High Commission, The Court of, was the most important of the English ecclesiastical (church) courts. These courts were set up to hear cases concerned with offenses against the Church of England. The Court of High Commission developed during the 1500’s. Its powers were fully defined in 1611. It heard cases dealing with heresy and other religious offenses, and crimes of the clergy. It also heard divorce suits.
The Court of High Commission was the church equivalent of the Court of Star Chamber (see Star Chamber ). It caused great resentment because many of its activities, as well as its very existence, opposed the principles of common law in England. Sometimes, bishops who sat as judges in the court were themselves involved in the dispute being heard. The Court of High Commission was abolished by the Long Parliament in 1641.
