Court of Wards and Liveries

Okay, so imagine you are playing with your toys and your parents go away for a while. Your grandparents come to take care of you until your parents come back. Now imagine that instead of taking care of you, your grandparents also take control of your toys and your pocket money while your parents are away. They also make all the decisions about your toys and your money without asking you.

This is kind of like what happened in England a long time ago with something called the Court of Wards and Liveries. Back then, when a noble person, like a lord or baron, died, their property and money would go to their children. But if those children were still too young to take care of the property and money, the Court of Wards and Liveries would step in and take control of it all until the children were old enough.

Now, just like your grandparents taking control of your toys and money, the Court of Wards and Liveries would make all the decisions about the property and money without asking the children. They would decide who could live on the property, how it was used, and how the money was spent. And just like you might not be happy if your grandparents did that to you, the children and their families were not happy about the Court of Wards and Liveries taking control like that.

Eventually, the Court of Wards and Liveries was abolished, which means it doesn't exist anymore. But it's important to know about it because it shows how things used to be different in England a long time ago.