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60 HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
of the true yearly value or certainty of the premises, or of any part thereof, or of other
gifts and grants made by us, our heirs and predecessors, unto the said now Lord Baltimore, or any statute, act, ordinance, provision, proclamation or restraint, heretofore had,
made, published, ordained or provided, or any other thing, cause, or matter whatsoever,
to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding.
XXIII. In witness whereof We have caused these our letters to be made patent.
Witness ourself at Westminster, the twentieth day of June, in the eighth year of
our reign.
Thus it will be seen that the province of Maryland was in fact a
palatinate, and enjoyed the peculiar immunities attached to that species of
government.
The origin of the term palatine is usually ascribed to the Merovingian
Kings of France, who delegated a quasi-royal power in judicial matters to an
officer called "count of the palace," {comes palatii, or palatinus). The
title and extensive powers were afterwards bestowed upon great vassals, who
were entrusted with almost kingly powers in their fiefs. It was a part of the
feudal system that the sovereign could annex to any grants of land to his
feudatories such share of the jura regalia as he saw fit, even to the extent of
royal power, provided he reserved the suzerainty to himself. These dignities
were known as kingdoms, principalities, dukedoms, seignories, etc., outside of
England, but when granted within the limits of England, were usually designated counties palatine. Thus, Chester and Durham were counties palatine
in the reign of William I.; Edward III. erected Lancaster into a palatinate;
Henry IV. granted the Isle of Man as a kingdom to the Earls of Northumberland, and after their attainder, Henry VII. granted it in the same form to
the house of Stanley, to whom, in large part, he owed his crown. The heads
of these palatinate governments were invested with powers and prerogatives
which fell little short of those of royalty itself. They appointed all officers
within the counties. The courts of justice were emphatically their courts:
for all process which was issued out of them ran in their names, instead of
that of the king's; and all offences were held and charged in indictments, as
•offences against them, and not against the king. They had power to pardon
all offences whatsoever committed within their respective jurisdictions. The
lands lying within their provinces were deemed to be holden of them, and
they were, therefore, entitled to escheats, wardships, and the other fruits of
the feudal tenures, which fell to the lord of the fee. They had the right of
levying forces and waging war for the defence of their provinces, and of pursuing invaders even beyond the limits of the kingdom.1
The sovereign, however, could grant no powers of which he was not himself possessed; so that if he was bound to govern a certain territory by
peculiar laws, or to respect ancient customs, the count palatine was under the
same obligation. But in a newly-discovered country, such as America, there
1 McMahon, p. 152. For the nature and extent and the case of Russell's Lessee vs. Baker, in
of these palatinate jurisdictions, see 6th Viners' which the extent of these jurisdictions was
Abridgment, 573 to 583: 2d Bacon, 188 to 192, much discussed.
| Title | History of Maryland - 1 |
| Creator | Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas) |
| Publisher | J. B. Piet |
| Place of Publication | Baltimore |
| Date | 1879 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000085 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | 60 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. of the true yearly value or certainty of the premises, or of any part thereof, or of other gifts and grants made by us, our heirs and predecessors, unto the said now Lord Baltimore, or any statute, act, ordinance, provision, proclamation or restraint, heretofore had, made, published, ordained or provided, or any other thing, cause, or matter whatsoever, to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding. XXIII. In witness whereof We have caused these our letters to be made patent. Witness ourself at Westminster, the twentieth day of June, in the eighth year of our reign. Thus it will be seen that the province of Maryland was in fact a palatinate, and enjoyed the peculiar immunities attached to that species of government. The origin of the term palatine is usually ascribed to the Merovingian Kings of France, who delegated a quasi-royal power in judicial matters to an officer called "count of the palace," {comes palatii, or palatinus). The title and extensive powers were afterwards bestowed upon great vassals, who were entrusted with almost kingly powers in their fiefs. It was a part of the feudal system that the sovereign could annex to any grants of land to his feudatories such share of the jura regalia as he saw fit, even to the extent of royal power, provided he reserved the suzerainty to himself. These dignities were known as kingdoms, principalities, dukedoms, seignories, etc., outside of England, but when granted within the limits of England, were usually designated counties palatine. Thus, Chester and Durham were counties palatine in the reign of William I.; Edward III. erected Lancaster into a palatinate; Henry IV. granted the Isle of Man as a kingdom to the Earls of Northumberland, and after their attainder, Henry VII. granted it in the same form to the house of Stanley, to whom, in large part, he owed his crown. The heads of these palatinate governments were invested with powers and prerogatives which fell little short of those of royalty itself. They appointed all officers within the counties. The courts of justice were emphatically their courts: for all process which was issued out of them ran in their names, instead of that of the king's; and all offences were held and charged in indictments, as •offences against them, and not against the king. They had power to pardon all offences whatsoever committed within their respective jurisdictions. The lands lying within their provinces were deemed to be holden of them, and they were, therefore, entitled to escheats, wardships, and the other fruits of the feudal tenures, which fell to the lord of the fee. They had the right of levying forces and waging war for the defence of their provinces, and of pursuing invaders even beyond the limits of the kingdom.1 The sovereign, however, could grant no powers of which he was not himself possessed; so that if he was bound to govern a certain territory by peculiar laws, or to respect ancient customs, the count palatine was under the same obligation. But in a newly-discovered country, such as America, there 1 McMahon, p. 152. For the nature and extent and the case of Russell's Lessee vs. Baker, in of these palatinate jurisdictions, see 6th Viners' which the extent of these jurisdictions was Abridgment, 573 to 583: 2d Bacon, 188 to 192, much discussed. |
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