Nicholas Fuller (lawyer)
Encyclopedia
Sir Nicholas Fuller was an English barrister and Member of Parliament. After studying at Christ's College, Cambridge
, Fuller became a barrister of Gray's Inn
. His legal career there began prosperously—he was employed by the Privy Council
to examine witnesses—but was hampered later by his representation of The Puritans, a religious group which did not conform with the established Church of England
. Fuller was repeatedly in contention with the ecclesiastical courts, including the Star Chamber
and Court of High Commission
, and was once expelled for the zeal with which he defended his client. In 1593 he was returned as the Member of Parliament for St Mawes
, where he campaigned against the extension of recusancy
laws. Outside of Parliament, he successfully brought a patents case which not only undermined the right of the Crown
to issue patents but accurately predicted the attitude taken by the Statute of Monopolies two decades later.
Returned to Parliament in 1604 for the City of London
, Fuller became considered the "leader of the opposition" due to his conflict with the government over policy, fighting the impositions on currants
, the patent on blue starch
, and opposing the proposed union with Scotland on legal and economic grounds. In 1607, in what became known as Fuller's Case, he again began challenging the Court of High Commission, and eventually got the Court of Common Pleas
under Sir Edward Coke
to agree that the common law courts had the power to free imprisoned ecclesiastical prisoners. These encounters with the ecclesiastical courts were described as "bruising", but by 1610 he was considered an "elder statesman", introducing bills on ecclesiastical reform and the statutory management of customs duties. He continued to sit in Parliament until his death on 23 February 1620.
, a merchant from London. In December 1560 he was admitted to Christ's College, Cambridge
, and graduated in 1563, joining Gray's Inn
during the same year. After an initial upset (on 26 May 1579, it was noted that "Mr Fuller, Reader of Staple Inn, is discharged for negligence, and fined £1"), Fuller was highly successful at Gray's; he became Reader on 26 May 1587, Dean of the chapel on 8 February 1588 and Treasurer in 1591. Fuller was a Puritan, and much engaged in their legal and other activities, for example, he arranged a lecturer for St Christopher le Stocks
, a church in London, in April 1577.
From December 1588 he was employed repeatedly by the Privy Council
to examine witnesses, and in 1590 was charged with interrogating Sir Thomas Fitzherbert. Although his career had began promisingly, Fuller soon found himself at odds with the authorities due to his religion, and the religion of those he chose to represent. A favoured barrister of Puritans prosecuted based on their faith, Fuller represented John Udall
at Croydon assizes, when Udall was charged with having written A Discovery of the Discipline, an allegedly seditious book. The judge instructed the jury to find Udall guilty, and "leave the felony to us"; Fuller protested so vociferously at this that he was forced out of the court. In 1591, following the collapse of their case in front of the Court of High Commission
, Thomas Cartwright and other Puritan ministers were tried by the Star Chamber
, Fuller provided legal representation. The case was made more complicated when several of the ministers, on 16 July 1591, "proclaimed Elizabeth deposed, and William Hacket
the new messiah and king of Europe"; this certainly was sedition, and saw the ministers confined to Fleet Prison
, along with Fuller for offering to represent them. Cartwright and several other ministers were never convicted, however, which is attributed to "the highly professional resistance of the puritan lawyers [which] perhaps owed much to Nicholas Fuller". Fuller was confined until 15 August.
Fuller was returned for St Mawes
in 1593, apparently thanks to the influence of William Cecil
, and immediately began campaigning against government attempts to extend recusancy
laws to Protestant splitters from the Church of England
. The government introduced two such bills; the second, sent down from the House of Lords
on 5 April 1593, was protested down by Fuller as "dangerous to good subjects", because it made "schisms to be equal with seditions and treasons, which is against the equity of the former law". According to records, "upon a motion of Mr Fuller’s, the whole committee assented to the striking out of the title and the whole preamble. No man spake for it". While an MP, Fuller became involved in patents cases, which continued after he left Parliament in 1597.
Patents were initially intended to provide protection to merchants of new industries, making England an attractive country to conduct business in. The granting of these patents was highly popular with the monarch, both before and after the statute of Monopolies, because of the potential for raising revenue. A patentee was expected to pay heavily for the patent, and unlike a tax raise (another method of raising Crown money) any public unrest as a result of the patent was normally directed at the patentee, not the monarch. Over time, this became more and more problematic: instead of temporary monopolies on specific, imported industries, long-term monopolies came about over common commodities, including salt and starch. These "odious monopolies" led to a showdown between the Crown and Parliament, in which it was agreed, on 28 November 1601, to turn the power to administer patents over to the common law courts; at the same time, Elizabeth revoked a number of the more restrictive and damaging monopolies. One of the monopolies capable of being addressed at the common law was that over playing cards, which was granted to Edward
Darcy on 13 June 1600. Darcy, in 1602, began proceedings against a Mr Allen for infringing on this patent.
