The Raynsfords, an important Essex gentry family, patronized St John’s abbey in Colchester; this was in itself unremarkable, as pious gentlefolk often donated to their favourite local monastery. The monks of St John’s offered the Raynsfords more than prayers for departed ancestors, however: they also provided asylum when the Raynsfords themselves and their retainers committedContinue reading “The Raynsfords and their local sanctuary: aristocratic criminality, Tudor-style”
Tag Archives: Homicide
Prison fight
In 1515 a coroner’s inquest at the Marshalsea prison for prisoner Robert Croke found another prisoner, Thomas Tyler, had killed Croke in a knife fight. Tyler came before the justices at King’s Bench on Croke’s homicide two years later (which seems a long delay). At trial, Tyler – rather oddly – pleaded sanctuary, not becauseContinue reading “Prison fight”
Henry VIII and the sanctuary men of St Martin’s
In the King’s Book of Payments, three times between late 1514 and mid-1516, Henry VIII gave 100 shillings (£5) for the support of two men in the sanctuary of St Martin le Grand. The two men, John Gamlyn and Thomas Porter, were termed in the records “prisoners, sanctuary men.” But why was the king supportingContinue reading “Henry VIII and the sanctuary men of St Martin’s”
Murderer in priest’s clothing
In 1516 John Bewesbury, a shoemaker of Maidstone in Kent, assaulted John Hudson, also of Maidstone. Stabbing him with the usual knife, Bewesbury gave Hudson a wound from which he died several weeks later. Bewesbury fled to the collegiate church of All Saints in Maidstone to claim sanctuary. He later escaped, the inquest jurors reported,Continue reading “Murderer in priest’s clothing”
Sanctuary and the Hunne affair
One of the most notorious English scandals of the mid-1510s was the death in custody of Richard Hunne, a London merchant tailor in battle with his parish priest. One of the men accused in his death fled to sanctuary. Hunne’s quarrel with his parish priest involved a customary fee for the burial of one ofContinue reading “Sanctuary and the Hunne affair”
Asylum at the Bristol Temple Fee
In 1516 three Bristol men (John White; John Johnson; and Edward Fowler) were indicted for a murder in the Kingswood forest outside Bristol, bringing up another problematic sanctuary case. When brought before King’s Bench weeks later, they pleaded sanctuary, claiming that they had taken asylum at the Temple Fee in Bristol, a property originally belongingContinue reading “Asylum at the Bristol Temple Fee”
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”
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”
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 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 Seekers in England, 1394-1557 