Alsatia - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition alsatia

Definition :

Alsatia, formerly a cant name for Whitefriars, a district in London between the Thames and Fleet Street, and adjoining the Temple, which, possessing certain privileges of sanctuary, became for that reason a nest of those mischievous characters who were generally obnoxious to the law; see Scott's Fortunes of Nigel, ch. 17. These privileges were derived from its having been an establishment of the Carmelites, or White Friars, founded in 1241. In the time of the Reformation the place retained its immunities as a sanctuary, and James I. confirmed and added to them by a charter in 1608, but all privileges of sanctuary were shortly afterwards abolished in 1624 by 21 Jac. 1, c. 28.