administrators and tax collectors but their powers grew and as early as 1214 they were holding court to hear a variety of cases. Feudal lords were also normally permitted to hold court where disputes between their tenants, including criminal matters, were adjudicated. By the 14th century some of these feudal courts had developed into "petty kingdoms" where the King's courts did not have authority, except for cases of treason. Burghs, towns which had been given this special status usually by the King, also had their own set of local laws dealing mostly with commercial and trade matters. The burghs themselves established their own separate court system by authority of the King to administer and enforce these laws. The burgh laws were collected as the Leges burgorum by 1270, though the laws applied by the burgh courts and the sheriff courts were similar. Ecclesiastical courts also played an important role in Scotland as they had exclusive jurisdiction over matters such as marriage, contracts made on oath, inheritance and legitimacy. These courts, unlike their lay counterparts, were generally staffed by educated men who were trained in both Roman and Canon law and offered a more sophisticated form of justice. Litigants seem to have preferred to bring disputes before the ecclesiastical courts or an ecclesiastical arbiter rather than the lay courts in Scotland. Wars of Independence During the period of English control over Scotland there is some evidence to suggest that King Edward I attempted to abolish Scottish laws that were contrary to English law, as he had done in Wales. King Edward I also reformed the legal institutions of Scotland during this period with the organisation of a Scottish government in September 1305. He also sent out pairs of justices, one Englishman and one Scotsman, to oversee different regions in Scotland. During the Wars of Scottish Independence legal developments in Scotland appeared to have slowed, likely affected by the widespread social turmoil. There is some evidence that there were attempts to codify the law of the time and a small number of reforming statutes were passed by the Parliament of Scotland evidencing at least some concern for remedying deficiencies in the law. Under Robert the Bruce the importance of the Parliament of Scotland grew as he called them more frequently and its composition shifted to include more representation from the burghs and lesser landowners. In 1399, a General Council established that the