Manypeoplethinkthatthesay"aman'shomeishiscastle,"meansthatthemanhasarighttodoanything,evenifitisillegal,insidehishome.

　　Thephraseoriginatedas"anEnglishman'shomeishiscastle"or"anEnglishman'shouseishiscastle."ThisisbecauseitwaspopularintheUnitedKingdombeforeitevercametotheUnitedStates.

　　Thequestionleftisweremenevergiventherightasakingintheirownhouses?Whileitseemsthat'swhatthephraseissaying,itactuallymeansthatnobodycanenterahomeowner'shousewithoutpermission.

　　Thislawwasestablishedin1628whenSirEdwardCokewroteTheInstitutesoftheLawsofEngland.Heincludedtheline,"Foraman'shouseishiscastle,etdomussuacuiqueesttutissimumrefugium[andeachman'shomeishissafestrefuge]."

　　Thiswasusedinmanypublicationsthroughthe1700s.Menbecameconfusedwiththemeaning,thinkingthatitmeanttheyhadauthoritytodowhatevertheypleasedintheirhouses.

　　Thelawwasclarifiedin1763byWilliamPitt,thefirstEarlofChatham,alsoknownasPitttheElder.Hewrote,"Thepoorestmanmayinhiscottagebiddefiancetoalltheforcesofthecrown.Itmaybefrail-itsroofmayshake-thewindmayblowthroughit-thestormmayenter-therainmayenter-buttheKingofEnglandcannotenter."

　　Thisestablishedthatnobodycouldenterahomewithoutpermissionfromthehome'sowner.However,itdidnotmeanthatamancoulddoanythinghepleasedinsidehisownhome.

　　ThiswasnotapleasingresultforTonyMartin,whowasaccusedofmurderbecausea16-year-oldhadbrokenintohisNorfolk,UKhome,andheshotandmurderedtheteen.

　　Thephraseisalsonotpopularbynowbecauseofthefeministmovement.Theycryout,"Whataboutwomen?"orintheUnitedKingdom,"WhataboutEnglishwomen?"

　　ItisprobablyagoodthingthatthisphraseoriginatedinEnglishlawfromthe17thcentury,aspeoplecansayitisfromanoldlawandisnolongerthecompletetruth.