tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53210382975532605582024-03-14T04:22:41.589-07:00Irish Plea RollsAinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17277414701801283815noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321038297553260558.post-81294820869955762242018-03-31T15:48:00.002-07:002018-04-02T21:40:00.372-07:00Abduction and Rape in Late Medieval Ireland, England and Scotland<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;">The events over the last few weeks in Belfast have compelled me to write a blog post about rape that I have had in the back of my mind for several months. The original impetus for writing something on this topic came from a blog post by The Public Medievalist, which can be found here: <a href="https://www.publicmedievalist.com/got-rape-and-middle-ages/">https://www.publicmedievalist.com/got-rape-and-middle-ages/</a> Parts of this post have aged pretty badly since it was written in 2015, particularly in the wake of the #MeToo movement. I found the following paragraph, using the Matt-Damon-not-all-men argument, particularly disconcerting:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;">Not all medieval men were Ramsay Bolton—though it seems as though their society encouraged them to behave more like Ramsay than like Tyrion. Many of the social norms described above are abhorrent. But it is important not to ignore medieval men’s basic humanity when trying to recuperate the basic humanity of medieval women.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ramsay Bolton is a particularly violent character on Game of Thrones, a fictional television show, and while his behaviour may not be considered normal, there is certainly plenty of evidence for gender violence in non-fictional medieval sources. I am at a loss as to why violence against women cannot be discussed without making it some sort of attack on “medieval men’s basic humanity”! No one is arguing that all medieval men were potential rapists. Notwithstanding, rape was more prevalent than the author of the post is willing to admit. One of the main problems of the post was that he focused on rape within marriage, for which there is very little evidence, since</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> it wasn’t illegal to “rape” your spouse up to the very recent past (which he does acknowledge). Of course, men did rape their wives and other family members, but, generally, these incidents were not reported in the sources. Women were dependent on their kinsmen for food and shelter, therefore reporting these rapes and other violent acts had the potential of making them destitute. There is certainly plenty of evidence of men having sexual relationships with their servants and we must ask ourselves how much choice did these women have? Were these consensual relationships? It is impossible to tell in most cases. Unfortunately, most examples of sexual violence that appear in the sources are rapes that were committed by strangers or casual acquaintances, therefore there is a large hole in our knowledge about rape in the medieval period.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This blog will focus on abduction and rape in late medieval Ireland, with a few examples drawn from England and Scotland. References to rape in the sources can be quite problematic because <i>Raptus</i>, for example, </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">could mean either rape or abduction, or both, particularly from the end of the thirteenth century onwards, when the first and second Statutes of Westminster (1275 and 1285) combined these two different offenses into one under common law. Both of these statutes were enforced in Ireland in 1285. The legal historian J.P. Post argued that these offenses were combined so that courts could punish abductions that were consensual. This might suggest that the courts were more concerned about opportunistic men abducting women for material gain or social advancement, than they were about violence against women. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "liberation" serif , serif;">Lucretia's rape by Sextus Tarquinius, and her suicide - Anonymous, from an illuminated </span></span><span style="font-family: "liberation serif" , serif;">mid-sixteenth century manuscript,</span><span style="font-family: "liberation serif" , serif;"> southern Germany (perhaps Tübingen)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A statute from Richard II’s reign further shifted the onus for pursuing rapists and abductors onto the family of the victim rather than the woman herself. This is perhaps another indication that there was more concern about the financial and material loss suffered by the woman’s relatives, than her own personal well-being. In Scotland, there really isn’t any statutes comparable to those enforced in England and Ireland. There is one statute from 1318 stating that if anyone in the army commit rape that he should be indicted before the justiciar.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I will treat abductions separately from rape because not all abductions involved rape. Moreover, in many cases they weren’t even violent events, where the woman was carried away unwillingly. Some women co-operated in their abductions, and it would perhaps be more accurate to call these examples elopements rather than abductions. Therefore, when I was looking at the sources I tried to separate those that I felt were not violent in nature. Cases, for example, like that of Isolda le Hore from county Wexford. In 1312, Roger, Stephen, Geoffrey and Nicholas Furlong were accused of abducting her against her will, but Isolda had gone with Roger of her own free will and became his mistress. In West Derbyshire in 1292, Laurence of Binnington was accused of ravishing Joan Gam and abducting her against her will, it was later established that she had gone willingly with him. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Occasionally, even though the abductions were not planned in advance or agreed to by the women involved, they sometimes led to happy unions. Like the case in 1288, when William Douglas (ancestor of the earls of Douglas), abducted the widow Eleanor de Lovaine, daughter in law of the earl of Derby, from Faside Castle in East Lothian. They were married shortly afterwards, and Douglas paid Edward I £100 fine for the marriage in February 1290. Eleanor also paid the same fine of £100, not knowing that her husband had already paid it, so she seemed pretty keen to keep him! Later that year when Douglas was imprisoned by the English king, Eleanor posted bail for him, which she probably wouldn’t have done had she been forced into the marriage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Women sometimes either went along with their abductions, or made the best of the situation afterwards like Eleanor Douglas, or even arranged them to get away from husbands who were violent, cruel, or who they simply did not get on with. A famous example from Ireland is that of Derbforgaill, daughter of Murchad Ua Maeleachlainn, king of Meath, and wife of Tigernán Ua Ruairc, king of Bréifne, who was abducted by Diarmait Mac Murchada, king of Leinster in 1152. Derbforgaill appears to have been a willing accomplice in her own abduction and the fact that she took her cattle and chattels with her suggest it was well-organised. Derbforgaill may have been unhappy with her husband, or her paternal Meath family may have been trying to forge an alliance with Leinster, we don’t really know why she decided to go with Diarmait. Diarmait’s reasons are much more clear, since Ua Ruairc (Derbforgaill’s husband) had tried conquer Leinster twenty years earlier. Most people agree that it wasn’t a love match because Diarmait was in his 60s at this point and – to quote the historian F.J. Byrne, Derbforgaill “may have been fair, but was certainly forty.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Michael Prestwich reveals a similar ageist attitude towards the abduction of the wealthy heiress, Alice, Countess of Lincoln, who had previously been married to Thomas, earl of Lancaster. In 1336 Alice was abducted by Hugh de Frenes from Bolingbroke Castle and then was apparently raped. Prestwich concludes that Frenes was more interested in her vast estates because Alice was in her mid-fifties at the time of her abduction. This was the second time in her life that Alice had been abducted. While she was still married to the earl of Lancaster in 1317, she was abducted by the household knights of John de Warenne, earl of Surrey, a nephew by marriage of King Edward II. The motive for this abduction was to humiliate the earl of Lancaster, who had an antagonistic relationship with the earl of Surrey – so Surrey may have had similar motives to Diarmait Mac Murchada. Alice, like Derbforgaill, may have been a willing participant in her abduction. Lancaster appears to have neglected her and had several mistresses – and even though he was concerned about her property, there’s no evidence that he ever tried to get her back.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">These two abductions are separated by more than a century and a half but do share many similarities. In both cases the abductor’s aim was to humiliate the victim’s husband or they were acts of revenge for perceived wrongs originally done to the abductor by the husband. They may have also given these women the opportunity to get away from husbands that, for whatever reason, they did not want to be with. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In many cases, women who were abducted were of higher social status than their abductors. In fact, this appears to have been the case with Alice of Lincoln and her second husband Sir Ebolo Lestrange, though there is no evidence he abducted her, and it appears to have been a love-match. Being of high social status may have increased the potential for violence for these woman. It was not enough to abduct them, if men wanted to marry these women the relationship had to be consummated, and many women must have been raped. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In 1299 when Johanna de Clare, countess of Fife, was travelling to England, she was captured by Herbert de Morham between Stirling and Edinburgh. She was taken by force and imprisoned by Herbert, who also seized the property she had with her, which was valued at £2000. As well as being the widow of the earl of Fife, Johanna was also the daughter of Gilbert de Clare, seventh earl of Gloucester. Had Herbert been successful, this marriage would have transformed him from a rather obscure figure, to one of the wealthiest men in Scotland. Unfortunately, things did not end well for Herbert, who was hanged in London in 1306, along with the earl of Atholl.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Johanna of Fife’s case reveals that wealthy heiresses were abducted for their inheritance. Women of the gentry and merchant class, who had property, were also attractive targets for opportunistic poorer men. For example, in York in 1411, Agnes, the widow of wealthy brewer Hugh Grantham, married draper John Thornton. Afterwards, she was taken to ecclesiastical court by John Dale, who claimed he had previously contracted marriage with Agnes. Agnes confirmed that she had agreed to marry Dale, but that she had been forced to do so because he had abducted her, and threatened to rape her. Unlike Thornton, Dale was not a wealthy man and his motivations appear to have been for material gain because the court records reveal that Agnes was “a woman of great age”. It is likely that Agnes married John Thornton to protect herself from the unwelcome attentions of opportunists like Dale.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As we can see from these abduction cases, rape, or the threat of rape, was a factor in some of them and not in others. Now, I am going to specifically look at rape. Technically, rape was one of the few crimes that women could prosecute independently of their kinsmen according to Bracton. But the truth, however, was that women appeared in a wide range of medieval court records, particularly records dealing with land disputes. Women are often named in these documents along with their husbands. