Star Chamber

in English history, a court of no little importance. Its sessions were held originally in a hall council chamber in the palace of Westminster, the ceiling of which was decorated with gilt stars. The court of the Star Chamber was authorized by Parliament during the reign of Henry VII. It became powerful under Henry VIII and Elizabeth. It was composed of members of the king's privy council. Its proceedings were exempt from the ordinary rules of courts of law. Originally it was a special tribunal called by the English sovereign to consider crimes and criminals beyond the reach of ordinary modes of court procedure. In case a nobleman were too powerful to be tried in open court, his offense was considered and his punishment decided upon in the Star Chamber. The court had no jury, and it did not have authority to pass sentence of death, but pardons were issued and heavy fines imposed. Property was confiscated. Instances are not wanting in which offenders were sentenced to loss of their ears, or were set in the pillory. The Star Chamber was never popular with the English people. It was considered an infringement of the right of trial by a jury composed of one's peers. It was abolished by an act of the Long Parliament in 1641 in the reign of Charles I. See Privy Council