trailbaston

Definitions

noun In English history, one of a class of disorderly persons, banded robbers, murderers, and incendiaries, who gave great trouble in the reign of Edward I., and were so numerous that judges were appointed expressly for the purpose of trying them. See the phrases below.

noun obsolete Any of a type of court, during the reign of Edward I, that put down violent opposition to the crown

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In its place a system of courts of "trailbaston" were implemented, but these were ineffective.

Archive 2007-11-01 2007
In its place a system of courts of "trailbaston" were implemented, but these were ineffective.

Loaded Questions: "Dispensation of Death" author Michael Jecks 2007
It was not so much a new law as an administrative act; but it formed a precedent for later times, and the energy of the justices of trailbaston effected a real, if temporary, improvement in the condition of the country.

The History of England From the Accession of Henry III. to the Death of Edward III. (1216-1377) Reginald Lane Poole 1892
Scotland was obedient; the French alliance was firmly cemented; the pope was complacent; the Archbishop of Canterbury was in exile and the Bishop of Durham in disgrace; the commons were grateful for the better order secured by the commissions of trailbaston, and the king had in the papal absolution a weapon in reserve, which he could always use against a renewal of baronial opposition, though, for the moment, neither nobles nor commons seemed likely to give trouble.

The History of England From the Accession of Henry III. to the Death of Edward III. (1216-1377) Reginald Lane Poole 1892
So important was the measure that a chronicler calls the year in which this was enacted the "year of trailbaston". [

The History of England From the Accession of Henry III. to the Death of Edward III. (1216-1377) Reginald Lane Poole 1892