The Crown
was represented by Sir Edward Coke
, then Attorney-General for England and Wales, while George Croke and Fuller appeared for Allen. Coke argued that the Crown had the right to restrict "games of common good", while Croke said that the free trade principles of the City of London rendered the patent invalid. Fuller, however, "stole the show". He stated that only a new trade, or "a new engine tending to the furtherance of a trade that never was used before; and that for the good of the realm, the King may grant him a monopoly patent for some reasonable time until the subjects may learn the same, in consideration of the good that he doth bring by his invention, otherwise not". In this he accurately predicted the attitude taken by the Statute of Monopolies two decades later.
in the 1604 Parliament of James I
. He was highly active in opposing the government, to the point where academics consider him the "leader of the opposition", although this was not a formal title at the time. During his first year, Fuller opposed the impositions on currants, the patent on blue starch
, presented a petition on economic grievances (which delayed the passage of the subsidy bill), supported the restoration of removed ministers and further attacked the powers of the Court of High Commission.
In 1606, the government announced plans for a formal union between England and Scotland. This was treated with great suspicion in the House of Commons, and Fuller took the lead in opposing it. Although he used racist language, saying in December 1606 that "the Scots in other countries are more like pedlars than merchants", this was aimed at drumming up support from xenophobic elements, and Wright concludes he was not himself a xenophobe. His main concern, rather, was over economic issues. Fuller argued that the Scottish merchants would undercut and impoverish English ones, and that the markets could not handle such an influx, saying that it was "fit that we seek room to place them
in before we admit them". There was also a legal and constitutional element. The proposal was to allow all Scottish citizens, born before or after the union, to become English citizens, exercisable through the Royal Prerogative. Fuller argued that this right was only exercisable by Parliament, and believed that the extension of the Royal Prerogative would lead to future encroachment on the civil liberties of English citizens.
as Archbishop of Canterbury
in 1604 caused the issue to grow in importance; Bancroft's zeal and strictness "could hardly fail to produce an atmosphere in which principles and issues would crystallize, in which logic would supplant reasonableness". The judges, particularly Sir Edward Coke, began to unite with Parliament in challenging the High Commission. The High Commission tried people for heresy, based on their internal thoughts and private beliefs, in "a trap to catch unwary or ingenuous men - 'an unlawful process of poking about in the speculation of finding something chargeable'".
In what became known as Fuller's Case, Fuller had several clients fined by the High Commission for non-conformity, and stated that the High Commission's procedure was "popish, under jurisdiction not of Christ but of anti-Christ". For this, Fuller was held in custody for contempt of court. The Court of King's Bench argued that this was a lay matter, while the High Commission claimed it fell under their jurisdiction. In the end Fuller was convicted by the High Commission, although of heresy rather than contempt, and sent to Fleet prison. On 6 November 1608, the common law judges and members of the High Commission were summoned before the King and told that they would argue and allow him to decide. Unable to even argue properly, instead "[standing] sullen, merely denying each other's statements", the group were dismissed and reconvened a week later. Sir Edward Coke, speaking for the judges, argued that ecclesiastical courts only had jurisdiction as long as no temporal matters were involved; once this happened, it became a matter for the common law courts.
At this point the King's own position in relation to the law, and his authority to decide this matter, was brought up, in what became known as the Case of Prohibitions
. James stated that "In cases where there is not express authority in law, the King may himself decide in his royal person; the Judges are but delegates of the King". Coke challenged this, saying "the King in his own person cannot adjudge any case, either criminal - as treason, felony etc, or betwixt party and party; but this ought to be determined and adjudged in some court of justice, according to the Law and Custom of England". Coke further stated that "The common law protecteth the King", to which James replied "The King protecteth the law, and not the law the King! The King maketh judges and bishops. If the judges interpret the laws themselves and suffer none else to interpret, they may easily make, of the laws, shipmen's hose!". Coke rejected this, stating that while the monarch was not subject to any individual, he was subject to the law. Until he had gained sufficient knowledge of the law, he had no right to interpret it; he pointed out that such knowledge "demanded mastery of an artificial reason ... which requires long study and experience, before that a man can attain to the cognizance of it". Victorious, Coke freely left, and continued to issue writs of prohibition against the High Commission.
