in geography, an appellation given to the dominions of a duke.

Duchy Court, a court wherein all matters belonging to the duchy or county palatine of Lancaster are decided by decree of the chancellor of that court.

The origin of this court was in Henry the IV.'s time, who obtained the crown by deposition of Richard II., and having the duchy of Lancaster, by descent, in right of his mother, became seised thereof as king, not as duke: So that all the liberties, franchises, and jurisdictions of the said county passed from the king, by his great seal, and not by livery or attornment, as the earldom of March, and other possessions, which descended to him by other ancestors than the king's did. Henry IV., by authority of parliament, severed the possessions, liberties, &c. of the said duchy from the crown: but Edward IV. restored them to their former nature.

The officers belonging to this court are, a chancellor, attorney-general, receiver-general, clerk of the court, and messenger; beside the assistants, as an attorney in the exchequer, another in chancery, and four councilors.