# Court of Arraye

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A '''Court of Arraye''' (or View of Men at Arms) was a method of ascertaining numbers of men capable of fighting in towns and cities before England had a [standing army](/source/standing_army).

A statute of [Henry II of England](/source/Henry_II_of_England) (1134–1159) ordered that all men capable of bearing arms should be inspected by the [magistrates](/source/magistrates) of each major town and city of England. Since there was no standing army, this was a way to find out how many men could fight in a war.

The Court of Arraye was confirmed with the [Statute of Winchester](/source/Statute_of_Winchester) in 1285 which commanded that "every man between 15 years of age and 60 years shall be assessed and sworn to armour" according to their wealth and means.

The statutes of Arraye were repealed in the reign of [James I](/source/James_VI_and_I) (1566–1625). After the [English Civil War](/source/English_Civil_War), when England had acquired a standing army, courts of Arraye were no longer necessary, and about the year 1680 they were abolished.

The tradition of a Court of Arraye has continued in carnival form at [Lichfield bower](/source/Lichfield_bower) in Staffordshire, which has evolved from the procession that the men took after being inspected.

==References==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060627195709/http://www.lichfield.gov.uk/events.ihtml Lichfield City Council] Customs and Traditions
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050830062541/http://www.greenmanmorris.org/bower.htm Green Man's Morris and Sword Club Birmingham] The Lichfield Bower

Category:Warfare in medieval England
Category:1680s disestablishments in England
Category:Former courts and tribunals in England and Wales
Category:Courts and tribunals established in the 12th century
Category:Courts and tribunals disestablished in the 1680s

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Court of Arraye](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_of_Arraye) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_of_Arraye?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.