On 14 April 1474 William Forster alias William Launder sought sanctuary in the church of St Clement Danes, west of London. The coroner’s memo of the abjuration is unusual: it was written in the first person, from the point of view of the abjurer. Forster identified himself as a yeoman of London but also ofContinue reading “Welsh swords for hire”
Tag Archives: Homicide
Felonious priests and benefit of clergy
On 3 September 1475, a chaplain named Richard Parenet of Warwickshire took sanctuary at St Augustine’s priory in Daventry, Northants. He confessed to the coroner that 16 years before he had committed murder. Together with two yeomen of Lincolnshire, in 1459 he had assaulted William Saunderson of Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, in Gainsborough, with a bastard (orContinue reading “Felonious priests and benefit of clergy”
Sanctuary-seeking and the residents of St Martin le Grand
On February 8, 1476, a coroner’s inquest jury in the parish of St Anne Aldersgate over the body of a London yeoman, William Duglas, reported that pewterer John Walker had murdered him. Jurors said that Duglas had been walking in God’s peace and the king’s about 3 P.M. when Walker suddenly attacked him with aContinue reading “Sanctuary-seeking and the residents of St Martin le Grand”
Murder with a staff in East Smithfield
In October 1475, John Gogh, yeoman of Theydon Garnon, Essex, attacked William Chadworth the younger, esquire, at East Smithfield outside London – he hit him on the head with a staff. Chadworth died from his wound early in the new year and, according to the indictment, Gogh then fled (on the feast of the Epiphany,Continue reading “Murder with a staff in East Smithfield”
A typical Durham sanctuary seeker
In the later 1470s, records for sanctuary seekers at Durham Cathedral become more frequent, coinciding with an uptick in sanctuary-seeking throughout the kingdom. Christopher Holme was relatively typical of Durham’s seekers. Christopher Holme confessed to the cathedral official on 4 June 1477 that six weeks before, he’d been in company with Henry Stobbes and HumphreyContinue reading “A typical Durham sanctuary seeker”
Beverly, a sanctuary town
In July 2019, I visited Beverley for the first time: I was impressed to see the sanctuary town, including the purported “frith stool” in Beverley Minster. Alas, sanctuary seekers probably didn’t use this seat; but though our guide told me that tales of sanctuary at Beverley were invented by fanciful Victorian antiquarians, we do indeedContinue reading “Beverly, a sanctuary town”
To Murder a Monk
Another early entry in the Beverley sanctuary register is for John Boys, who interestingly was from Durham – he travelled about 150 km from the perfectly good sanctuary in his own home town to enter Beverley sanctuary on 24 May 1478. Maybe he decided to go to Beverley because he committed what we might imagineContinue reading “To Murder a Monk”
A murderer escaping punishment, or a false accusation?
A 1478 a London coroner’s inquest jury, convened over the body of John Aventry of London, gentleman, reported that one Richard Edriche, a London hackneyman, had lain in wait to attack Aventry. Edriche (they said) assaulted Aventry with a staff, giving him a wound from which he died about a month later. Edriche then (onContinue reading “A murderer escaping punishment, or a false accusation?”
Feud in Cumbria?
Something was going on in the Cumbrian town of Sedbergh in the late 1470s. It seems to have started in July 1477, when Thomas Wadeson, a labourer of Sedbergh, beat John Wilson with a clubstaff, giving him a wound on his head from which Wilson died two days later. Nearly two years later, in AprilContinue reading “Feud in Cumbria?”
Galloping to sanctuary
Amongst the Beverley sanctuary seekers was John Marshall, painter of Banbury, Oxfordshire. He sought sanctuary at Beverley on 14 December 1479 for the death of a man whose name was unknown to him. He–somehow–killed him in a certain pit (delva) by Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire. Marshall must have hightailed it to Beverley, because he showed upContinue reading “Galloping to sanctuary”
Sanctuary Seekers in England, 1394-1557 