Contumacy is a stubborn refusal to obey authority or, particularly in law, the wilful contempt of the order or summons of a court (see contempt of court). The term is derived from the Latin word contumacia, meaning firmness or stubbornness. In English ecclesiastical law, it was contempt of the authority of an ecclesiastical court and was dealt with by the issue of a writ from the Court of Chancery at the instance of the judge of the ecclesiastical court.