on 21 May and 20 June, though both were later rejected by the Lords
. On 3 November he began campaigning to have customs duties put into a statutory framework, again against the Court of High Commission, which, he claimed, as an unelected and autonomous body could not be trusted, but rather Parliament should be given jurisdiction. In a speech on 23 June 1610 he said that "the laws of England are the most high inheritance of the land, whereby both king and subjects are directed and guided". Customs were "not at the king’s pleasure to be increased without the consent of the subjects", and "impositions and customs laid on subjects’ goods and merchandise...was always done by several acts of parliament". Wright notes that this was apparently greeted with complete silence, possibly because, while the MPs agreed that civil liberties had been eroded, they felt it was too dangerous to reclaim them. On 23 February 1620, Fuller died at his home, Chamberhouse, at Crookham
in Thatcham
, Berkshire
and was buried at the village's parish church
on 2 March. Most of his estate was passed to his wife, Sarah (sister of Samuel Backhouse
MP), and his eldest son, Nicholas, who died only four months later, leaving a three-year-old son.
Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.With a reputation for high academic standards, Christ's College averaged top place in the Tompkins Table from 1980-2000 . In 2011, Christ's was placed sixth.-College history:...
, Fuller became a barrister of Gray's Inn
Gray's Inn
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
. His legal career there began prosperously—he was employed by the Privy Council
Privy Council of England
The Privy Council of England, also known as His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, was a body of advisers to the sovereign of the Kingdom of England...
to examine witnesses—but was hampered later by his representation of The Puritans, a religious group which did not conform with the established Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
. Fuller was repeatedly in contention with the ecclesiastical courts, including the Star Chamber
Star Chamber
The Star Chamber was an English court of law that sat at the royal Palace of Westminster until 1641. It was made up of Privy Counsellors, as well as common-law judges and supplemented the activities of the common-law and equity courts in both civil and criminal matters...
and Court of High Commission
Court of High Commission
The Court of High Commission was the supreme ecclesiastic court in England. It was instituted by the crown during the Reformation and finally dissolved by parliament in 1641...
, and was once expelled for the zeal with which he defended his client. In 1593 he was returned as the Member of Parliament for St Mawes
St Mawes (UK Parliament constituency)
St Mawes was a rotten borough in Cornwall. It returned two Members of Parliament ) to the House of Commons of England from 1562 to 1707, to the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom until it was abolished by the Great Reform Act in...
, where he campaigned against the extension of recusancy
Recusancy
In the history of England and Wales, the recusancy was the state of those who refused to attend Anglican services. The individuals were known as "recusants"...
laws. Outside of Parliament, he successfully brought a patents case which not only undermined the right of the Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
to issue patents but accurately predicted the attitude taken by the Statute of Monopolies two decades later.
Returned to Parliament in 1604 for the City of London
City of London (elections to the Parliament of England)
The City of London was a Parliamentary constituency of the Parliament of England until 1707.-Boundaries and history to 1707:This borough constituency consisted of the City of London, which was the historic core of the modern Greater London...
, Fuller became considered the "leader of the opposition" due to his conflict with the government over policy, fighting the impositions on currants
Raisin
Raisins are dried grapes. They are produced in many regions of the world. Raisins may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking and brewing...
, the patent on blue starch
Starch
Starch or amylum is a carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined together by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by all green plants as an energy store...
, and opposing the proposed union with Scotland on legal and economic grounds. In 1607, in what became known as Fuller's Case, he again began challenging the Court of High Commission, and eventually got the Court of Common Pleas
Court of Common Pleas (England)
The Court of Common Pleas, or Common Bench, was a common law court in the English legal system that covered "common pleas"; actions between subject and subject, which did not concern the king. Created in the late 12th to early 13th century after splitting from the Exchequer of Pleas, the Common...
under Sir Edward Coke
Edward Coke
Sir Edward Coke SL PC was an English barrister, judge and politician considered to be the greatest jurist of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. Born into a middle class family, Coke was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge before leaving to study at the Inner Temple, where he was called to the...
to agree that the common law courts had the power to free imprisoned ecclesiastical prisoners. These encounters with the ecclesiastical courts were described as "bruising", but by 1610 he was considered an "elder statesman", introducing bills on ecclesiastical reform and the statutory management of customs duties. He continued to sit in Parliament until his death on 23 February 1620.
