What is "barons of the exchequer"

Baron \Bar"on\, n. [OE. baron, barun, OF. baron, accus. of ber, F. baron, prob. fr. OHG. baro (not found) bearer, akin to E. bear to support; cf. O. Frisian bere, LL. baro, It. barone, Sp. varon. From the meaning bearer (of burdens) seem to have come the senses strong man, man (in distinction from woman), which is the oldest meaning in French, and lastly, nobleman. Cf. L. baro, simpleton. See Bear to support.]

1. A title or degree of nobility; originally, the possessor of a fief, who had feudal tenants under him; in modern times, in France and Germany, a nobleman next in rank below a count; in England, a nobleman of the lowest grade in the House of Lords, being next below a viscount.

   Note: ``The tenants in chief from the Crown, who held lands of the annual value of four hundred pounds, were styled Barons; and it is to them, and not to the members of the lowest grade of the nobility (to whom the title at the present time belongs), that reference is made when we read of the Barons of the early days of England's history. . . . Barons are addressed as `My Lord,' and are styled `Right Honorable.' All their sons and daughters are `Honorable.'''
   --Cussans.

2. (Old Law) A husband; as, baron and feme, husband and wife. [R.]
   --Cowell.

   Baron of beef, two sirloins not cut asunder at the backbone.

   Barons of the Cinque Ports, formerly members of the House of Commons, elected by the seven Cinque Ports, two for each port.

   Barons of the exchequer, the judges of the Court of Exchequer, one of the three ancient courts of England, now abolished.

Exchequer \Ex*cheq"uer\, n. [OE. escheker, OF. eichekier, fr. LL. scaccarium. See Checker, Chess, Check.]

1. One of the superior courts of law; -- so called from a checkered cloth, which covers, or formerly covered, the table. [Eng.]

   Note: The exchequer was a court of law and equity. In the revenue department, it had jurisdiction over the proprietary rights of the crown against subjects; in the common law department, it administered justice in personal actions between subject and subject. A person proceeding against another in the revenue department was said to exchequer him. The judges of this court were one chief and four puisne barons, so styled. The Court of Exchequer Chamber sat as court of error in which the judgments of each of the superior courts of common law, in England, were subject to revision by the judges of the other two sitting collectively. Causes involving difficult questions of law were sometimes after argument, adjourned into this court from the other courts, for debate before judgment in the court below. Recent legislation in England (1880) has abolished the Court of Exchequer and the Court of Exchequer Chamber, as distinct tribunals, a single board of judiciary, the High Court of Justice, being established for the trial of all classes of civil cases.
   --Wharton.

2. The department of state having charge of the collection and management of the royal revenue. [Eng.] Hence, the treasury; and, colloquially, pecuniary possessions in general; as, the company's exchequer is low.

   Barons of the exchequer. See under Baron.

   Chancellor of the exchequer. See under Chancellor.

   Exchequer bills or Exchequer bonds (Eng.), bills of money, or promissory bills, issued from the exchequer by authority of Parliament; a species of paper currency emitted under the authority of the government, and bearing interest.