In the lord steward’s department are the officials of the Board of Green Cloth, the coroner (“coroner of the verge”), and paymaster of the household, and the officers of the almonry (see [Almoner]). Other offices in the department were those of the cofferer of the household, the treasurer of the chamber, and the paymaster of pensions, but these, with six clerks of the Board of Green Cloth, were abolished in 1782. The lord steward had formerly three courts besides the Board of Green Cloth under him. First, the lord steward’s court, superseded (1541) by—second—the Marshalsea court, a court of record having jurisdiction, both civil and criminal within the verge (the area within a radius of 12 m. from where the sovereign is resident), and originally held for the purpose of administering justice between the domestic servants of the sovereign, “that they might not be drawn into other courts and their service lost.” Its criminal jurisdiction had long fallen into disuse and its civil jurisdiction was abolished in 1849. Third, the palace court, created by letters patent in 1612 and renewed in 1665 with jurisdiction over all personal matters arising between parties within 12 m. of Whitehall (the jurisdiction of the Marshalsea court, the City of London, and Westminster Hall being excepted). It differed from the Marshalsea court in that it had no jurisdiction over the sovereign’s household nor were its suitors necessarily of the household. The privilege of practising before the palace court was limited to four counsel. It was abolished in 1849. The lord steward or his deputies formerly administered the oaths to the members of the House of Commons. In certain cases (messages from the sovereign under the sign-manual) “the lords with white staves” are the proper persons to bear communications between the sovereign and the houses of parliament.
Authorities.—Statutes of Eltham; Household Book of Queen Elizabeth; Coke, Institutes; Reeves, History of the Law of England; Stephen, Commentaries on the Laws of England; Hatsell, Precedents of Proceedings in the House of Commons; May, Parliamentary Practice.
[1] A committee of the king’s household, consisting of the lord steward and his subordinates, charged with the duty of examining and passing all the accounts of the household. The board had also power to punish all offenders within the verge or jurisdiction of the palace, which extended in every direction for 200 yds. from the gates of the court yard. The name is derived from the green-covered table at which the transactions of the board were originally conducted.
LORÉ, AMBROISE DE (1396-1446), baron of Ivry in Normandy and a French commander, was born at the château of Loré (Orne, arrondissement of Domfront). His first exploit in arms was at the battle of Agincourt in 1415; he followed the party of the Armagnacs and attached himself to the dauphin Charles. He waged continual warfare against the English in Maine until the advent of Joan of Arc. He fought at Jargeau, at Meung-sur-Loire and at Patay (1429). Using his fortress of Saint Céneri as a base of operations during the next few years, he seized upon Matthew Gough near Vivoin in 1431, and made an incursion as far as the walls of Caen, whence he brought away three thousand prisoners. Taken captive himself in 1433, he was exchanged for Talbot. In 1435 he and Dunois defeated the English near Meulan, and in 1436 he helped the constable Arthur, earl of Richmond (de Richmond), to expel them from Paris. He was appointed provost of Paris in February 1437, and in 1438 he was made “judge and general reformer of the malefactors of the kingdom.” He was present in 1439 at the taking of Meaux, in 1441 at that of Pontoise, and he died on the 24th of May 1446.
See the Nouvelle Biographie Générale, vol. xxxi., and the Revue Historique du Maine, vols. iii. and vi.
(J. V.*)
LORE, properly instruction, teaching, knowledge. The O. Eng. lár, as the Dutch leer and Ger. Lehre, represents the Old Teutonic root, meaning to impart or receive knowledge, seen in “to learn,” “learning.” In the Gentleman’s Magazine for June 1830 it was suggested that “lore” should be used as a termination instead of the Greek derivative -ology in the names of the various sciences. This was never done, but the word, both as termination and alone, is frequently applied to the many traditional beliefs, stories, &c., connected with the body of knowledge concerning some special subject; e.g. legendary lore, bird-lore, &c. The most familiar use is in “folk-lore” (q.v.).