Early life and career
Fuller was born in 1543 to Nicholas Fuller of Neat's Hall on the Isle of SheppeyIsle of Sheppey
The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England in the Thames Estuary, some to the east of London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the local government district of Swale...
, a merchant from London. In December 1560 he was admitted to Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.With a reputation for high academic standards, Christ's College averaged top place in the Tompkins Table from 1980-2000 . In 2011, Christ's was placed sixth.-College history:...
, and graduated in 1563, joining Gray's Inn
Gray's Inn
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
during the same year. After an initial upset (on 26 May 1579, it was noted that "Mr Fuller, Reader of Staple Inn, is discharged for negligence, and fined £1"), Fuller was highly successful at Gray's; he became Reader on 26 May 1587, Dean of the chapel on 8 February 1588 and Treasurer in 1591. Fuller was a Puritan, and much engaged in their legal and other activities, for example, he arranged a lecturer for St Christopher le Stocks
St Christopher le Stocks
St Christopher le Stocks was an parish church, situated on the south side of Threadneedle Street in Broad Street Wardof the City of London.-History:The earliest reference to the church is in 1282...
, a church in London, in April 1577.
From December 1588 he was employed repeatedly by the Privy Council
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
to examine witnesses, and in 1590 was charged with interrogating Sir Thomas Fitzherbert. Although his career had began promisingly, Fuller soon found himself at odds with the authorities due to his religion, and the religion of those he chose to represent. A favoured barrister of Puritans prosecuted based on their faith, Fuller represented John Udall
John Udall (Puritan)
John Udall was an English clergyman of Puritan views, closely associated with the publication of the Martin Marprelate tracts, and prosecuted for controversial works of a similar polemical nature...
at Croydon assizes, when Udall was charged with having written A Discovery of the Discipline, an allegedly seditious book. The judge instructed the jury to find Udall guilty, and "leave the felony to us"; Fuller protested so vociferously at this that he was forced out of the court. In 1591, following the collapse of their case in front of the Court of High Commission
Court of High Commission
The Court of High Commission was the supreme ecclesiastic court in England. It was instituted by the crown during the Reformation and finally dissolved by parliament in 1641...
, Thomas Cartwright and other Puritan ministers were tried by the Star Chamber
Star Chamber
The Star Chamber was an English court of law that sat at the royal Palace of Westminster until 1641. It was made up of Privy Counsellors, as well as common-law judges and supplemented the activities of the common-law and equity courts in both civil and criminal matters...
, Fuller provided legal representation. The case was made more complicated when several of the ministers, on 16 July 1591, "proclaimed Elizabeth deposed, and William Hacket
William Hacket
William Hacket, also known as Hackett , was an English puritan and religious fanatic, who claimed to be a messiah and called for the removal of Queen Elizabeth I...
the new messiah and king of Europe"; this certainly was sedition, and saw the ministers confined to Fleet Prison
Fleet Prison
Fleet Prison was a notorious London prison by the side of the Fleet River in London. The prison was built in 1197 and was in use until 1844. It was demolished in 1846.- History :...
, along with Fuller for offering to represent them. Cartwright and several other ministers were never convicted, however, which is attributed to "the highly professional resistance of the puritan lawyers [which] perhaps owed much to Nicholas Fuller". Fuller was confined until 15 August.
Puritanism and patents
St Mawes (UK Parliament constituency)
St Mawes was a rotten borough in Cornwall. It returned two Members of Parliament ) to the House of Commons of England from 1562 to 1707, to the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom until it was abolished by the Great Reform Act in...
in 1593, apparently thanks to the influence of William Cecil
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley , KG was an English statesman, the chief advisor of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State and Lord High Treasurer from 1572...
, and immediately began campaigning against government attempts to extend recusancy
Recusancy
In the history of England and Wales, the recusancy was the state of those who refused to attend Anglican services. The individuals were known as "recusants"...
laws to Protestant splitters from the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
. The government introduced two such bills; the second, sent down from the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
on 5 April 1593, was protested down by Fuller as "dangerous to good subjects", because it made "schisms to be equal with seditions and treasons, which is against the equity of the former law". According to records, "upon a motion of Mr Fuller’s, the whole committee assented to the striking out of the title and the whole preamble. No man spake for it". While an MP, Fuller became involved in patents cases, which continued after he left Parliament in 1597.
