Evidence is now taken from witnesses.
Various courts had overlapping jurisdiction. For instance, trespass could be brought in the Court of Common Pleas because it was a civil action between two private persons. It could also be brought in the Court of the King's Bench because it broke the King's peace. It was advantageous for a party to sue for trespass in the King's court because there a defendant could be made to pay a fine to the king or be imprisoned, or declared outlaw if he did not appear at court.
A wrongful step on the defendant's land, a wrongful touch to his person or chattels could be held to constitute sufficient force and an adequate breach of the king's peace to sustain a trespass action. A new form of action is trespass on the case, which did not require the element of force or of breach of the peace that the trespass offense requires. Trespass on the case [or "case" for short] expands in usage to cover many types of situations. Stemming from it is "assumpsit", which provided damages for breach of an oral agreement and a written agreement without a seal.
Parliament's supremacy over all regular courts of law was firmly established and it was called "the high court of Parliament", paradoxically, since it came to rarely function as a law court.
The humanist intellectual revival also caused the church courts to try to eliminate contradictions with state law, for instance in debt, restitution, illegitimacy, and the age of legal majority.
The Bishop's Court in London had nine offenders a week by 1500. Half of these cases were for adultery and sexual offenses, and the rest were for slander, blasphemy, missing church services, and breach of faith. Punishment was penance by walking barefoot before the cross in the Sunday Procession dressed in a sheet and holding a candle.
- - - Chapter 12 - - -
- The Times: 1509-1558 -
Renaissance humanism came into being in the nation. In this development, scholars in London, Oxford, and Cambridge emphasized the value of classical learning, especially Platonism and the study of Greek literature as the means of better understanding and writing. They studied the original Greek texts and became disillusioned with the filtered interpretations of the church, for example of the Bible and Aristotle. There had long been displeasure with the priests of the church. They were supposed to preach four times yearly, visit the sick, say the daily liturgies, and hear confessions at least yearly. But there were many lapses. Many were not celibate, and some openly lived with a woman and had children. Complaints about them included not residing within their parish community, doing other work such as raising crops, and taking too much in probate, mortuary fees, and marriage fees. Probate fees had risen from at most 5s. to 60s. in the last hundred years. Mortuary fees ranged from 1/3 to 1/9 of a deceased person's goods. Sanctuary was abused. People objected to the right of arrest by ecclesiastical authorities.
Also, most parish priests did not have a theology degree or even a Bachelor's degree, as did many laymen. In fact, many laymen were better educated than the parish priests. No one other than a laborer was illiterate in the towns.