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">From my examination of the court records convictions for rape in Ireland appears to have been relatively rare, and this seems to tally with research done on rape in medieval England. In many cases women withdrew their accusations, and the sources hint that, at least on some occasions, this was because both parties had decided to settle outside court. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As well as these cases that were obviously consensual, there are also cases where women withdrew their accusations, not because they weren’t raped or abducted, but because they had decided to settle out of court. In one case in Blackburn in Lancashire in 1292 where Amaria daughter of William de Hoderforthwro withdraw charges of rape that she made against Henry son of Henry of Cunliffe, the court decided to press ahead anyway, and the jury found him guilty. Henry was fined one mark for the rape, and his victim Amaria was fined 10 shillings for withdrawing the claim. There are other examples of women claiming rape and then withdrawing. It is possible that this was because they had not been raped in the first place, but it is also possible that rapist and victim had come to some sort of settlement outside the court. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Hague, MMW, 10 A 11 fol. 10v Book 1</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Unfortunately, in most cases what sort of settlement both parties reached is not made explicit in the sources, but one case from Ireland in 1310 does offer some clues. Richard Tyrel of Castleknock pled guilty to the rape of Eva, daughter of William, whose full surname does not survive in the source, but it is probably London. This is a particularly unpleasant case because Eva was eleven years old at the time of the rape. Richard Tyrel was pardoned on the condition that he provide Eva with a husband when she came of age. It is possible that in other rape cases, parties came to a similar settlement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Richard Tyrel was forced to pay a large fine to the crown, and he had several pledges who promised he would pay this fine, which suggests Eva was not only a virgin, but was also of high social status. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Why would Richard rape Eva? It is possible that he raped her because of who she was. Around the time Richard raped Eva, his cousin Thomas Tyrel was accused of being an accomplice in the murder of John de Bonevill. John was married to Matilda, the widow of Thomas de London, who may have been Eva’s grandfather. </span>Bonevill<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> was a close associate of John </span>fitz<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Thomas, future </span>earl<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> of Kildare and the Tyrells were associates of Arnold le Poer, who had been acquitted of murdering John de </span>Boneville<span style="font-size: 12pt;">, even though he probably did kill him. As illustrated above, women were abducted to humiliate their families, Eva may have been raped for the same reason, which is quite disturbing considering her age.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Obviously, not all accusations of rape were true and women who made accusations against men and were either proved to be liars, or who did not pursue their cases, could be punished by the courts. For example, in Londale Lancashire in 1292 when Edusa of Hale accused Simon son of William of Allerton of rape, the courts ordered her arrest when she did not come to court to sue her appeal. In the same year, also in Lancashire, Godith, daughter of Richard of Wray accused Henry of Winmarleigh of raping her when she was a virgin, but he was able to prove that three years earlier Godith had a child and obviously wasn’t a virgin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Glanvill, who wrote <i>Treatise on the Laws and Customs of the Kingdom of England</i> in the twelfth century, advised that women who were raped had to show the injuries inflicted on her, particularly any bleeding, or ripped clothes. Glanvill may have been referring to the torn hymen, indicating that the woman was a virgin when she was raped. Loss of virginity could potentially reduce a woman’s marriage prospects; therefore, some may have wanted to publicise the fact that her virginity had been taken unwillingly. Women did report bleeding in the court records, but the women could not have been always virgins, since some of them were married at the time of their attack. Does this suggest that sometimes the attacks were so violent that they drew blood, or was the language used by clerks who recorded these cases so formulaic that they automatically added in these details?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Some sources can be problematic, and they don’t really give a clear indication as to if women were engaging in sexual activities because they wanted to, or because they were forced to. In Ireland there are quite a few examples of women having relationships with outlaws and members of criminal gangs. In many cases it is difficult to establish how much choice women had in these relationships. Henry Tyrel, cousin of Richard who I have already mentioned, was an outlaw accused of committing adultery with Arnald Penrys’ wife, and bringing her with him when he travelled around the country. The court record does not reveal her name, or if she was his willing companion. In 1311 when Wasmayr Okenwan was accused of receiving a group of outlaws into him home, he claimed that they were sleeping with his wife and daughter and he did not do anything because he feared they would kill him. Again, the names of the women are not recorded. In the same year in Waterford Adam Osmer was accused of receiving a group of robbers led by Robert le Poer. Robert had taken Adam’s daughter as his mistress and visited Adam’s house against his will to talk to her. Adam claimed to be too afraid of Robert to stop him. And yet again, his daughter is not named in the sources. There is no indication in any of these women wanted to be with these men, or if, like their fathers and husbands, they were afraid of them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What punishment could rapists and abductors expect to receive? According to Bracton, in his <i>On the Laws and Customs of England</i>, written in the mid-thirteenth century, anyone who raped a virgin should have their eyes put out and they should also “lose as well the testicles which excited his hot lust.” Rather bizarrely, if the rapist was accompanied by a horse or dog during the rape it too would be castrated. If he had a hawk it would lose its beak, claws and tail.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In reality, the worst punishment most rapists faced was a fine. Anyone who was executed usually committed several other types of crime as well, especially robbery, therefore it can’t be said they were executed because they were rapists. Their punishment was probably closely linked to their social status, and the social status of the victim. I have noticed some cases where the perpetrator is dead before the case comes to court, and it may be that the victim’s friends and family dealt with the matter themselves. </span> </span><br />
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Ainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17277414701801283815noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321038297553260558.post-15293694746983308032017-01-05T19:25:00.001-08:002017-01-05T19:27:51.258-08:00Monks behaving badly<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBHSFeFOlV9VGyIj3gxAJDP0VY-viF6irmfiyj6a_Fv1IYMhUDNQ6pEFsTp1Ol9Y_YmLrI-e5xusWgNd_eLJL8GBJngg6j57V2P5U0uREu3VCltv4meAbLr72kig34Ecqa4JeeakOMnz0Y/s1600/abbot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBHSFeFOlV9VGyIj3gxAJDP0VY-viF6irmfiyj6a_Fv1IYMhUDNQ6pEFsTp1Ol9Y_YmLrI-e5xusWgNd_eLJL8GBJngg6j57V2P5U0uREu3VCltv4meAbLr72kig34Ecqa4JeeakOMnz0Y/s400/abbot.jpg" width="338" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;">A well-behaved monk</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It has been almost a year since my last blog post! I can’t believe how quickly 2016 has flown by and we are now in a bright and shiny new year. I have been busy writing articles and getting my business off the ground over the past few months (I am now a self-employed historical researcher: <a href="http://ainefoley1.wixsite.com/research">http://ainefoley1.wixsite.com/research</a>), so I haven’t had enough time to write new blog posts. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I wanted to write a blog post for the new year and I decided to write about an event that I spoke about at one of the Milestones of Medieval Dublin lunchtime talks a few months back. I have been doing some research into the abbey of St Thomas the martyr, which was situated just west of the city walls of Dublin during the medieval period. During the course of this research I found a court case from a lost plea roll, which was published in <i>Monasticum Hibernicum</i>. This volume was compiled by Mervyn Archdall, an eighteenth century Irish antiquarian and clergyman. In it there is a transcription of a court case from 1392, which is of great interest, since there is very little surviving from the end of the fourteenth century.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The entry is as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>1392. John Serjeant was abbot, as appears from the following indictment before James Earl of Ormond, Lord Justice of Ireland. William Fitz Hugh, goldsmith, was indicted, for that Richard Totterby and others of the canons formed a conspiracy to attack the abbey, assisted by the mob and armed power of the city, with intent to drag thereout John Serjeant the abbot, and all his party, or to kill them there; for which purpose Totterby gave the sum of forty marcs to John Maureward, the mayor of Dublin, and John Drake, merchant, to induce them to perpetuate the said deed; and to procure this money, Totterby and the other conspirators stole a cross, several chalices, and other rich effects to the value of 100 marcs (all belonging to the said abbot), and pledged the same with William Fitz Hugh, goldsmith; and that the said mayor and John Drake received the money, knowing of the said theft; that the mayor and bailiffs rang the city bell, and with William Fitz Hugh and others of the citizens armed, did, with intent and malice aforethought, attack the abbey; that the Lord Justice sent to the said mayor and his adherents, Robert de la Freyne, knight, Edmund Berle, one of the principal citizens, Robert Hereford, knight, constable of the army, and Edward Perrers, marshal of the king, to enjoin the mayor and his followers to depart and disperse, under the penalty of the forfeiture of all their goods; notwithstanding which, they not only persisted in their evil designs, but brought fire to burn the abbey; and after destroying several hosts, and breaking the windows, they surrounded the King's officer's, and forcibly rescued from them Thomas Serjeant, Simon de la Valle, Walter Foil, John Derpatrick, Henry Fitz Williams, Patrick Wyse and William Rower, clerks; that the mayor, with his party, did there kill Roger Savage, and did forcibly take from William Foil one lance, value sixteen pence, and one halbert value two shillings; from William Rower, clerk, one portiforium, value forty shillings; from John Horsley, one pair of leg harness, value twenty-pence, an iron head-piece, value eight-pence, &c., and from William Rower a bow and twenty arrows, value half a marc, &c. John Gerrard was also indicted for having, with an armed force, feloniously broke into the abbey by night, and for confining the abbot and canons, destroying the dormitory and several hosts, and robbing the abbot of four coats of mail, value of each twenty shillings, and twenty blankets, each of value of five shillings. But Gerrard pleaded the King's pardon.