Patents were initially intended to provide protection to merchants of new industries, making England an attractive country to conduct business in. The granting of these patents was highly popular with the monarch, both before and after the statute of Monopolies, because of the potential for raising revenue. A patentee was expected to pay heavily for the patent, and unlike a tax raise (another method of raising Crown money) any public unrest as a result of the patent was normally directed at the patentee, not the monarch. Over time, this became more and more problematic: instead of temporary monopolies on specific, imported industries, long-term monopolies came about over common commodities, including salt and starch. These "odious monopolies" led to a showdown between the Crown and Parliament, in which it was agreed, on 28 November 1601, to turn the power to administer patents over to the common law courts; at the same time, Elizabeth revoked a number of the more restrictive and damaging monopolies. One of the monopolies capable of being addressed at the common law was that over playing cards, which was granted to Edward
Darcy on 13 June 1600. Darcy, in 1602, began proceedings against a Mr Allen for infringing on this patent.
The Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
was represented by Sir Edward Coke
Edward Coke
Sir Edward Coke SL PC was an English barrister, judge and politician considered to be the greatest jurist of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. Born into a middle class family, Coke was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge before leaving to study at the Inner Temple, where he was called to the...
, then Attorney-General for England and Wales, while George Croke and Fuller appeared for Allen. Coke argued that the Crown had the right to restrict "games of common good", while Croke said that the free trade principles of the City of London rendered the patent invalid. Fuller, however, "stole the show". He stated that only a new trade, or "a new engine tending to the furtherance of a trade that never was used before; and that for the good of the realm, the King may grant him a monopoly patent for some reasonable time until the subjects may learn the same, in consideration of the good that he doth bring by his invention, otherwise not". In this he accurately predicted the attitude taken by the Statute of Monopolies two decades later.
Leader of the opposition
Fuller did not stand for election to the Commons in 1597; after its dissolution, he was returned for the City of LondonCity of London (elections to the Parliament of England)
The City of London was a Parliamentary constituency of the Parliament of England until 1707.-Boundaries and history to 1707:This borough constituency consisted of the City of London, which was the historic core of the modern Greater London...
in the 1604 Parliament of James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
. He was highly active in opposing the government, to the point where academics consider him the "leader of the opposition", although this was not a formal title at the time. During his first year, Fuller opposed the impositions on currants, the patent on blue starch
Starch
Starch or amylum is a carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined together by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by all green plants as an energy store...
, presented a petition on economic grievances (which delayed the passage of the subsidy bill), supported the restoration of removed ministers and further attacked the powers of the Court of High Commission.
In 1606, the government announced plans for a formal union between England and Scotland. This was treated with great suspicion in the House of Commons, and Fuller took the lead in opposing it. Although he used racist language, saying in December 1606 that "the Scots in other countries are more like pedlars than merchants", this was aimed at drumming up support from xenophobic elements, and Wright concludes he was not himself a xenophobe. His main concern, rather, was over economic issues. Fuller argued that the Scottish merchants would undercut and impoverish English ones, and that the markets could not handle such an influx, saying that it was "fit that we seek room to place them
in before we admit them". There was also a legal and constitutional element. The proposal was to allow all Scottish citizens, born before or after the union, to become English citizens, exercisable through the Royal Prerogative. Fuller argued that this right was only exercisable by Parliament, and believed that the extension of the Royal Prerogative would lead to future encroachment on the civil liberties of English citizens.
Fuller's Case and the Case of Prohibitions
In 1607, Fuller began challenging the Court of High Commission yet again, an ecclesiastical court established by the monarch with near unlimited power. The High Commission was vastly unpopular amongst both common lawyers and Members of Parliament, as the idea of "prerogative law" challenged both authorities. The appointment of Richard BancroftRichard Bancroft
Archbishop Richard Bancroft, DD, BD, MA, BA was an English churchman, who became Archbishop of Canterbury and the "chief overseer" of the production of the authorized version of the Bible.-Life:...
as Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
in 1604 caused the issue to grow in importance; Bancroft's zeal and strictness "could hardly fail to produce an atmosphere in which principles and issues would crystallize, in which logic would supplant reasonableness". The judges, particularly Sir Edward Coke, began to unite with Parliament in challenging the High Commission. The High Commission tried people for heresy, based on their internal thoughts and private beliefs, in "a trap to catch unwary or ingenuous men - 'an unlawful process of poking about in the speculation of finding something chargeable'".
