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”
Tag Archives: Homicide
Violence in Croydon, 1523
In 1523, William Wyld, a landlord in Croydon, employed local labourer Nicholas Drakes as his rent-collector. On 10 November around 9 in the morning, Drakes showed up at the door of the Storer family. The Storers’ rent was overdue and Drakes asked the household head, William Storer the elder, to pay up. Storer refused, DrakesContinue reading “Violence in Croydon, 1523”
Two sides to a story
In late August 1524, two husbandmen of Worth in Kent quarrelled, and one ended up dead. Two different versions of this homicide were presented in court when the case came up for trial: one laying guilt on the perpetrator, the other on the victim. When a coroner’s inquest was convened over the body of EdwardContinue reading “Two sides to a story”
A “certificate of persons within St Martin’s sanctuary,” 1525
In 1525 – probably as a result of a fact-finding mission directed by the king’s right-hand man Cardinal Wolsey – a “certificate” of the “persons within St Martin’s sanctuary” was drawn up. This is a fascinating snapshot of 1520s sanctuary seekers. There were 12 people listed, 11 men, 1 woman. In another post I lookedContinue reading “A “certificate of persons within St Martin’s sanctuary,” 1525″
Poaching in the king’s deer park
Though we often think of deer-poaching as a medieval thing, Henry VIII still kept deer parks where only he and his companions could hunt. In 1526, an altercation between the king’s gamekeeper and a poacher ended in the poacher’s death. One day in late May, yeoman Thomas Otefeld of Narborough, Leicestershire, entered the Chase ofContinue reading “Poaching in the king’s deer park”
Death of a tinker
A 1526 coroner’s inquest jury reported that Stafford dyer John Ithel had been minding his own business in the suburb of Forebridge when tinker Gilbert Hethe attacked him. Ithell struck back (the jurors said) in self-defence. Immediately after their encounter, as Hethe hung between life and death from the wound Ithell had inflicted on him,Continue reading “Death of a tinker”
The tragedy of the Watsons: domestic violence and corruption in London, 1527
In February 1527 London brewer John Watson stabbed his pregnant wife Isabel in a quarrel. When she fell apparently lifeless to the floor, he first tried to hang himself but failed, then ran to Westminster sanctuary. In the months that followed, Isabel languished between life and death while her husband and her brother-in-law tussled overContinue reading “The tragedy of the Watsons: domestic violence and corruption in London, 1527”
Sir Banger
In 1527 yeoman John Mathew assaulted and killed “a certain priest vulgarly called Sir Banger.” Yes, the whole point of this post is to point out that a 16th-c priest was nicknamed Sir Banger. Mathew revealed this homicide when he took sanctuary later that year at a London church, All Saints Bread Street. He alsoContinue reading “Sir Banger”
Cop takes sanctuary, London 1528
The London civic government and especially its sheriffs were hostile and aggressive towords felons who avoided arrest by running to sanctuary. So it was pretty embarrassing in 1528 when one of the sheriff’s staff had to flee to St Martin le Grand. On 16 April 1528, sheriff’s servant Robert Panke was in the Rose tavernContinue reading “Cop takes sanctuary, London 1528”
Accusations and reversals
When an accused criminal was indicted in an English court, the indictment reads as established fact, an account of something that actually happened. We need to exercise skepticism, though: it was not always so. In 1529, a London tailor named Henry Hawes was found dead in the parish of St Boltulph Aldersgate and a coroner’sContinue reading “Accusations and reversals”
Sanctuary Seekers in England, 1394-1557 