</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This is a very juicy entry indeed and Archdall appears to have found it interesting enough to transcribe the plea roll entry in its entirety. St Thomas’s abbey was one of the most important ecclesiastical houses in Ireland and it was also the only royal foundation in Ireland during the medieval period – it was founded by Henry II<b> </b>shortly after the invasion of Ireland in restitution for the death of Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, who had been murdered by Henry II’s knights. Unfortunately, no trace of St Thomas’s abbey remains above ground today, but this plea roll entry gives us an important glimpse of the importance of the abbey during the medieval period – it was so important that men were willing to kill to become its abbot! It also reveals that relations between the abbey and the city of Dublin could sometimes be tense and even spill over into violence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Before I discuss the actual attack on the abbey, I am going to look at some of the reasons why there may have been animosity between the abbey and the city of Dublin. The abbey was substantial, as you can see on Speed’s Map pictured below and it stretched from Thomas Street to the Coombe. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The abbey also held Donore, just south of the abbey precinct and it is likely that these lands had previously belonged to the city. The Coombe river, which runs through </span>Donore<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> was also known as Commons Water, which suggests it was part of the common lands of the city (i.e. lands that the citizens could use for grazing animals). Obviously, the citizens would not have liked losing such a substantial parcel of land so close to the walls of the city. There were often disagreements between city and abbey as to where the boundary between their lands lay, and the city often attempted to claim jurisdiction over the abbey, even though it was a liberty and technically should have been answerable only to the Crown. In 1282, Stephen de Fulburn, bishop of Waterford and justiciary of Ireland, ordered the sheriff of Dublin to prevent the mayor and commonalty of Dublin city from hearing cases involving tenants of St Thomas abbey, because they were under the jurisdiction of the abbot’s court.</span><sup style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><sup><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;" title="">[2]</a></span></sup></sup></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Another court case from 1306 reveals the tensions that existed between the city and the abbey, when Alan the Baker seriously assaulted the abbot’s miller. Alan, who was Thomas de Snyterby’s servant, was caught by Hugh, the abbey’s miller, opening the sluices to provide more water (which belonged to the abbey) to power his lord’s mill. The miller attempted to arrest Alan, but Alan struck the miller on the head with a stone concealed in his glove, and Hugh “fell on the ground half dead.” The abbot, Richard Sweteman, was not willing to let Alan away with this attack on his servant and he allegedly assaulted him on the highway close to the abbey and imprisoned him in the abbey’s prison. In spite of almost killing Hugh, Alan brought the abbot to court for false imprisonment, and in response he was charged with making a false claim against the abbot. However, in this case de Snyterby and Sweteman were able to resolve the matter between themselves.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><sup><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[3]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></sup></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There is also evidence that the citizens resented paying the tolboll to the abbey. The tolboll was, in simple terms, a brewing tax. The abbey got a proportion of all the ale and mead made and sold by brewers and innkeepers in the city of Dublin.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" title=""><sup><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[4]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></sup></a> The abbey was granted this charter by John while he was lord of Ireland, but before he became king in 1199. The abbey was entitled to a gallon and a half of the best brew, and the same amount of the second brew. The brewers in the city attempted to avoid paying the tolboll and the abbey had to take them to court on different occasions to force them to pay it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Not only had the citizens of Dublin managed to avoid paying the abbey the </span>tolboll<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> that they owed them for several decades, they had also stopped paying the tithe of the </span>rent<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> of the city granted to them by King John. In 1390 the abbot and canons sent a petition to the king, Richard II, requesting that the mayor and bailiffs be ordered to pay them the tenth part of the rent of the city which was owed to them, and which was now in arrears.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;" title=""><sup><sup><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[5]</span></sup></sup></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> In response a writ was sent to the treasurer and chamberlains of the Dublin exchequer, requesting information about the amount that was owed to the abbey. The Exchequer assessed the amount owed to be £166 13s 4d., at the rate of 20 marks yearly.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;" title=""><sup><sup><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[6]</span></sup></sup></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> This meant that the </span>tithe<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> had not been paid for several years. In response, a letter close was sent to the mayor and bailiffs of Dublin on 17 March 1391 ordering them to pay this money.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;">1390 petition sent from the abbot and canons of St Thomas's to the king (TNA, SC 8/249/12448)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The abbey’s dogged pursuit of its rights undoubtedly exacerbated the tensions experienced between the abbey and the city and in 1392 these conflicts turned to violence. The plea roll entry above reveals that in this year, some of the leading citizens of the city, including the mayor and bailiffs, attacked the abbey and may have even attempted to kill the abbot. Though their recent legal battles may have been a factor in this eruption of murderous rage, there were internal hostilities within the abbey that played a part in the violence too. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Conflict arose after the death of the abbot, Thomas Scurlag,</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;" title=""><sup><sup><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[7]</span></sup></sup></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> and two of the canons competed to become the next abbot. Richard </span>Tutbery<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> had royal assent, but John </span>Serjaunt<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> received papal assent.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;" title=""><sup><sup><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[8]</span></sup></sup></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> When King Richard II found out Serjaunt has assumed the office of abbot without royal approval he ordered the justiciary of Ireland to arrest him. </span>Serjaunt<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> was accused of ousting the rightful abbot Richard </span>Tutbery<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> and spending and consuming the goods and chattels of the abbey.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;" title=""><sup><sup><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[9]</span></sup></sup></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The plea roll entry reveals that instead of waiting for the matter to resolve itself, Tutbery chose to take the law into his own hands. He and some of the other canons formed a conspiracy to either oust Serjaunt or kill him. They enlisted the help of John Mareward, mayor of Dublin, and John Drake, a merchant, to help them carry out this deed. Mareward and Drake were paid 40 marks for their assistance. To fund this enterprise, Tutbery and his fellow conspirators stole a cross, chalices and other items worth 100 marks from the abbey and pawned them to William fitz Hugh, who was a goldsmith. The mayor enlisted the help of the bailiffs of the city, William fitz Hugh the Goldsmith and some of the other citizens of the city to attack the abbey. The justiciar sent several men from Dublin castle to quash this rebellious behaviour, including Robert de la Freyne, knight, Edmund Berle, who had himself served as mayor of Dublin in 1382, Robert Hereford, knight and constable of the army, and Edward Perrers, the king’s marshal. The mob was ordered to disperse, but instead of being subdued they grew more agitated and pushed ahead with their plans to attack the abbey. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This was a remarkably audacious and dangerous decision, because by defying the king’s men, they now were in open rebellion against the crown. They attempted to burn down the abbey and managed to cause some destruction, including the breaking of some of the abbey’s windows. They surrounded the king’s officers and forced them to give up Thomas Serjaunt, Simon de la Valle, Walter Foil, John Derpatrick, Henry Fitz Williams, Patrick Wyse, and William Rower. These were canons of St Thomas’ abbey who supported John Serjaunt. Individual canons were rarely named in the sources; therefore, this is a rare find. Even in the abbey’s registers, aside from a few references to abbots, the canons are rarely named. The register in the <i>Royal Irish Academy</i> mentions two more: William de Cloncurry and John de Finglas,<a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" title=""><sup><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[10]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></sup></a> and in a court record from 1306 Martin le Bret is named as one of the attackers of Alan the Baker.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" title=""><sup><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[11]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></sup></a> These few references are invaluable as they offer us some clues as to who these men were. Serjaunt, Derpatrick and FitzWilliam were the surnames of prominent Dublin familes and the Vale family were another prominent gentry family mainly based in Co. Carlow. Other surnames inform us where canons originated from; John de Finglas probably came from north Dublin, and William de Cloncurry (who later became abbot himself)<a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" title=""><sup><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[12]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></sup></a> probably came from Kildare. Clearly, the major gentry families of Dublin and further afield supplied the abbey with its canons.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8qIoVvaP0Duwf6UO7G8poI6017xgaLxdtY8FDpSxn50Lt4CCAFim0IcJVP5B9nKY7DZ9t-JvYWMrO6jxHsziSQ27uyuzkegroNw3qkUzpj-y20_S1OVwR3TAgMFIlz2wbwnmYHrEjJbDZ/s1600/medieval+brawl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8qIoVvaP0Duwf6UO7G8poI6017xgaLxdtY8FDpSxn50Lt4CCAFim0IcJVP5B9nKY7DZ9t-JvYWMrO6jxHsziSQ27uyuzkegroNw3qkUzpj-y20_S1OVwR3TAgMFIlz2wbwnmYHrEjJbDZ/s400/medieval+brawl.