Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Hephaestus Books represents a new publishing paradigm, allowing disparate content sources to be curated into cohesive, relevant, and informative books. To date, this content has been curated from Wikipedia articles and images under Creative Commons licensing, although as Hephaestus Books continues to increase in scope and dimension, more licensed and public domain content is being added. We believe books such as this represent a new and exciting lexicon in the sharing of human knowledge. This particular book is a collaboration focused on Exchequer of pleas.More info: The Exchequer of Pleas or Court of Exchequer was a court that followed equity, a set of legal principles based on natural law, and common law, in England and Wales. Originally part of the curia regis, or King's Council, the Exchequer of Pleas split from the curia during the 1190s, sitting as an independent, central court. The court was initially small, handling around 250 cases a year, and its practices did not vary significantly until the 16th century. Under the Tudor monarchs, the Exchequer's business increased thanks to a string of politically important Lord High Treasurers, and the court flourished until the English Civil War disrupted the entire legal system. This war actually helped the Exchequer, in that the aftermath saw four courts with similar jurisdictions dissolved, forcing their business to go to the Exchequer and the Court of Chancery. With the Chancery's reputation for slow pace and expense, much of this business went to the Exchequer. The Exchequer and Chancery, with similar jurisdictions, drew closer and closer together over the years, until an argument was made during the 19th century that having two seemingly identical courts was unnecessary. As a result, the Exchequer lost its equity jurisdiction. With the Judicature Acts, the Exchequer was formally dissolved as a judicial body by an order in council of 16 December 1880.