c. 1794 It is believed that the Inns of Chancery evolved in tandem with the
Inns of Court. During the 12th and 13th century the law was taught in the
City of London, primarily by the clergy. During the 13th century two events happened which destroyed this form of legal education - firstly a decree by
Henry III of England that no institutes of legal education could exist in the City of London, and second a
papal bull that prohibited the clergy from teaching the law. accompanying the article "A Little Talk About Lyon's Inn" in
The Illustrated London News, 27 December 1862, showing the north, south and west sides of the Inn with the east end of the Hall in course of removal The Inns of Chancery sprung up around the Inns of Court, and took their name and original purpose from the
chancery clerks, who used the buildings as hostels and offices where they would draft their writs. For several centuries, education at one of the Inns of Chancery was the first step towards becoming a
barrister. A student would first join one of the Inns of Chancery, where he would be taught in the form of
moots and
rote learning. Lyon's Inn was located near
Wych Street, and started off as a hostel "held at the sign of the
lyon". It was an Inn of Chancery from at least the time of
Henry V, although little more precise than that is known; records date from 1413. It was finally purchased by the students and professors during the reign of
Henry VIII. Lyon's Inn was a small Inn, with eighty students at its peak during the time of
Elizabeth I, and educated people as noted as
Sir Edward Coke, Sir
Lewes Lewkenor Master of the Ceremonies and
John Selden. The Inn was, at the best of times, governed by a Treasurer and twelve "Ancients". Lyon's Inn became a disreputable institution that "perished of public contempt long before it came to the hammer and the pick". By the time it was dissolved it was inhabited only by the lowest lawyers and those struck off the rolls, and when surveyed it was found that it was run by only two Ancients, neither of whom had any idea what their duties were, and the Inn had not dined for over a century. ==References==