on which the king’s council sat as judges, and from which there was no appeal.
It is good politics, of course, for the king’s counselors to play along with the wishes of their sovereign, and the natural result was that this special court came to be used by the king for the exercise of tyranny.
The flagrant misuse of the power of the court became so great during the rule of James I and that of Charles I that, in 1641, the court was abolished by Act of Parliament.
But the notoriety of the court had become such that the phrase star-chamber court, or just star-chamber, was applied to any trial proceedings in which the defendant could expect nothing better than arbitrary and oppressive treatment, and in this sense the term continues to live today.
Related Posts
-
Where Is the North Star, What Is the Name of the North Star, and Will the North Star Always Be the Polestar?
Fortunately for us, the North Star, also known as Polaris, will be the polestar, marking the celestial north pole, during our lifetimes. But this will not always be the case. Earth does not…
-
What Is a Neutron Star, How Is a Neutron Star Created, and What Is the Mass of a Neutron Star?
Scientists hypothesize that the leftover core of a supernova would be like the entire Sun squeezed into an area 10 miles (16 km) wide. The remaining core, called a neutron star, would be…
-
What Are the Different Stages of a Star’s Life and What Does a Star’s Life Expectancy Depend On?
Stars can be said to go through the same stages of life as people: birth, infancy, maturity, old age, and death. As with people, stars are not all the same. The differences in…
-
How Does a Star’s Life End, How Do Stars Die, and What Determines If a Star Will Become a Black Hole?
The end of a star's life depends on its mass. Small stars die pretty quietly, becoming planetary nebulae, white dwarfs, and then black dwarfs. Very large stars explode in supernovae, possibly turning into…
-
How Is a Star’s Declination Determined and How Do Astronomers Use Declination To Locate a Star In the Sky?
Declination (dec) on the celestial globe is like latitude on the terrestrial globe. The celestial equator mirrors Earth's equator, halving the sphere into northern and southern hemispheres at 0°. The degrees of lines…
-
What Happens When a Star Becomes an Old Star and What Causes a Helium Flash In the Core of a Red Giant?
The core of a red giant or super giant, also known as an old star, is mostly helium, with an outer shell of burning hydrogen. The helium contracts while the hydrogen expands. The…
