On 27 April 1496 at Alrewas, Staffordshire, a coroner’s inquest was held over the body of John Hunt. Jurors reported that seven men–artisans of different trades in nearby Lichfield–had murdered him and then run to sanctuary. The seven men were a baker, a dyer, a draper, a fletcher, a tallowchandler, and two pewterers. According toContinue reading “Murder in Staffordshire, 1496”
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Homicide and the Canons of Egglestone Abbey
In 1496, three canons and a servant of a Premonstratensian Abbey in Yorkshire, Egglestone Abbey, took sanctuary at Durham after they had an altercation with Richard Appleby of Cotherstone and killed him. It’s not quite clear what was happening here, but it’s worthy of note that a number of Applebys of Cotherstone and region wereContinue reading “Homicide and the Canons of Egglestone Abbey”
Abjuring from a chartered sanctuary
Though most who came to Durham cathedral for sanctuary requested time-unlimited asylum, it was still possible to request a coroner to abjure the realm rather than stay long-term in the cathedral precinct. In 1497, a man named Colson from Wolsingham, county Durham, had been arrested for theft and put in prison, but managed to escape.Continue reading “Abjuring from a chartered sanctuary”
A Berkshire prison break
We’ve seen a few cases of felons awaiting trial escaping from their prisons and running to sanctuary; sometimes a whole gang break out at once and reach safety by running to nearest churchyard, as happened in Berkshire in 1497. In 1497, six prisoners in Wallingford castle in Berks (now Oxon) escaped by the keeper’s negligence.Continue reading “A Berkshire prison break”
Incarceration as punishment
Theoretically incarceration wasn’t used as punishment for felony in medieval England; it was used instead for detention pre-trial and during proceedings. At times, though, lengthy delays in proceedings seem deliberate, imprisonment serving unofficially as a middle way between acquittal and the noose. This seems to have been the case for two sanctuary seekers in 1497.Continue reading “Incarceration as punishment”
Perkin Warbeck and sanctuary
[I do like this fanciful 18th century depiction of the abbot welcoming Perkin: they all look so genteel.] This is one of the most famous of late medieval English sanctuary seekers, the pretender to the throne Perkin Warbeck, who claimed to be a son of Edward IV and thus rightful king over usurper Henry VII.Continue reading “Perkin Warbeck and sanctuary”
Walking the boundaries: Bland, the St Martin’s sanctuary man
Though Perkin Warbeck’s stay at Beaulieu Abbey was short, some of his followers remained in sanctuaries long term, including well-known sanctuary men of St Martin le Grand (SMLG) in London. In the 1530s, Henry VIII mandated a royal enquiry into the boundaries of the SMLG precinct as part of a long-running dispute between the CityContinue reading “Walking the boundaries: Bland, the St Martin’s sanctuary man”
Seyntbarbe, retainer of Lord Audley
The second Warbeck follower who became a sanctuary man in St Martin le Grand in London was named Seyntbarbe, a retainer of Lord Audeley. Seyntbarbe fled to SMLG after the battle of Blackheath in 1497. We learn about Seyntbarbe from London grocer William Mathew, who lived in St Martin’s as a youth when apprenticed toContinue reading “Seyntbarbe, retainer of Lord Audley”
Murderer in the stocks
A funny little case from Lincolnshire in 1498. A coroner’s inquest over Thomas Straker of Swineshead found that John Hall and Richard May, labourers also of Swineshead, had assaulted and killed Straker. Both Hall and May fled from the scene with the people of Swineshead in hot pursuit. They caught May and put him “inContinue reading “Murderer in the stocks”
The savvy criminal
George Sawyer alias Wolmer, a Surrey man variously identified as husbandman, yeoman, and sawyer, was a walking example of the escape hatches, legal and illegal, available to the savvy late medieval criminal. In 1499, Sawyer took sanctuary at St. Mary Overey in Southwark after a string of burglaries in Kent, but three men dragged himContinue reading “The savvy criminal”
Sanctuary Seekers in England, 1394-1557 