court

[imchongjun]

Hello, teachers.
I am not sure if "the Court" in the following sentence refers to the "court of justice" or the "palace".

Lord Blandamer is no doubt called to London on some public business—the House of Lords, or the Court, or something like that.

I appreciate your help very much.

[Anglika]

The "Court" is the Royal Court - he has some kind of position or duty within in.

[imchongjun]

Your reply is always concise and to the point, Anglika. Thank you so much.

[Tdol]

I was told by a barrister that we use the term 'court' for law courts because orginally the idea was that they were the same as the king or queen's court, the monarch being the source for legal decisions. Barristers are 'called to the bar' because they can move closer to the judge, who embodies the monarch; there was a limit that the rest of us couldn't cross. Without more context, and I haven't read the book, it is hard to say as a lord could be at either, which would make the people who concieved the term no doubt very proud as that was their intention- they were meant to be seen as one and the same.

[Anglika]

Thanks, Tdol. The story is explicit - the character in the story is a 19th century aristocrat, so the "Court" by extrapolation in this case almost certainly means the Queen's Court [the queen being Victoria].