Henry II took another step by appointing five Curia members to form a special court of justice, which became the Court of Common Pleas. Initially the justices of this court followed the King's court from place to place, but Magna Carta (1215) provided for the court to be established in one place.
             There was also Ecclesiastical courts, which was a tribunal set up by religious authorities to deal with disputes among clerics or with spiritual matters between clerics and layman. Although you can find such courts today among the Jews, Muslims and some Christian sects, their functions have become limited to strictly religious issues and the governance of church property. During earlier periods, the ecclesiastical courts often heard matters of the non-spiritual, and during the Middle Ages; the Roman Catholic Church even rivaled the non-spiritual courts in power. Some of the secular matters dealt with included anything to do with marriage and exclusive jurisdiction over cases involving wills. In England, the ecclesiastical courts had complete jurisdiction in matters of succession of personal property until the 16th century, and then in competition with the courts of chancery, until 1857.
             In many areas, where royal justice was insufficient, church court assumed jurisdiction. However, by the end of the 14th century, as the administration of royal justice increased, so did the heightened controversy between the two powers. The secular authorities found ways to diminish to power of the ecclesiastical courts, thus rendering their jurisdiction to that of spiritual matters. The civil contract of marriage was separated from the sacrament and other contracts and wills were brought into the secular domain. In England today the ecclesiastical courts exercise jurisdiction in civil cases concerning church buildings and in criminal cases in which clergymen are accused of spiritual crimes.
             As our forefathers came to America, they brought ...