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;">A medieval brawl</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The attack on St Thomas’ abbey resulted in the death of Roger Savage and items were also stolen from William Foil, John Horsley and William Rower. John Gerrard was indicted for breaking into the abbey at night, taking the abbot and canons prisoner, destroying the dormitory and robbing four coats of mail. In spite of his attack on the abbey, by 1395 Richard Tutbury had established himself as abbot of St Thomas’ abbey. He died in 1397, but he appears to have resigned before his death and it is possible it was out of guilt for the events that occurred in 1392.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftn13" name="_ftnref13" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;" title=""><sup><sup><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[13]</span></sup></sup></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> In the immediate aftermath of the attack on the abbey some of the perpetrators sought out pardons from the king including William Fitz Hugh the goldsmith, and in his pardon, it says that he came from London. John </span>Serjaunt<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> (still calling himself abbot of St Thomas’) and the canons listed above also sought a pardon.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftn14" name="_ftnref14" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;" title=""><sup><sup><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[14]</span></sup></sup></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> The abbot and canons must have been seeking a pardon for </span>Serjaunt’s<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> intrusion of the abbey. The surviving documents show no indication that Richard Tutbury, John Mareward, the mayor, or anyone else in the mob apart for William </span>fitz<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Hugh the goldsmith and John Gerrard sought out pardons.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In 1398 John Serjaunt, now just describing himself as a canon of St Thomas’ abbey, still appears to have hoped that he would regain the office of abbot. He claimed that Nicholas Abbot, Richard Tutbury’s successor “ordained himself” abbot and “remains therein to the perpetual discomfort of the house”. The king ordered the lieutenant to summon both men before him to resolve the matter.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftn15" name="_ftnref15" title=""><sup><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[15]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></sup></a> The outcome of the case is unknown, but if John Serjaunt’s aim was to get back the office of sheriff, he appears to have been unsuccessful. In the <i>Monasticon Hibernicum</i> Nicholas Abbot’s surname is given as O’Beaghan,<a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftn16" name="_ftnref16" title=""><sup><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[16]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></sup></a> if this is accurate Nicholas appears to have been an Irish man, or an Englishman with an Irish nickname. Considering how unwelcome Irishmen were in ecclesiastical houses in English Ireland, it would certainly be unusual to have an Irishman holding the highest office in such an important abbey. There is evidence, however, of at least one Irishman bequeathing land to the abbey. In either 1276–7 or 1283–6, during one of Walter Unred’s terms as mayor of Dublin, Walter the Irishman granted the abbey a messuage of land with its appurtenances in the parish of St Catherine. This charter provides a good deal of information about the property, it lay between a piece of land belonging the St Patricks and other charters reveal that the vicar of St Patricks held land on Thomas Street.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftn17" name="_ftnref17" title=""><sup><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[17]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></sup></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It would be easy to exaggerate the tensions between the citizens of the city of Dublin and St Thomas’ Abbey and court records are far more likely to report negative exchanges rather than positive ones. Indeed, even the troubles of 1392 appear to have been borne out of internal strife within the abbey, with the citizens being, admittedly enthusiastic, participants. This case reveals that some of the canons of the abbey, like Thomas Serjaunt, John de Finglas, John Derpatrick and Henry FitzWilliam shared surnames with some of the most prominent citizens of Dublin city and county. Abbots like John Serjaunt, Stephen Tyrell and Henry Duff (the last abbot before the abbey was dissolved) shared their surnames with mayors of Dublin.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftn18" name="_ftnref18" title=""><sup><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[18]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></sup></a> Despite their obvious difficulties, the fortunes of city and abbey were closely tied throughout the medieval period.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 107%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Mervyn Archdall, <i>Monasticum Hibernicum; or a History of the Abbies, Priories, and other Religious Houses in Ireland</i> (Dublin, 1786), pp 47-8.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 107%;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <i>CARD</i>, vol. 1, p. 167.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 107%;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <i>Calendar of Justiciary Rolls, 1305–7</i>, p. 256.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 107%;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="line-height: 107%;"> Henry F. Berry, 'Proceedings in the matter of the custom called tolboll, 1308 and 1385. St Thomas' Abbey v. some early Dublin brewers, &c.', <i>R.I.A. Proc.,</i> 28 (1910), C, p. 169.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 107%;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> TNA, SC 8/249/12448.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 107%;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> TNA, C 260/103/55.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 107%;">[7]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> COA, PH 15172, p. 299.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 107%;">[8]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <i>Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers</i>, vol. iv, 1362–1404, pp. 382, 441.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 107%;">[9]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <i>Cal. Close Rolls</i>, 1392–96, pp. 16-17<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 107%;">[10]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> RIA, 12 D 38, p. 107.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 107%;">[11]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <i>Calendar of Justiciary Rolls, 1305–7</i>, p. 255.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 107%;">[12]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Aubrey Gwynn, ‘The Early History of St. Thomas’ Abbey, Dublin’, <i>The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland</i>, Fifth Series, Vol. 84, No. 1 (1954), p 34.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftnref13" name="_ftn13" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 107%;">[13]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Mervyn Archdall, <i>Monasticon Hibernicum</i> (Dublin, 1876), p. 48.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftnref14" name="_ftn14" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 107%;">[14]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Rev. J. Graves, <i>A Roll of the Proceedings of the King’s Council in Ireland 1392-93</i> (London, 1877), pp 35, 55-6, 116-7, 188-9.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftnref15" name="_ftn15" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 107%;">[15]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Paul Dryburgh and Brendan Smith. <i>Handbook and Select Calendar of Sources for Medieval Ireland in the National Archives of the United Kingdom</i> (Dublin 2005) p. 162; <span lang="EN-US">E 28/4/73.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftnref16" name="_ftn16" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 107%;">[16]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Mervyn Archdall, <i>Monasticon Hibernicum</i> (Dublin, 1876), p. 48.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftnref17" name="_ftn17" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 107%;">[17]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> See, for example, RIA, 12 D 38, pp. 40, 43 (reverse), 44<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Aine/Documents/Academic/Plea%20rolls/Post%208%20Monks%20behaving%20badly.docx#_ftnref18" name="_ftn18" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 107%;">[18]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Aubrey Gwynn, ‘The Early History of St. Thomas’ Abbey, Dublin’, <i>The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland</i>, Fifth Series, Vol. 84, No. 1 (1954), p. 3</span>5.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Ainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17277414701801283815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321038297553260558.post-24561303013339384092016-01-14T16:14:00.001-08:002016-01-14T16:14:42.789-08:00Men behaving badly: Richard de Cantelup, sheriff of Kerry, and his followers<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Sadly, Alan Rickman,
who played the deliciously hammy sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood:
Prince of Thieves, passed away today. I am fascinated by the
activities of sheriffs and the plea rolls reveal that many of them
were just as dastardly and wicked as Rickman's sheriff. I think that
watching Rickman's portrayal of the sheriff played a large part in my
fascination with his real-life counterparts and it seems fitting to
write about one of them today: Richard de Cantelup, sheriff of Kerry.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMMapx0w3mH8pvDMeT_d60yWWk8P5GmaJkrz9j8Pbc8XHeAVPdKYQ9PEXp2H67quGP-6eQjCHthhg90RK5eYiq5dkHxkw3wuZy6RCzEA7qTUToJ7HNB2Gh3zYw9z0qXcyrj6D0j0H80JfK/s1600/Alan+Rickman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMMapx0w3mH8pvDMeT_d60yWWk8P5GmaJkrz9j8Pbc8XHeAVPdKYQ9PEXp2H67quGP-6eQjCHthhg90RK5eYiq5dkHxkw3wuZy6RCzEA7qTUToJ7HNB2Gh3zYw9z0qXcyrj6D0j0H80JfK/s640/Alan+Rickman.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alan Rickman as the sheriff of Nottingham</td></tr>
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<span lang="en-IE">Richard
</span><span lang="en-IE">de </span><span lang="en-IE">Cantelup,
served as sheriff </span><span lang="en-IE">of Kerry</span><span lang="en-IE">
at the end of the thirteenth century. </span><span lang="en-IE">He</span><span lang="en-IE">
and his family, w</span><span lang="en-IE">ere</span><span lang="en-IE">
responsible for a remarkable litany of violent behaviour - </span><span lang="en-IE">behaviour
they could obviously get away with because Richard was the most
powerful man in the county</span><span lang="en-IE">. </span><span lang="en-IE">In
1295, for example, </span><span lang="en-IE">Richard’s brother Adam
was charged with the murder of William FitzHugh in Limerick. </span><span lang="en-IE">At</span><span lang="en-IE">
the time </span><span lang="en-IE">of the murder</span><span lang="en-IE">
he was serving as Richard’s deputy, </span><span lang="en-IE">therefore
he was sheriff in all but name </span><span lang="en-IE">(</span><span lang="en-IE"><i>Calendar
of Justiciary Rolls</i></span><span lang="en-IE"><i> 1295-1303</i></span><span lang="en-IE">,
p. 22, called William, son of Yue in the source)</span><span lang="en-IE">.