In what became known as Fuller's Case, Fuller had several clients fined by the High Commission for non-conformity, and stated that the High Commission's procedure was "popish, under jurisdiction not of Christ but of anti-Christ". For this, Fuller was held in custody for contempt of court. The Court of King's Bench argued that this was a lay matter, while the High Commission claimed it fell under their jurisdiction. In the end Fuller was convicted by the High Commission, although of heresy rather than contempt, and sent to Fleet prison. On 6 November 1608, the common law judges and members of the High Commission were summoned before the King and told that they would argue and allow him to decide. Unable to even argue properly, instead "[standing] sullen, merely denying each other's statements", the group were dismissed and reconvened a week later. Sir Edward Coke, speaking for the judges, argued that ecclesiastical courts only had jurisdiction as long as no temporal matters were involved; once this happened, it became a matter for the common law courts.
At this point the King's own position in relation to the law, and his authority to decide this matter, was brought up, in what became known as the Case of Prohibitions
Case of Prohibitions
Case of Prohibitions [1607] is a historical English court decision by Sir Edward Coke. Before the Glorious Revolution of 1688, when the sovereignty of Parliament was confirmed, this case wrestled supremacy from the King in favour of the courts....
. James stated that "In cases where there is not express authority in law, the King may himself decide in his royal person; the Judges are but delegates of the King". Coke challenged this, saying "the King in his own person cannot adjudge any case, either criminal - as treason, felony etc, or betwixt party and party; but this ought to be determined and adjudged in some court of justice, according to the Law and Custom of England". Coke further stated that "The common law protecteth the King", to which James replied "The King protecteth the law, and not the law the King! The King maketh judges and bishops. If the judges interpret the laws themselves and suffer none else to interpret, they may easily make, of the laws, shipmen's hose!". Coke rejected this, stating that while the monarch was not subject to any individual, he was subject to the law. Until he had gained sufficient knowledge of the law, he had no right to interpret it; he pointed out that such knowledge "demanded mastery of an artificial reason ... which requires long study and experience, before that a man can attain to the cognizance of it". Victorious, Coke freely left, and continued to issue writs of prohibition against the High Commission.
Later career and death
By 1610, Fuller was considered an "elder statesman" within Parliament, "although his influence may have been somewhat weakened by the bruising encounters with high commission and star chamber". He introduced two bills to reform or remove ecclesiastical committees and courts, which passed in the House of Commons of EnglandHouse of Commons of England
The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...
on 21 May and 20 June, though both were later rejected by the Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
. On 3 November he began campaigning to have customs duties put into a statutory framework, again against the Court of High Commission, which, he claimed, as an unelected and autonomous body could not be trusted, but rather Parliament should be given jurisdiction. In a speech on 23 June 1610 he said that "the laws of England are the most high inheritance of the land, whereby both king and subjects are directed and guided". Customs were "not at the king’s pleasure to be increased without the consent of the subjects", and "impositions and customs laid on subjects’ goods and merchandise...was always done by several acts of parliament". Wright notes that this was apparently greeted with complete silence, possibly because, while the MPs agreed that civil liberties had been eroded, they felt it was too dangerous to reclaim them. On 23 February 1620, Fuller died at his home, Chamberhouse, at Crookham
Crookham, Berkshire
Crookham is a village in the English county of Berkshire, and part of the civil parish of Greenham.The settlement lies near to the A339 and A4 roads, and is located approximately south-east of Thatcham...
in Thatcham
Thatcham
Thatcham is a town in Berkshire, England 3 miles east of Newbury and 15 miles west of Reading. It covers about and has a population of 23,000 people . This number has grown rapidly over the last few decades from 5,000 in 1951 and 7,500 in 1961.It lies on the River Kennet, the Kennet and Avon...
, Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
and was buried at the village's parish church
St Mary's Church, Thatcham
The St Mary's Church is a Church of England parish church at Thatcham in the English county of Berkshire. The church, is dedicated to the Virgin Mary.- History :...
on 2 March. Most of his estate was passed to his wife, Sarah (sister of Samuel Backhouse
Samuel Backhouse
-Life:He was the son of Nicholas Backhouse of Cheapside in Middlesex , an alderman and Sheriff of London, and his wife, Anne, daughter of Thomas Curzon of Croxall in Derbyshire....
MP), and his eldest son, Nicholas, who died only four months later, leaving a three-year-old son.