Editing Jurisdiction (section)

==Franchise jurisdiction==
In the history of English common law, a jurisdiction could be held as a form of property (or more precisely an [[incorporeal hereditament]]) called a [[exclusive right|franchise]]. Traditional franchise jurisdictions of various powers were held by [[corporations|municipal corporations]], [[abbey|religious houses]], [[guilds]], early [[universities]], the [[Welsh Marches]], and [[County palatine|counties palatine]]. Types of franchise courts included [[court baron|courts baron]], [[court leet|courts leet]], [[Court of piepowders|merchant courts]], and the [[stannary law|stannary court]]s that dealt with disputes involving the tin miners of [[Cornwall]]. The original [[royal charter]]s of the [[Thirteen Colonies|American colonies]] included broad grants of franchise jurisdiction along with other governmental powers to [[corporation]]s or individuals, as did the charters for many other colonial companies such as the [[British East India Company]] and [[British South Africa Company]]. Analogous jurisdiction existed in medieval times on the European Continent. Over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, franchise jurisdictions were largely eliminated. Several formerly important franchise courts were not officially abolished until [[Courts Act 1971|Courts Act of 1971]].