The Cardinal's Court: The Impact of Thomas Wolsey in Star Chamber

Before Shakespeare, during the Renaissance: John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester (d. 1470) and the uses of Padua

“…27 More widely, of course, it was not the only venue for the use of civil law in England, with institutions such as Star Chamber and the Court of Chancery working by civilian principles. 28 What has been called the 'enemy theory'that is, the assumption that common lawyers showed little interest in civil law beyond considering it a threatis out of fashion, partly because there is evidence for increasing knowledge of it during the sixteenth century. 29 This does not mean, though, that the works of Fortescue were forgotten; they were indeed invoked in the early seventeenth century by Sir Edward Coke, when he discussed the use of torture in the mid-fifteenth century.…”

Conscience and Satire in John Heywood's <em>Play of Love</em>

“…For, as we have seen, Wolsey's fall made possible the spectacular rise to high office of Heywood's uncle, Sir Thomas More, who succeeded the cardinal as Lord Chancellor on 25 October, the first common lawyer to do so in 150 years. 20 It is thus worth considering for a moment the ways in which the play might have reflected upon, and engaged with, the specific implications of Wolsey's fall for Heywood's own circle.…”