The legal arm of the royal household, its jurisdiction defined by the *verge. Throughout the 14c there were serious problems created by the *steward exercising his authority in ways felt to be beyond his writ. He would, for instance, impose fines on towns when a single trader had breached the *assize. Another anomalous circumstance occurred when the royal household was in London. The city of London complained that criminals were crossing the river to Southwark, thus placing themselves beyond the city's reach because the court and *marshalsea claimed jurisdiction there. -
Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases. Christopher Coredon with Ann Williams.