Court of Chivalry - Definition and Overview

The Court of Chivalry is a civil court in England. It has had jurisdiction in cases of the misuse of heraldic arms since the fourteenth century.

The sole judge is now the hereditary Earl Marshal of England, the Duke of Norfolk. Before 1521 the Lord High Constable also presided, but that office was abolished (it is "revived" only for a Coronation).

The court was last convened in 1954, for 'Manchester Corporation v Manchester Palace of Varieties theatre'. The theatre displayed the City's arms of the both inside and on its seal and implied it was linked with the City's Council. The city had requested that the theatre cease the usage, and had met with refusal. The court ruled in favour of the Corporation. In Scotland, these cases are heard in Lyon Court, which is convened regularly and which is a criminal court, with its own Procurator Fiscal under the Scottish legal system.

See also:

• Courts of England and Wales
• Time immemorial
• Chivalry

External links

• About the Court of Chivalry (http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/About.htm)
• Regulation of Heraldry in England: the Middle Ages (http://www.heraldica.org/topics/britain/england1.htm)
• Cases in the Court of Chivalry (http://www.heraldica.org/topics/britain/squibb.htm)
• A short piece about the Courts of Chivalry (http://www.chronique.com/Library/Glossaries/glossary-KCT/gloss_c.htm#court)