'Allowable or not?' John Stokesley, the court of requests and royal justice in sixteenth-century England. Issue 262 (21st October 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Flannigan, Laura
• Is Part Of: Historical research. Volume 93:Issue 262(2020)
• Page Start: 621
• Page End: 637
• Publication Date: 2020-10-21
• Subjects: History -- Periodicals; History -- Methodology -- Periodicals; 907.2
• DOI: 10.1093/hisres/htaa021
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0950-3471

Abstract

Abstract: In 1523 the theologian John Stokesley was dismissed as a judge in the English court of requests following an investigation by the royal council. This article reconsiders the significance of this episode as part of continuous efforts to define royal justice across the sixteenth century. Grounded in unprecedentedly detailed research in the early Requests archive, the article studies the business and personnel of Requests before, during and after Stokesley's presidency. It demonstrates that Stokesley's indiscretions probably undermined the principles of royal justice and required amendment. But this was no simple victory for the common law over extra-legal, equitable justice.