</span><span lang="en-IE">As sheriff's deputy Adam summoned juries
and selected those who “pleased him”, i.e. who would do as they
were told. Others were allowed off jury duty in return for a gift to
the deputy. And by gifts I mean bribes. He selected 40 to 60 men to
serve on juries in Dublin, since he only needed 12, the gifts he
received from those who wished to avoid a trip to Dublin must have
been pretty substantial. </span><span lang="en-IE">If he hated
someone he would make sure they ended up on a jury, which goes to
show that jury service was never popular.</span><span lang="en-IE">
He also took “gifts” from felons, who were then taken into his
protection. </span><span lang="en-IE">As well as that, he interfered
in the duties of the office of coroner. </span><span lang="en-IE">
</span><span lang="en-IE">Adam pleaded benefit of clergy and paid a
fine of £33 6s 8d. Those “gifts” came in handy then. He had a
long list of pledges, including several members of his own family and
a lot of people who, </span><span lang="en-IE">I am guessing, managed
to</span><span lang="en-IE"> avoid jury duty. The passing of brown envelopes is not a recent development.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-IE"><br /></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUSrMl5GX_hA7PkeZDgAKW8caF1o-7OwJDs-Y6p_ucvmaXt8YF5-jrV0u0vZ4f5_JlJlrYX1b_0w3eGuoQf1C4Y6vYsmROVEfENaQ43zx5IU25PPl9KIHtCsrtTuSJ5F9Jn8XBny6pxUMw/s1600/Ireland-Counties.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUSrMl5GX_hA7PkeZDgAKW8caF1o-7OwJDs-Y6p_ucvmaXt8YF5-jrV0u0vZ4f5_JlJlrYX1b_0w3eGuoQf1C4Y6vYsmROVEfENaQ43zx5IU25PPl9KIHtCsrtTuSJ5F9Jn8XBny6pxUMw/s640/Ireland-Counties.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">County Kerry, where Cantelup was sheriff, is located on the bottom left-hand side of map.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-IE"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-IE">Another
</span><span lang="en-IE">Richard </span><span lang="en-IE">de</span><span lang="en-IE">
</span><span lang="en-IE">Cantelup,</span><span lang="en-IE"> a
king’s serjeant </span><span lang="en-IE">who was</span><span lang="en-IE">
probably a close relative of Richard the sheriff, was also charged
with being involved in th</span><span lang="en-IE">e</span><span lang="en-IE">
murder </span><span lang="en-IE">of William FitzHugh</span><span lang="en-IE">.
</span><span lang="en-IE">It's likely the Richard the king's serjeant
gained his office through his association with the sheriff –
nepotism was alive and well in fourteenth century Ireland! Additional
accusations against the </span><span lang="en-IE">serjeant</span><span lang="en-IE">
included imprisoning people </span><span lang="en-IE">who he
empanelled on Dublin juries, but who refused to give him gifts to
avoid jury duty (he clearly wasn't as charming as Adam). He also had
innocent people indicted for “his own and the Sheriff's profit”,
it appears people were forced to pay fines to line his pockets, and
that of the sheriff. The king's serjeant also forced the poor people
of Kerry to maintain him, his wife and two sons for a week or more </span><span lang="en-IE">at
a time</span><span lang="en-IE">. </span><span lang="en-IE">That must
have helped him keep the household bills down!</span><span lang="en-IE">
He was also </span><span lang="en-IE">accused of</span><span lang="en-IE">
robbing the bishop of Emly. </span><span lang="en-IE">He broke into
one of the bishop's chests and brought the contents back with him to
Kerry.</span><span lang="en-IE"> The most extraordinary crime
levelled against Richard was the accusation that he fed a child,
purportedly his son, to his pigs and then refusing to deliver the
pigs to the coroner. </span><span lang="en-IE">One assumes this child
wasn't one of the sons he was forcing the poor people of the county
to </span><span lang="en-IE">give room and board to</span><span lang="en-IE">.
Perhaps it was a stillborn or illegitimate child. He was accused of
receiving (i.e. giving aid to) his son Patrick, who was a robber and
</span><span lang="en-IE">(</span><span lang="en-IE">one assumes</span><span lang="en-IE">)</span><span lang="en-IE">
an adult, so the son who was murdered was probably considerably
younger than Patrick. Richard the king's serjeant</span><span lang="en-IE">
also had close associations with felons and robbers who were Gaelic
Irish in origin. </span><span lang="en-IE">Himself and Hosyn Ocobey,
clearly an Irishman, murdered Richard de Hereford.</span><span lang="en-IE">
The only punishment he received was a fine of 20 marks, and his list
of pledges included at least one sheriff </span><span lang="en-IE">(</span><span lang="en-IE"><i>Calendar
of Justiciary Rolls</i></span><span lang="en-IE"><i> 1295-1303</i></span><span lang="en-IE">,
pp 23-4)</span><span lang="en-IE">.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-IE">We
could argue that the murder of William FitzHugh wasn't carried out by
Richard the sheriff, but he was certainly behind it. The murdered man
was just about to take legal proceedings against the sheriff at the
time of his death. Coincidence? Probably not.</span><span lang="en-IE">
</span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-IE">The
sheriff was brought to court </span><span lang="en-IE">in Tralee</span><span lang="en-IE">
on the 9 June 1295, </span><span lang="en-IE">to answer some of the
accusations levelled against him, these are described in the
published Calendar of Justiciary Rolls, </span><span lang="en-IE">1295-1303,
pp 25-6. </span><span lang="en-IE">Here's a slightly edited version
of the case: </span>
</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdg1UdFPF4FawRyea0amIXuoEHPibtaDieTXTNnZH1TWWbMC5t6KdAbzXG2QLT8I76Lr-kxYoKUaWvlttjIeWwRVkCjvn_MyYf-mIUC6Fm5NS8vKQz7lPc-Kt6SUBgCOlbIhlHwkwmuDG/s1600/Tralee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdg1UdFPF4FawRyea0amIXuoEHPibtaDieTXTNnZH1TWWbMC5t6KdAbzXG2QLT8I76Lr-kxYoKUaWvlttjIeWwRVkCjvn_MyYf-mIUC6Fm5NS8vKQz7lPc-Kt6SUBgCOlbIhlHwkwmuDG/s320/Tralee.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Map of Kerry, with Tralee marked in red</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-IE">Pleas
of </span><span lang="en-IE">Plaints</span><span lang="en-IE"> before
Thomas son of Maurice, Custos of Ireland, at </span><span lang="en-IE">Trayly
[Tralee]</span><span lang="en-IE"> on </span><span lang="en-IE">Thur</span><span lang="en-IE">sday
before feast of S. Barnabas, a.r. xxiii. (</span><span lang="en-IE">9</span><span lang="en-IE">
June 1295)</span></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-IE">Richard
de Cantelup was charged that when Adam de Cantelup, Patrick son of
Robert de Cantelup, Henry son of Craddok, David son of Richard de
Cantelup, Fonercath Ogenenan, Maurice Carnely, Thomas son of Maurice
de Cantelup, Thomas son of Meyran de Cantelup, robbed John le
Oysillour of chattels to the value of 21d., said Richard received
them. And that he received Meyler Macgorgenych a felon for the death
of Richard Sabin merchant of Cork. And after Thoma</span><span lang="en-IE">s</span><span lang="en-IE">
Obrochan (in the time when said Richard </span><span lang="en-IE">was
sheriff) was taken for the death of Ralph de Cantelup, he caused the
limbs (</span><span lang="en-IE"><i>membra</i></span><span lang="en-IE">)
of Thomas to be cut off.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
And that he took the
lands of John son of Henry son of Rys of Lysgennan, for lack of a
syllable omitted from a writ. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-IE">And
when he asked Nicholas, bishop of Ardfert to confer the precentorship
of that church on Tho,as de Cantelup, his brother, and the Bishop
refused, the followers of Richard, then sheriff, by his direction
slew certain faithful men, Irishmen. Afterwards when Richard </span><span lang="en-IE">was
sheriff, the attorney of the escheator in Kerry falsely acquainted
John Rys, attorney of the Escheator in Ireland, that said Bishop,
when he obtained the temporalities of his bishopric, was not
confirmed by the archbishop; and John commanded Richard to take </span><span lang="en-IE">the
temporalities into the King's hand, which he did, with other goods of
the Bishop, and disposed of them at his will, to the Bishop's damage
of 40 marks.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
When William de
Fodeuile replevied a certain Irishman, his man, with his cattle, 33
cows, and within the day, he directed Thomas son of Daniel to slay
the Irishman, which he did, so that the cattle should remain to said
sheriff. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
And that his lands
which has of purchase, he has by money of the King and money which he
wrongfully obtained in the county by extortion, by which the county
is impoverished. And by oppression, Thomas de Fremantel was
constrained to sell his land of the Keyr to the Sheriff.<br />
<br />And when he took
general inquisitions, he with his clerks was accustomed to disclose
the indictments of felons. And when Alexander Stake lay for two years
sick in bed, said Richard as sheriff caused him to be named in writs
at Dublin, for which he was amerced in 20s. And when Maurice Stake
found pledges to come to the sheriff to county court of Arcdart, the
Sheriff, before the day assigned, came to Maurice, and Alexander
Stake and Robert Stake who likewise found pledges, and took their
goods to the value of 40s for which in fine he obliged Maurice to
give him a horse value 4 marks, and Alexander and Robert a mark for
pledge to come before the Justiciar. Also said sheriff took 10 cows
as a gift from Gilbert Broun which he robbed from Alexander Stake.
