Editing Star Chamber (section)

== Origin of the name ==
[[File:Giotto di Bondone - Vault - WGA09168.jpg|thumb|[[Starry vault]] of the [[Scrovegni Chapel]] in [[Padua]], Italy, frescoed by [[Giotto]], a common ceiling motif of the period throughout Europe]]

The first reference to the "star chamber"{{efn|Or, rather, the first reference in the OED. Blackstone mentions a reference in a document of 41 [[Edward III of England|Edw. III]] – 1367 – but does not quote it}} is in 1398, as the ''Sterred chambre''; the more common form of the name appears in 1422 as ''le Sterne-chamere''. Both forms recur throughout the fifteenth century, with ''Sterred Chambre'' last attested as appearing in the [[Supremacy of the Crown Act 1534]] (establishing the English monarch as head of the Church in England). It was housed in a three-storied building with at least three rooms and kitchen.<ref name=pollard>{{cite journal |last1=Pollard |first1=A. F. |title=Council, Star Chamber, and Privy Council under the Tudors: II. The Star Chamber |journal=The English Historical Review |date=1922 |volume=37 |issue=148 |pages=516–539 |doi=10.1093/ehr/XXXVII.CXLVIII.516 |jstor=552200 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/552200 |issn=0013-8266}}</ref> The origin of the name has usually been explained as first recorded by [[John Stow]], writing in his ''[[Survey of London]]'' (1598), who noted "this place is called the Star Chamber, at the first all the roofe thereof was decked with images of starres [[gilding|gilted]]".<ref>Lord Denning, ''Landmarks in the Law'' (1984), pp. 61–62.</ref><ref name="OED">"Star-chamber, starred chamber"; ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'', second edition. Oxford University Press, 1989.</ref> Gold stars on a blue background were a common medieval decoration for ceilings in richly decorated rooms: the Star Chamber ceiling itself is still to be seen at [[Leasowe Castle]], [[Metropolitan Borough of Wirral|Wirral]], and similar examples are in the [[Scrovegni Chapel]] in [[Padua]] and elsewhere.

Alternatively, [[William Blackstone]], a notable English [[jurist]] writing in 1769, speculated that the name had been derived from the legal word "[[Starr (law)|starr]]" meaning the contract or obligation to a Jew (from the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] שטר (''shtar'') meaning "document"). This term was in use until 1290, when [[Edward I of England|Edward I]] had [[Edict of Expulsion|all Jews expelled from England]]. Blackstone thought the "Starr Chamber" might originally have been used for the deposition and storage of such contracts.<ref name="Blackstone">''Commentaries on the Laws of England'', Vol. IV, Ch. 19, p. 263. [http://www.lonang.com/exlibris/blackstone/bla-419.htm Online text] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101011164505/http://lonang.com/exlibris/blackstone/bla-419.htm |date=11 October 2010 }}</ref> However, the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' gives this etymology "no claim to consideration."<ref name="OED" />

Other etymological speculations mentioned by Blackstone include the derivation from Old English ''steoran'' (steer) meaning "to govern"; as a court used to punish [[Wiktionary:cozenage#English|cozenage]] (in [[Latin language|Latin]]: ''crimen stellionatus''); or that the chamber was full of windows.<ref name="Blackstone" />