Archdeacon’s court

What does Archdeacon’s court mean in American Law?

The definition of Archdeacon’s court in the law of the United States, as defined by the lexicographer Arthur Leff in his legal dictionary is:

An English ecclesiastical court, the lowest in the hierarchy, with jurisdiction over spiritual matters, administration of decedents’ estates, moral offenses (e.g., fornication) and, there is substantial evidence, at one time a good deal of what in modern times would be called tort and contract. Its non-ecclesiastical jurisdiction disappeared in modern times, biut the court itself was not abolished until 1963.