The Statute of Gloucester (6 Edw 1) is a piece of legislation enacted in the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised ...

during the reign of Edward I. The statute, proclaimed at

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

in August 1278, was crucial to the development of English law. The Statute of Gloucester and the ensuing legal hearings were a means by which Edward I tried to recover regal authority that had been alienated during the reign of his father, King Henry III (1216–1272), who had been made a virtual tool of the baronial party, led by

Simon de Montfort Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester ( – 4 August 1265), later sometimes referred to as Simon V de Montfort to distinguish him from his namesake relatives, was a nobleman of French origin and a member of the English peerage, who led the ...

. Edward I recognized the need for the legal "reform" and considered Parliament as a means of buying popular support by encouraging loyal subjects to petition the King against his own barons and ministers. The statute is the origin of the

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipres ...

doctrine of

waste Waste (or wastes) are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor economic value. A waste prod ...

, which allows successors with future interests in a piece of property to prevent current tenants, who do not hold the land in fee simple, from making substantial changes to the property that would decrease its value. The statute of 1278 provided for several important legal amendments, including a modification of

novel disseisin In English law, the assize of novel disseisin ("recent dispossession"; ) was an action to recover lands of which the plaintiff had been disseised, or dispossessed. It was one of the so-called "petty (possessory) assizes" established by Henry II ...

, one of the most popular forms of action for the recovery of land which had been seized illegally. It challenged baronial rights through a revival of the system of general eyres (

royal justice Royal justices were an innovation in the law reforms of the Angevin kings of England The Angevins (; "from Anjou") were a royal house of French origin that ruled England in the 12th and early 13th centuries; its monarchs were Henry II, Richa ...

s to go on tour throughout the land) and through a significant increase in the number of pleas of ''

quo warranto In law, especially English and American common law, ''quo warranto'' (Medieval Latin for "by what warrant?") is a prerogative writ requiring the person to whom it is directed to show what authority they have for exercising some right, power, or ...

'' (literally, "By what warrant?") to be heard by such eyres. In such proceedings, individual barons and franchise holders were expected either to show the King's judges proper legal title by which they possessed their rights to

private jurisdiction {{nofootnotes, date=July 2010 Private jurisdiction is the right of an individual or a legal entity to establish courts of law. It was prevalent during feudalism. A franchise, such as a corporation, a jurisdiction, or a right to collect certain toll ...

s or to lose such rights. It is the first statute recorded in a Statute Roll.

Chapter 1

The 6 Edw 1 c 1 is sometimes referred to as the Franchise Act 1278.Clerk and Lindsell on Torts. Sixteenth Edition. 1989. Sweet & Maxwell. Page cclxix. The 6 Edw 1 c 1 was repealed, except from "And whereas before Time" to "recover Damages", by section 2 of, and Part I of the Schedule to, the

Civil Procedure Acts Repeal Act 1879 The Civil Procedure Acts Repeal Act 1879 ( 42 & 43 Vict. c. 59) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is a public general Act. The Bill for this Act was the Civil Procedure Acts Repeal Bill. This Act was repealed by section 1 o ...

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The Statute of Gloucester
{{UK legislation Medieval English law Acts of the Parliament of England 1278 1278 in England 1270s in law Legal history of England Edward I of England Collection of The National Archives (United Kingdom)

Chapter 1

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