His Castle and Fortress

In Semayne’s Case of 1604, the Court of King’s Bench considered when officers could enter a private house. The judge and law reporter Sir Edward Coke recorded the principle that “the house of every one is to him as his castle and fortress, as well for his defence against injury and violence, as for his repose.”

The saying “An Englishman’s home is his castle” is still in everyday use.

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