A professional class of temporal lawyers is prominent in the nation. They were educated and certified at the new Inns of Court in London. Some are employed by the King. Judge tend to be recruited from among those who had passed their lives practicing law in court, instead of from the ecclesiastical orders. Men learned All lawyers were brought under the control of the judges.
There are two types of attorneys: one appears in the place of his principal, who does not appear. The appointment of such an attorney is an unusual and a solemn thing, only to be allowed on special grounds and with the proper formalities. For instance, a poor person may not be able to afford to travel to attend the royal court in person. The other type of attorney accompanies his client to court and advocates his position with his knowledge of the law and his persuasiveness.
The great litigation of the nation is conducted by a small group of men, as is indicated by the earliest Year Books of case decisions. They sit in court and one will sometimes intervene as amicus curiae [friends of the court]. Parliament refers difficult points of law to them as well as to the judges. In 1280, the city of London made regulations for the admission of both types of attorneys to practice before the civic courts, and for their due control. In 1292 the King directed the judges to provide a certain number of attorneys and apprentices to follow the court, who should have the exclusive right of practicing before it. This begins the process which will make the attorney for legal business an "officer of the court" which has appointed him.
Because the common law and its procedures have become technical and rigid, the Chancery was given equity jurisdiction by statute in 1285. In Chancery, if there is a case with no remedy specified in the law, that is similar to a case for which there is a writ, then a new writ may be made for that case. These were called "actions on the case". This added to Chancery's work of now hearing petitions of misconduct of government officials or of powerful oppressors, wardship of infants, dower, rent charges, fraud, accident, and abuse of trust. Also, Parliament may create new remedies.
Disputes within the royal household were administered by the King's steward. He received and determined complaints about acts or breaches of the peace within twelve miles around the King's person or "verge". He was assisted by the marshall in the "court of the hall" and by the clerk of the market when imposing fines for trading regulation violations in the "court of the market".
Chapter 9
The Times: 1348-1399
Waves of the black death, named for the black spots on the body, swept over the nation. The first wave of this plague, in 1348, decimated the population by about one half in the towns and one third in the country. People tried to avoid the plague by flight. The agony and death of so many good people caused some question their belief in God. Also, it was hard to understand why priests who fled were less likely to die than priests who stayed with the dying to give them the last rites. Thus begins a long period of disorganization, unrest, and social instability. Customary ways were so upset that authority and tradition were no longer automatically accepted. Fields lay waste and sheep and cattle wandered over the countryside. Local courts could not be held. Some monasteries in need of cash sold annuities to be paid in the form of food, drink, clothing, and lodging during the annuitant's life, and sometimes that of his widow also. Guilds and rich men made contributions to the poor and ships with provisions were sent to various parts of the country for the relief of starving people.
Farm workers were so rare that they were able to demand wages at double or triple the pre-plague rate. Prices did not go up nearly as much. The villeins had become nomadic, roaming from place to place, seeking day work for good wages where they could get it, and resorting to thievery on the highways or beggary where they could not. The Robin Hood legends were popular among them.
They spread political songs among each other, such as: "To seek silver to the King, I my seed sold; wherefore my land lieth fallow and learneth to sleep. Since they fetched my fair cattle in my fold; when I think of my old wealth, well nigh I weep. Thus breedeth many beggars bold; and there wakeneth in the world dismay and woe, for as good is death anon as so for to toil."