And he levied of William son of John son of Alexander, and of William
son of John son of Robert, half a mark in which they were not bound
to the King, for William son of John of Cloncalech, who owed that
money to the King. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
And that Adam de
Cantolup and Richard son of William de Cantolup, and Philip son of
Elias le Clerk, by direction of the Sheriff murdered William son of
Adam son of Yue, upon the bridge of Limerick, because he feared that
William would implead him of his land of Balyronan. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
He comes and gives
to the King £66 13s 4d that suit of peace may be pardoned to him and
to Patrick son of Robert de Cantolup, Thomas son of Meyran de
Cantelup, Elias and Thomas sons of Maurice de Canelup, of the
aforesaid trespasses and all others in Ireland to 10 June, so that
they answer in the King's court if any will to question them.<br />
<br />Pledges: Maurice son
of Thomas, Andrew Broun, Gilbert Broun, Richard Lonechest, Reymond
Stakepol, Ralph son of Richard, Hugh le Hore, John le Hore, Richard
son of Alexander, Simon Stakepol, William Rudel, John Rudel, Maurice
son of John, John de Carryg, William son of Thomas son of Elias,
Richard Keer de Cantolup, Ralph de Cantolup, Andrew de Cantelup,
Simon de Cantolup, and William de Cantolup.</blockquote>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-IE">The sheriff was accused of a litany of offences, including extortion, </span><span lang="en-IE">receiving thieves and robbers, most of who were members of his family or extended lineage. He
also received an Irishman who killed a merchant from Cork, </span><span lang="en-IE">he
appears to have had a lot of Irish followers as well, and there certainly wasn't a tendency to see his fellow Englishmen as friends and the Gaelic Irish as the enemy</span><span lang="en-IE">. Even if there was no love lost between the sheriff and some members of the English community in Kerry, the Cantelups themselves were clearly a close-knit bunch. as the court case demonstrates. The punishment meted out to </span><span lang="en-IE">Thomas Obrochan for murdering one of his kinsmen was particularly violent and gruesome. Cutting off limbs was not usually a normal part of a sheriff's duties. </span><span lang="en-IE">As evidenced by
the court case, e</span><span lang="en-IE">ven churchmen were not
safe from the sheriff’s proclivity towards violence. When Nicholas,
the bishop of Ardfert, refused to confer the precentorship of Ardfert
onto Richard’s brother Thomas </span><span lang="en-IE">de</span><span lang="en-IE">
Cantelup, the sheriff directed his followers to kill some of the
bishops faithful Irishmen. Richard also </span><span lang="en-IE">had
an Irishman killed</span><span lang="en-IE"> so he could keep his
cattle. Richard was also accused of fiscal corruption as well as the
violent acts outlined above.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-IE"><br /></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSWPu7xz5lXq3JonlVUolJvUbnzURfJITx4mE0-QjixslcQGNH7TJWyWg0PeKQOQaGTxEf3ZMF68SLVsCjaJGhUVeqZXGnu3jG3h8fAh05do4egaEvN7XPLdxPLdM_A0Y_2YhMCOTgGAHN/s1600/sheriff+of+Nottingham.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSWPu7xz5lXq3JonlVUolJvUbnzURfJITx4mE0-QjixslcQGNH7TJWyWg0PeKQOQaGTxEf3ZMF68SLVsCjaJGhUVeqZXGnu3jG3h8fAh05do4egaEvN7XPLdxPLdM_A0Y_2YhMCOTgGAHN/s1600/sheriff+of+Nottingham.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nickolas Grace, another excellent sheriff of Nottingham</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%;">When he was hauled into court to answer for his behaviour, he ended up having </span><span lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%;">to</span><span lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%;"> pa</span><span lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%;">y the pretty
hefty s</span><span lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%;">um of £66 13s 4d for a pardon. His
long list of pledges of good behaviour included many members of his
own family, again emphasising the sense of solidarity experienced
within a lineage</span><span lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%;">. </span><span lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%;">Clearly,
</span><span lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%;">judging by those who took part in his
criminal activities and his pledges,</span><span lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%;">
Richard </span><span lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%;">de</span><span lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%;">
Cantelup ha</span><span lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%;">d</span><span lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%;"> a
large group of followers, and this was usually true of the men who
served as sheriffs in the late medieval period. Where
evidence survives, it is possible to identify many members of the
sheriff’s extended lineage included in his posse. The use of
members of his own lineage in his posse would suggest that the line
between the sheriff’s own personal affairs and official business of
administering the county became blurred.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO0bxH71r3r8sAb536ioyL7cCto0r7gHzrqfWKLQDisbJo0wCxtDqE0IzrnsL74jAIJi5Lqivq7XyUOoIWWgGur9kF5lIwcaoVbWMGkXMFkcmPev8TyxI3YdfYqiFr0tUYaVkqz4eoeOi5/s1600/Alan-Rickman-as-the-Sheriff-of-Nottingham.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO0bxH71r3r8sAb536ioyL7cCto0r7gHzrqfWKLQDisbJo0wCxtDqE0IzrnsL74jAIJi5Lqivq7XyUOoIWWgGur9kF5lIwcaoVbWMGkXMFkcmPev8TyxI3YdfYqiFr0tUYaVkqz4eoeOi5/s320/Alan-Rickman-as-the-Sheriff-of-Nottingham.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%;"><br /></span></div>
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<br />
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-IE">You
might assume that </span><span lang="en-IE">Richard </span><span lang="en-IE">de</span><span lang="en-IE">
Cantelup’s litany of violent behaviour </span><span lang="en-IE">prevented
him from holding the office of sheriff of Kerry on future occasions,
but this was not the case. I</span><span lang="en-IE">n 1302, he again
occupied this office </span><span lang="en-IE">(</span><span lang="en-IE"><i>Calendar
of Documents relating to Ireland</i></span><span lang="en-IE">,
1302-1307, p. 28)</span><span lang="en-IE">. The tolerance displayed
towards his recalcitrant behaviour emphasises that the Crown could
not be too selective, and in spite of his often abhorrent conduct he
was clearly too valuable to be dispensed with. Sheriffs operating
further away from the centre of power in places like Kerry and
Limerick could arguably get away with more violent behaviour than his
equivalent in Dublin or Meath. The justiciary rolls reveal that
sheriffs at the periphery often behaved badly, though Richard </span><span lang="en-IE">de</span><span lang="en-IE">
Cantelup’s behaviour appears to be exceptional. </span>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote4">
</div>
Ainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17277414701801283815noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321038297553260558.post-47350152682008909662016-01-02T11:48:00.000-08:002016-01-02T14:16:14.721-08:00What happened to the bodies of executed felons in medieval Dublin (and where were they hanged)?<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">First of all, apologies for the gap between blog posts - I will try to do better in 2016!</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">The Irish plea rolls furnish us with many, many examples of executions, especially hangings, which appear to have been all too common in the late medieval period. What they do not tell us is where hangings took place and what happened to the body after death. Certainly, the bodies of those who had committed treason in England were put up on display after they were executed, and it is safe to assume that the same was true of Irish traitors. However these sort of executions were few in number and the executed were usually of high social status – for they had the most to gain and lose from committing acts of treason. We only have a handful of examples of execution for treason in Ireland. For example, in 1328 David O'Toole of Imaal, described as a “strong thief, the king's enemy, the burner of churches, the destroyer of the people”, was led from Dublin Castle to the Tholsel. There he was sentenced to be drawn through the city after a horse's tail to the gallows, there to be hanged, drawn and quartered. (<i>Calendar of the Carew Manuscripts Preserved in the Archiepiscopal Library at Lambeth, 1515-74</i>, vol. 5 (London, 1871) [<i>Book of Howth</i>], p. 150.</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 16px;">) </span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj74FeuJ2guW94GqDVKBHjZt7E05ozdSNkkqMNgbc1ajXcDsI_LBwjorOt6ZU072R3lKunX2O5bf4gJFq7czXvD_Cp7-NnE55HZEmKqb3AyaDc2Z3nWchDlIDqK0ifAcWXVZiDVo3Uv09Kt/s1600/Drawing_of_William_de_Marisco.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj74FeuJ2guW94GqDVKBHjZt7E05ozdSNkkqMNgbc1ajXcDsI_LBwjorOt6ZU072R3lKunX2O5bf4gJFq7czXvD_Cp7-NnE55HZEmKqb3AyaDc2Z3nWchDlIDqK0ifAcWXVZiDVo3Uv09Kt/s640/Drawing_of_William_de_Marisco.