FRANCHISE COURT
franchise court.Hist. A privately held court that (usu.) exists by virtue of a royal grant, with
jurisdiction over a variety of matters, depending on the grant and whatever powers the court
acquires over time. • In 1274, Edward I abolished many of these feudal courts by forcing the
nobility to demonstrate by what authority (quo warranto) they held court. If a lord could not
produce a charter reflecting the franchise, the court was abolished. — Also termed courts of the
franchise.
“Dispensing justice was profitable. Much revenue could come from the fees and dues, fines
and amercements. This explains the growth of the second class of feudal courts, the Franchise
Courts. They too were private courts held by feudal lords. Sometimes their claim to jurisdiction
was based on old pre-Conquest grants …. But many of them were, in reality, only wrongful
usurpations of private jurisdiction by powerful lords. These were put down after the famous Quo
Warranto enquiry in the reign of Edward I.” W.J.V. Windeyer, Lectures on Legal History 56–57
(2d ed. 1949).[Blacks Law 8th]