Though most of my cases of sanctuary seekers come from the records of the royal courts or sanctuary registers, a few examples turn up in town records, including one from Rye, Sussex, in 1500. On 24 October of that year John Purchase, noted to be thirty years old, took refuge in the cemetery of theContinue reading “Sanctuary in the Rye cemetery”
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Chasing a runaway dog
William Thorpp of Welwick, Yorks, sought sanctuary at Durham cathedral in December 1500 because a month before he and several other men ended up killing a man when they went after their runaway dog in a park. Thorpp and his three companions were probably out hunting or poaching, as they had a dog (no nameContinue reading “Chasing a runaway dog”
Murder in the Savoy liberty
In 1501 the Middlesex coroner was summoned to the parish of St Mary le Strand to call an inquest over the body of Laurence Starke, who’d worked in the Savoy liberty prison, where the Savoy hotel is today. The Savoy liberty was an independent jurisdiction belonging to the duchy of Lancaster, which had been foldedContinue reading “Murder in the Savoy liberty”
Murder, treason, and exile
An odd case weaving together an apparently ordinary homicide with the last throes of the 15th century dynastic wars – and suggesting that in some circumstances traitors who might foment rebellion abroad could not be allowed to abjure. In Dec 1501, Thomas Forest, tailor of Leominster, Herefordshire, took sanctuary far from home in Holy CrossContinue reading “Murder, treason, and exile”
Three sanctuary breaches
The last years of Henry VII’s reign (he died in 1509) are often seen as rife with judicial corruption. That might not be completely fair, but there were lots of cases with odd outcomes in these years. Three sanctuary breach cases ended up in King’s Bench on the same day in 1508. The first involvedContinue reading “Three sanctuary breaches”
Insult and murder in Staffordshire
In July 1502, Nicholas Stonewall, a husbandman of Longdon, Staffordshire, confronted his neighbour Robert Wright for having called Stonewall’s father a “carlabundum,” a bound churl or serf. That started a quarrel. Stonewall assaulted Wright and Wright struck back, killing Stonewall. The inquest jury might have recounted the fight to put the blame square on Wright:Continue reading “Insult and murder in Staffordshire”
Get-out-of-jail-free card?
There were quite a few sanctuary breach cases 1500-10, suggesting that either local authorities were pushing the envelope on sanctuary, or felons were trying to use allegations of breach as a get-out-of-jail-sort-of-free card. Though some have seen these cases as part of a “judicial assault” on sanctuary, that’s not quite accurate. In cases coming toContinue reading “Get-out-of-jail-free card?”
Arsenic and old lace
A rare woman sanctuary seeker, an alleged husband-murderer no less: in July 1503, a coroner’s inquest over the body of Richard Bery at Sevenoaks, Kent, ruled that he had been murdered by his wife Agnes. The jurors reported that Agnes had administered ratsbane (arsenic) to her husband in his food and drink (though nothing inContinue reading “Arsenic and old lace”
Feud in Teesdale
Eight men from villages in Teesdale – six of them with the surname Appleby – sought sanctuary at Durham Cathedral for two different homicides in 1505. This seems to have a spiralling feud of some sort; it may have had a prelude in 1496 involving canons from a Premonstratensian abbey. In March 1505 John, Thomas,Continue reading “Feud in Teesdale”
Scheming to escape
In 1504, two felons took sanctuary at St Mary Overey in Southwark. Two constables, John Rogerson and John Laurence (both with day jobs, as tailor and cooper), duly called the coroner so the felons could abjure. The next day, the constables brought the coroner, but the two felons – John Sampyre, yeoman of Shrewsbury, andContinue reading “Scheming to escape”
Sanctuary Seekers in England, 1394-1557 