Everything about Justiciar totally explained
In
medieval England and
Scotland, the
Chief Justiciar (later known simply as the
Justiciar) was roughly equivalent to a modern
Prime Minister as the monarch's chief
minister. Similar positions existed on the Continent, particularly in Norman Italy. The term is the
English form of the medieval
Latin justiciarius or
justitiarius ('man of justice', for example
judge).
England
In the Kingdom of England the term
Justiciar originally referred to any officer of the King's Court (
Curia Regis), or, indeed, anyone who possessed a law court of their own or was qualified to act as a judge in the shire-courts. In each English
shire, the
Sheriff was the king's representative in all matters. The only appeal against decisions of the Sheriff or his courts was to the king. During the reign of
William Rufus many sheriffs were severely overworked; Rufus eased the burden by appointing local justiciars to ease the burden in some shires.
The Norman kings were often overseas and appointed a Justiciar, Regent or Lieutenant to represent them in the kingdom, as the Sheriff did in the shire. Later this post became known as the Chief Justiciar (or royal capital justiciar), although the titles were not generally used contemporaneously. Some historians claim the first in the post was
Roger of Salisbury;
Frank Barlow argues in favour of Bishop
Ranulf Flambard, a functionary within the household of
William I of England, as the first, and points out that the role began, perhaps, with
Odo of Bayeux in his relationship with William I.
The Chief Justiciar was invariably a great noble or churchman, and the office became very powerful and important; enough indeed to be a threat to the King. The last great Justiciar,
Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent, was removed from office in 1231, and the
Chancellor soon took the position formerly occupied by the Chief Justiciar as second to the King in dignity, as well as in power and influence. Under
King Edward I the office of Justiciar was replaced by separate heads for the three branches into which the King's Court was divided: Justices of the
Court of Common Pleas, Justices of the
Court of King's Bench and Barons of the
Court of Exchequer.
List of (Chief) Justiciars
Scotland
In
Scotland, Justiciars were the king's lieutenants for judicial and administrative purposes. The office was established in the
12th century, either by
Alexander I or by his successor,
David I.
The title of 'Justiciar' was reserved for two or three high officials, the chief one — the
Justiciar of Scotia — having his jurisdiction to the north of the
River Forth. The
Justiciar of Lothian dealt with the part of the kingdom south of the Forth-Clyde line.
The role of Justiciar evolved into the current
Lord Justice-General, the head of the
High Court of Justiciary, head of the judiciary in Scotland and a member of the Royal Household.
The
Duke of Argyll still holds the hereditary title of High Justiciar of Argyll, but no responsibilities now attach to it.
Other jurisdictions
The title Justiciar was given by
Henry II of England to the
Seneschal of
Normandy.
In the
12th century, a
magister justitiarius appeared in the Norman kingdom of
Sicily, presiding over the Royal Court (
Magna Curia), empowered, with his assistants, to decide, inter alia, all cases reserved to the Crown. There is no clear evidence that this title and office were borrowed from England; it was probably based on a Norman practice instituted in both realms. In the 13th century the office of justiciar was instituted in several principal localities around Sicily.
In medieval Sweden, the
lagman ("lawreader") was the judge, or person learned in law, for a province, an area with several local district courts. Since the position corresponds to the general meaning of 'justiciar', 'justiciar' is often used to translate 'lagman' in English texts. Lagmän were generally also members of the Senate of the realm, an institution corresponding to the English Privy Council. Finally, the Swedish term 'riksdrots' is often translated as 'Lord High Justiciar of Sweden'.
In popular culture
White Wolf's
roleplaying game adapted the title of Justiciar, but changed the
spelling to
Justicar. In
Vampire: The Masquerade, Justicars are the enforcers of the Traditions of the . In a meeting of the Inner Circle every thirteen years, each of the seven clans of the Camarilla each elect a single
vampire to serve for the next thirteen years as Justicar for their clan.
Years later, the
MMORPG World of Warcraft later picked up the same term, spelling it as Justicar like White Wolf did. Justicar is a
PvP title awarded to
Alliance players since patch 2.1, which was released on May 22, 2007.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Justiciar'.
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