shannonmcsheffrey

Another Savage sanctuary seeker

In 1518, about two years after the assassination of John Pauncefote by the two Sir John Savages and their retinue, one of those retainers, Anthony Savage, took sanctuary as an accessory at Durham Cathedral. Anthony Savage was named in the private prosecution of the homicide by Pauncefote’s widow; it’s unclear why it took him untilContinue reading “Another Savage sanctuary seeker”

Davy Jones, sanctuary seeker

Here is another Bristol Temple Fee sanctuary seeker and another difficult 1510s sanctuary case. In November 1517, David Jonys, yeoman of Bristol (who no doubt looked something like the man above…) sought sanctuary for burglary and horse theft. At gaol delivery at Bristol a month later, Jonys pleaded sanctuary, claiming that he had been forciblyContinue reading “Davy Jones, sanctuary seeker”

Cornered in the York Minster churchyard

In mid-April 1518 at five in the afternoon, William Stokall of York attacked William Rygg alias Scaff, a yeoman also of York, in the churchyard of York Minster. In order to defend himself, Rygg struck back, killing Stokall. In describing the circumstances of the killing, the coroner’s inquest gave the standard self-defence narrative of beingContinue reading “Cornered in the York Minster churchyard”

“In defence of his own body”: a killing in Lincolnshire

In May 1518, John Watson of Swineshead, Lincolnshire, was minding his own business near the town of Stamford when two unknown men attacked him. He struck back “in defence of his own body” with a sword (which he conveniently enough happened to have on him), and wounded his assailants in many parts of their bodies.Continue reading ““In defence of his own body”: a killing in Lincolnshire”

Death of a stranger

In October 1518 a coroner’s inquest was called in St Clement Danes parish, just west of the City of London, over the body of one Anthony Niger alias Liegard. Niger’s name suggests he was likely a stranger, the term used then for foreigners: perhaps Dutch? The coroner’s inquest jurors found that Niger had died fromContinue reading “Death of a stranger”

Treason, gunpowder, heresy, bagpipes

In 1515, John Cowley, yeoman of London, was arrested with five other men and accused of treasonous plots against the king and chief minister Cardinal Wolsey. Cowley’s treachery had evidently begun while he served as part of the king’s forces in the French war, at the siege at Tournai in 1513. Amongst his charges wasContinue reading “Treason, gunpowder, heresy, bagpipes”

The Bradshaws and the death of John Bell

In the spring of 1519, one John Bell was found dead at Westminster. A married couple – Robert and Joan Bradshaw – were accused in his death. The inquest jurors stated that Robert Bradshaw, yeoman of Westminster, attacked Bell between 9 and 10 pm with a sword, giving Bell a mortal wound from which heContinue reading “The Bradshaws and the death of John Bell”

“The white hare should drive the white greyhound into the root of an oak”: Prophecies and mitigations

Thomas Cheselet was an operator who knew his way around mitigations – and a dab hand at treasonous prophecies. The tale starts in 1519 when Cheselet, a tailor of Mere, Wiltshire, took sanctuary at the Dominican priory at Fisherton Anger. He asked for the coroner, confessing to him that earlier that year he had stolenContinue reading ““The white hare should drive the white greyhound into the root of an oak”: Prophecies and mitigations”

“The town of Crayke, which is a sanctuary”

The intertwining of sanctuary with other jurisdictional rights allowed churches’ dependent properties to offer shelter to felons – as at Durham Cathedral’s Yorkshire manor at Crayke. At a 1521 coroner’s inquest in the city of York over Gregory Honchonson, the jurors reported that Thomas Feysche of York, lumberer, had attacked and killed Honchonson in theContinue reading ““The town of Crayke, which is a sanctuary””

Sanctuary and the career criminal

Some criminals wandered around the country committing felony after felony without getting caught, until finally one day it all caught up with them. One such criminal was Robert Blake, shoemaker of Bishop’s Waltham, Hants, who after fifteen years of crime finally had to take sanctuary in 1520 at his own parish church. He confessed toContinue reading “Sanctuary and the career criminal”