Talk:Star Chamber
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[edit] Etymology
The etymology of the term Star Chamber in this article, having been so-named "because the court chamber had a pattern of stars on a dark blue background painted on its ceiling" is pure urban myth. The correct early spelling was Starr Chamber. Here's a quote from Blackstone:
It is well known that, before the banishment of the Jews under Edward I, their contracts and obligations were denominated in our ancient records starra or starrs, from a corruption of the Hebrew word, sbetar, a covenant. (Tovey's Angl. Judaic. 32. Selden. tit. of hon. ii. 34. Uxor Ebraic. i. 14.) These starrs, by an ordinance of Richard the first, preserved by Hoveden, were commanded to be enrolled and deposited in chests under three keys in certain places; one, and the most considerable, of which was in the king's exchequer at Westminster: and no starr was allowed to be valid, unless it were found in some of the said repositaries. (Madox hist. exch. c. vii. §. 4. 5. 6.) The room at the exchequer, wher the chests containing these starrs were kept, was probably called the starr-chamber; and, when the Jews were expelled from the kingdom, was applied to the use of the king's council, when sitting in their judicial capacity. To confirm this; the first time the star-chamber is mentioned in any record, (Rot. clauf. 41 Edw. III. m. 13.) it is said to have been situated near the receipt of the exchequer: that the king's council, his chancellor, treasurer, justices, and other sages, were assembled en la chaumbre des esteilles pres la resceipt al Westminster. For in process of time, when the meaning of the Jewish starrs was forgotten, the word star-chamber was naturally rendered in law-french, la chaumbre des esteilles, and in law-latin, camera stellata; which continued to be the stile in latin till the dissolution of that court (264).
--QuicksilverT @ 06:16, 29 December 2005 (UTC)
Blackstone popularized that theory, although it seems by no means clear that it is correct. Other historians disagree with Blackstone and, frankly, his argument feels rather contorted, similar to what you expect for an urban legend. The OED etymology favors the stars-on-the-ceiling interpretation, while admitting that there is no proof for it. Citing the spelling "starr" in some older documents is hardly conclusive, since spelling at that time was so slipshod in the first place.
It should, in fact, be noted that the line in Blackstone preceding the passage quoted above is: "I shall venture to propose another conjectured etymology, as plausible perhaps as any of them." I don't think he meant to make a strong historical case for this as much as put the possibility out there. To declare the stars-on-the-ceiling origin to be a myth seems rather too strong, in this case.
- JW, 13 July 2006
[edit] Religious Bias
As it presently stands this article shows a strong bias in favor of the Tudors and against the Stuarts. Much of what Henry the VIII did seems to have been completely written out of it. I suggest that it be re-written with a little more balance. El Jigüe 2-9-06
I completely agree with this statement. kelly, 3-25-06
Agree Sapph
[edit] Henry VII
I have made an edit regarding the power of the Star Chamber in Henry VII's reign. I can't figure out how to do footnotes, but here is the reference: S.B. Crimes, Henry VII, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1972: p. 99.
- ok, i tried to add the reference, but something weird is happening. i added ref tags where appropriate and added the {{subst:Footnotes|100%}} thing at the bottom. on preview it only adds one reference as [1], but after i submitted it, that reference turned to [2] and the text in the references section is repeated. i think it has something to do with the external link near the top, but i couldn't figure it out... -02:33, 30 August 2006 (UTC)
