Those courts which had such jurisdiction in these two counties during the period 1510-1652 were
1. The Courts of the Archdeacons of Northampton and Peterborough, having authority over both counties,
2. The Consistorial Court of the Bishop of Peterborough, having jurisdiction over both counties.
3. Prebendary Court of Nassington, having jurisdiction over the parishes of Apethorpe, Nassington, Wood Newton, and Yarwell, Northamptonshire.
4. The Prebendal^ Courts of Ketton and Liddington, Rutland.
- The Peculiar Court of Empingham, Rutland.
The two last-mentioned courts were of small importance, and their extant records begin at too late a date for inclusion in the present volume.
On the foundation in 1541 of the see of Peterborough the Consistory Court of the Bishop of Peterborough came into existence and exercised jurisdiction in testamentary matters over the
whole of the diocese, with the exception of the small " peculiars" mentioned above. The creation of this new court did not involve the abolition of the testamentary jurisdiction of the Archdeacon of
Northampton, and both continued to exercise a concurrent jurisdiction until the year 1858, when the modern civil Court of Probate was formed, and all testamentary powers were taken from the ancient ecclesiastical and peculiar courts.
