The Great Writs: Quo Warranto

The most prized possessions of any noble family were their estates and especially the castles that provided defense and the manors that provided income.  Often those manor lands came with the right to hold courts, punish and fine offenders, and levy taxes or other burdens on the peasants.  Kings were aware of the intrinsic value of real estate, as they often bestowed property on nobles, and were quick to confiscate the property of traitors and rebels.  Over time, the titles to various properties became muddled and Edward I, reigned 1272-1307, decided it was time to clean house.  His father, Henry III, had made extensive grants of royal land Edward intended to claw some of it back.  From 1278-1294, he dispatched judges throughout England, who were empowered to serve a writ known as quo warranto upon landowners, forcing them to prove what right they had to the property in question.

Quo warranto, Latin for by what right/warrant, forced landowners to divulge whatever documentation they believed gave them authority to retain the land, and more importantly, utilize the produce and income from it.  Since many landowners didn't have written charters, Edward had to be content with proof that the land had been retained by that person or his family since 1189, the beginning of Richard I's reign.  Later, quo warranto became used as a challenge to anyone claiming to exercise royal authority or act in the King's name.  In some legal jurisdictions which descend from English jurisprudence, writs of quo warranto may be used to challenge a public official's exercise of his or her powers.

Law: the Great Writs-Habeas Corpus

Much of American law owes its roots to England, whether its the Anglo-Saxon jury, or the common law and writs of Plantagenet kings such as Henry II, Edward I and Edward III, the procedures that we think of as due process in criminal and civil matters have an origin of several hundred years.

In the Medieval era, the king was both law giver, judge and law enforcement.  Wherever the King was, courts or assizes would be held.  Judges, or sometimes the King, would hear cases, settle disputes and dispense justice, sometimes by ordering an offender hanged, fined or dispossessed of lands.  This system could be quite chaotic in practice, as the King couldn't be everywhere at once and couldn't possibly hear every case.  Henry established a system of royal assizes or courts staffed by judges and clerks would could hear cases and decide punishments in his absence.  And, where there are courts and clerks, there has to be procedure.  One of the earliest forms of procedure were writs, written authorizations for certain acts to be done. 

One of these writs, often called the Great Writ, was Habeas Corpus, literally Latin for "have the body", i.e., have a person brought before a judge to determine if the person should be placed on trial.  Potential defendants wouldn't be allowed to just languish in jail without benefit of trial, or summarily executed or dispossessed on whim, but could be brought before a judge to determine whether they needed to be held for trial or released.  Though some people believe this writ is a result of the Magna Carta of 1214, in fact it originated much earlier, at the Assizes of Clarendon based on an act drawn up by Henry II in 1166.  Henry wanted to phase out trial by ordeal or combat and replace these with trial by evidence.  One of the courts provided for in the act took place at Clarendon Palace, hence the name.  In 1214, Magna Carta affirmed that no free man would be imprisoned or dispossessed or otherwise condemned without judgement of his peers, i.e., a trial.  During the reign of Edward I, the powers of the writs were expanded and over time various types of habeas corpus writs developed, including writs for extradition, remand to another court, etc.