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History Publications
Idiots, Lunatics and the Royal Prerogative in Early Tudor England
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2005
Volume
26
Issue
1
Journal
Journal of Legal History
First Page
1
Last Page
20
URL with Digital Object Identifier
doi: 10.1080/01440360500034420
Abstract
This article examines the care and custody of the insane under the common law in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century. Lectures given in the Inns of Court and records of actual idiots and lunatics suggest that, despite the king's prerogative rights over the insane, there seems to have been a general recognition that their families could often provide for them. While the king did not abdicate all his claims to their custody, the administration of those claims demonstrates that a balance could be maintained between the letter of the king's feudal rights, and familial and social expectations of the treatment of the insane.