E 371316-1623Court of the Marshalsea and Court of the Verge: Plea Rolls
Plea rolls of the Court of the Marshalsea and Court of the Verge transferred from the Exchequer, Treasury of Receipt.
Both courts successively dealt with the pleas arising within the verge of the King's household, an area of twelve miles around wherever the King was resident. The records in the rolls consist of pleas of trespass arising within the verge of the King's household, or cases of contract or covenant involving members of the household, brought by bill. Except for the trial of the rebels against Henry IV in 1400, no records of Crown cases have survived, and most of the records of both courts have been lost. Those for the Marshalsea survive only for some of the years between 1316 and 1359, although it kept rolls from at least 1276 and existed until 1611; only four rolls of the Court of the Verge survive, although it existed from 1611 to 1630.