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">William de Marisco being drawn to the gallows (since I don't have a pic of David O'Toole)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">David was a notorious character, but where were the ordinary felons of medieval Dublin executed and what happened to their bodies after they died? The sources usually go silent after the felon is hanged, but one court record may provide some clues as to the ultimate fate of the remains of the executed. Ironically, these clues come from a case where the felons survived their hanging. A plea roll entry from 5 July 1311 describes how two convicted felons: Robert Goderd and Richard Faber – who were from Sandwich and Liverpool respectively – survived their hangings. They, along with William Rede, Roger Gategod and Alexander Botsweyn had been charged with assisting Thomas White, a mariner, in the murder of Robert Thursteyn, a royal official. These men were sailors and all of them, apart from William Rede were found guilty. It is possible that William had friends among the jurors. The other men were hanged but Goderd and Faber, who were presumed dead when they were cut down from the gallows, revived in the cart taking them to Kilmainham for burial. They took shelter in a church there and were subsequently pardoned.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">Here's the entry in full:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">William le Rede, Gilbert de Whithavene, Robert Godard of Sandewiz, Richard son of Robert Faber of Lyverpol, Roger Getegod and Alexander Botsweyn, charged that they were freely with Thomas le White, mariner, who feloniously slew Robert Thurstayn, giving him forcible assistance in the slaying, and so caused the death of the said Robert, come and defend, etc. Andrew de Asshebourne, Walter Keppok, Robert le Woder, John le Mareschal, Richard de Eytoun, William le Graunt, Robert Joye, William Fynsur, John de Capeles, Hugh de Carletoun, John Baret, Geoffrey de Tauntoun and John Bouet, jurors, say that William le Rede is not guilty, but that Gilbert, Robert Godard, Richard, Roger and Alexander are guilty. Therefore William is quit. Let Gilbert and the others be hanged. Chattels, none; they have no free land. Afterwards Robert Godard and Richard were taken down as dead from the gallows, and when carried in a cart to Kilmeynan to be buried were found to be alive and took refuge in a church there, and at the instance of John de Ergadia [i.e. John of Argyll], who asserts that they had set out with him to pay homage to the King in Scotland, and testifies that they are valiant and good strong mariners, suit of the peace is pardoned to them. (<i>Calendar of the Justiciary Rolls of Ireland: I to VII years of Edward II</i> [1308-14], ed. H. Wood and A.E. Langmen, rev. M.C. Griffith (Dublin, 1956), p. 219.</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 16px;">)</span></blockquote>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigvPC-_RUtnqjHPTDmlgJl_T5cKEsezCm5XzyL5WPqddhq7X6cUxRu6gFcqfzLlT2PQJ50y013dueFMKUperoO3cjSISevWTXGQQqYLHDJxyjlCvjZY-wKiVuqlt8L12-7S3MEelLcoxdZ/s1600/St+Michan%2527s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigvPC-_RUtnqjHPTDmlgJl_T5cKEsezCm5XzyL5WPqddhq7X6cUxRu6gFcqfzLlT2PQJ50y013dueFMKUperoO3cjSISevWTXGQQqYLHDJxyjlCvjZY-wKiVuqlt8L12-7S3MEelLcoxdZ/s320/St+Michan%2527s.jpg" width="310" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St Michan's Church, Dublin, where Adam Trop was taken after his execution.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">There was another interesting case from 1363 where Adam Trop also survived his hanging. This also took place in Dublin. We don't have the court records for this case, but the citizens of Dublin city were fined 100s because it was suspected they had somehow given aid to Adam. We only know about the case because it is mentioned in a patent letter dated 16 November 1363, where is says the citizens were pardoned. When he was cut down from the gallows he was carried to St Michan's Church for burial. The next morning he woke up, broke out of the church, and made his way to Kildare. On this occasion the sheriff of Dublin followed him, brought him back and this time successfully hanged him. I suspect if Adam had stayed in the church instead of escaping he would have stood a better chance of being pardoned, since most people in this situation appear to have been able to secure pardons for themselves. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC1_CCVMHmbpTstVCYm1iW59eZA1WXuT8M3v0l6dRCKXx5mSKgbQ26xuuQ3vm3Bd6PfFrkNy12nxBa0KTCX8CKa-ECqN-ODtKmF7efbuEaZv8E_pQVkfmh8I7s6cGzFxgL0pi7pptKVUR1/s1600/Adam+Trop.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC1_CCVMHmbpTstVCYm1iW59eZA1WXuT8M3v0l6dRCKXx5mSKgbQ26xuuQ3vm3Bd6PfFrkNy12nxBa0KTCX8CKa-ECqN-ODtKmF7efbuEaZv8E_pQVkfmh8I7s6cGzFxgL0pi7pptKVUR1/s640/Adam+Trop.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Letter from published Calendar of Patent Rolls</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">Both of these cases offer us some clues as to where felons were hanged and buried in Dublin. </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 16px;">Trop woke up in a church close to where he was hanged and Goderd and Faber appear to have been revived close to where they would have been buried. The county gallows was north of the river Liffey in the medieval and early modern periods – and it can be seen on the seventeenth century Down Survey map. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9eH95ziI-T45JZ5BJbhM51yeJFf35RvPiv_q7KkAj_W1HaaAXmdVEQa8o4U2dN6kSzF1KPSjff3ARjHxuuTw0PnXxIabLBQyeYzEQZp_gqVF4F2dWT74niVyhaGR2DesHyg34W9dmhJ6Q/s1600/2016-01-02+%25281%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9eH95ziI-T45JZ5BJbhM51yeJFf35RvPiv_q7KkAj_W1HaaAXmdVEQa8o4U2dN6kSzF1KPSjff3ARjHxuuTw0PnXxIabLBQyeYzEQZp_gqVF4F2dWT74niVyhaGR2DesHyg34W9dmhJ6Q/s640/2016-01-02+%25281%2529.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Down Survey map, gallows at centre of map.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 16px;">The exact location is unknown, but Hammonds Lane, close to St Michan's Church (where Trop was taken after his execution), was originally known as Hangman's Lane, so the gallows must have been in this vicinity. My guess would be that the original county gallows was located in the vicinity of Arbour Hill Prison. Gallows were often located on a hill and prisons were sometimes built on the same location where gallows had stood. Where Kilmainham Gaol was constructed was known as Gallows Hill in the seventeenth century and executions continued to be carried out just outside the prison after it was constructed, though the gallows was moved inside the prison when executions began to be carried out away from the public gaze during the course of the nineteenth century.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig9aYinzXZk4Mb2RSR7Rabq1QQZQhZjHCLu7c3Cyc92QenHeySRjBKDah3MJqhFMUxzmKj-20LEq6J4j-SQiepSNRpZMs_efA1iX_X_DL0FmZERCPcvZpGWy_yUClmbk1WlM-A6bwKaQG2/s1600/2016-01-02+%25282%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig9aYinzXZk4Mb2RSR7Rabq1QQZQhZjHCLu7c3Cyc92QenHeySRjBKDah3MJqhFMUxzmKj-20LEq6J4j-SQiepSNRpZMs_efA1iX_X_DL0FmZERCPcvZpGWy_yUClmbk1WlM-A6bwKaQG2/s640/2016-01-02+%25282%2529.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hammond Lane is marked in red at the lower right-hand side of map, Arbour Hill is located at top left-hand side. Both locations are about 700 metres apart.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">Trop was taken to St Michan's to be buried (and probably was when he was successfully executed a second time). Robert Goderd and Richard Faber woke up in Kilmainham, not far from the county gallows, but on the other side of the river. The Knights Hospitallers held Kilmainham at this time and they may have been responsible for executing and burying felons sentenced in the royal courts. In Clerkenwell, London, the Hospitallers often took on these gruesome duties (for a fee) and buried the dead in Pardon cemetery, which was adjacent to their priory. The Hospitallers may have been doing something similar in Dublin. Bully's Acre, a cemetery that may have been in use for over a thousand years and is reputed to be the burial site of some of those who died at the Battle of Clontarf, was in close proximity to the Hospitaller's priory and Kilmainham church. If the Hospitallers were responsible for disposing of the dead, they may have used their own cemetery. Certainly, in the modern period Bully's Acre was a pauper's graveyard, and may have been in the medieval period too. In England, the executed were often buried in the same cemeteries as the poor and destitute – not surprisingly, considering they too were probably of low social status. We don't know where Goderd and Faber were executed, it might have been on the gallows on the north-side of the river, but if the Hospitallers were responsible for both execution and burial they may have used their own gallows, which was likely to have been located where Kilmainham Gaol now stands. While most executions probably took place on the Arbour Hill site, there is nothing to say that executions were carried out elsewhere. While some executions were carried out on purpose-made gallows, trees were still commonly used in the fourteenth century, for example felons in London were executed on the elm trees at Tyburn. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJH7OkV2DljYPPAlWgH7zjwe1o2RJKRHZc7Owh0NF6jFw-8ZlV8swdsJBsO9WpqFkCBB6KzemyClr8aimT81vV63tWlojHp1rZbJ3iLZnC_KH1mLFODt3gIdISUK7846ecs5UXuNKFheIT/s1600/Tyburn_gallows_1746.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJH7OkV2DljYPPAlWgH7zjwe1o2RJKRHZc7Owh0NF6jFw-8ZlV8swdsJBsO9WpqFkCBB6KzemyClr8aimT81vV63tWlojHp1rZbJ3iLZnC_KH1mLFODt3gIdISUK7846ecs5UXuNKFheIT/s320/Tyburn_gallows_1746.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tyburn, London, in the early modern period the elm trees had been replaced by a purpose-built gallows</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 16px;">Place-name and cartographic evidence, together with local knowledge, give us some clues as to where felons died and were buried in Dublin in the late medieval period. Court documents can be frustratingly vague when it comes to these little details. We only know that Robert Goderd and Richard Faber were taken to Kilmainham because they happened to survive their executions, in the vast majority of cases the records simply tell us the felons were hanged. Though the evidence is slim, I consider Bully's Acre to be a strong contender as the place where those hanged in Dublin ended up. Fortunately for Goderd and Faber, they lived to tell the tale.</span></div>
