British prerogative court that exercised wide civil and criminal jurisdiction and was marked by secrecy, the absence of juries, and an inquisitorial rather than accusatorial system of justice.
It met in a room in the palace of Westminster whose ceiling was decorated with stars. It was employed extensively under Henry VIII because of its ability to enforce the law when other courts were unable to do so because of corruption and influence. When Charles I used it to enforce unpopular political and ecclesiastical policies, it became a symbol of oppression to his and Archbishop William Laud 's parliamentary and Puritan opponents (though it never imposed the death penalty), and it was abolished by the Long Parliament in 1641.