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Ainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17277414701801283815noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321038297553260558.post-78417704800854661112015-06-30T18:40:00.000-07:002015-07-04T10:11:33.279-07:00Who was Murcod Ballagh?<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 100%;">.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">My
interest in medieval crime and execution has led to many an
interesting late night Google search. One person whose name ke</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">pt</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
popping up is that of an obscure chap called Murcod Ballagh.
According to some websites he is the first known victim of Madame
Guillotine. In spite of being intrigued by Murcod, I never bothered
checking to see if there was any historical foundation to this claim.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">The
websites and books that record Murcod Ballagh's execution all use the
same source: Holenshed's Chronicle. Many of you will be familiar with
Holenshed, Shakespeare swiped the plots of lots of his plays from
this chronicle. Richard Stanihurst, a sixteenth century poet and
historian from Dublin, contributed to the chronicle and </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">was</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
responsible for the Irish material. What he has to say about Murcod
isn't in itself that </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">unusual</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">.
He tells us that Murcod was decapitated by David de Caunteton </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">in
1307</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">.
It is the woodcuts that accompany the text that </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">are</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
really interesting. Poor Murcod is depicted being executed on an
early prototype of a guillotine.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqTpZuB4wYhXe-boXxqAHcLVDuQcO1G_dBQR8xlktTchKy9IKtysXC2kjeQWIAYk4hGNDnPDZJtcB84LbYhDq2-PCOdlBmxJ8qrZlKfUi29gq2gm6YdWlzQFfU8JsBL5a-BlKA0B4hCr_i/s400/Murcod_Ballagh_beheaded_1307_%2528Holinshed%252C_1577%2529.png" width="311" /></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">A
few weeks ago I decided to go hunting for Murcod. I was writing an
article on execution, and I decided to check and see if he turns up
in the contemporary sources. In short, yes, he does! </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">He
is mentioned in the justiciary rolls in </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">January
1308, </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">when
David de Caunteton</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
received twelve marks, seven shillings and eight pence </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">as
a reward</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
for </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">killing</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">him</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">.
</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">De
Caunteton did not act alone though, he was simply an accomplice of
Edmund le Botiller. Here's the </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">first
part of the relevant</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
entry that can be found in </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">the</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
published </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Justiciary
Rolls 1308-14</i></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">,
p. 22:</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Yet
of Common Pleas at Dublin before John Wogan, Justiciar, year and day
as above. [20 January 1308]</span></span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Dublin</span></span></span></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Wexford</span></span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">The
custos of the liberty of Wexford was commanded that he levy twenty
marks of the lands and chattels of the community of the liberty
aforesaid in his bailiwick, and cause Edmund le Botiller or David de
Cauntetoun his assignee to have them without delay, in part payment
of the hundred marks which are due to Edmund from the liberty
aforesaid and the liberty of Kilkenny, and also from the counties of
Dublin, Carlow and Kildare, for the capture of Morghuth Ballagh
McMorghuth, felon, whom Edmund killed, and that he should summon,
etc., here on this day.</span></span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">This
plea roll reveals that Murcod was one of the MacMurroughs (yes, trust
me, McMorghuth is MacMurrough), descendants of Diarmait MacMurrough,
king of Leinster, who played such a key part in the English invasion
of Ireland. The MacMurroughs had gone a bit quiet in the thirteenth
century, but were beginning to assert themselves again. Murcod must
have been a major troublemaker if the administration expected the
communities of not only Wexford and Kilkenny, where the MacMurroughs
were based, but also Dublin, Carlow and Kildare, to reward le
Botiller (Butler) and de Caunteton. Obviously, the MacMurroughs were
attacking areas further away from their own locality if Dubliners
were expected to cough up for his killing.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The
editors of the justiciary rolls assume that Edmund le Botiller is the
same person who served as justiciar of Ireland (see <i>C</i><i>alendar
</i><i>J</i><i>usticiary
</i><i>R</i><i>olls</i><i>,
1308-14</i>,
p. 335), but (in
my opinion)
it is much more likely that he is the rector of Tullow mentioned in
Clyn's <i>Annals
of Ireland</i>
(p. 176).
In 1323, Edmund,
with the help of the Cauntetons, killed Philip Taloun, his son and
about twenty six of the Uí Chodlatáin, and burnt down the church at
Taghmolyn, in county Carlow, with men, women and children still
inside. Oh
dear.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="sdfootnote" style="line-height: 100%; margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span lang="en-IE">Murcod
</span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span lang="en-IE">is
also mentioned in t</span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span lang="en-IE">he
annals of Thady Dowling, </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span lang="en-IE">where
he is</span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span lang="en-IE">
describe</span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span lang="en-IE">d</span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span lang="en-IE">
as being 'princips Lagenie', that is, prince of Leinster, </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span lang="en-IE">which
is </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span lang="en-IE">further
confirmation that he was one of the MacMurroughs.</span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span lang="en-IE">
</span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span lang="en-IE">It
is possible that Murcod came from Ballagh, a place that still
survives as a townland, located in Adamstown parish, county Wexford.
</span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span lang="en-IE">(</span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span lang="en-IE">Only
a couple of miles from where my Mother was born, incidentally.</span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span lang="en-IE">)</span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span lang="en-IE">
</span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span lang="en-IE">However,
it's far more likely that his name references a physical attribute.
The Gaelic Irish were big into descriptive names (and it was a habit
adopted by some of the English colonists too). Ballagh possibly means
freckled or speckled, and as someone who was called freckle-face as a
child I can totally relate. Additionally, Colmán Ó Clabaigh has
speculated that it might mean stammerer. (Thanks to Seán Duffy and
Adrian Martyn for these suggestions, which are much more likely than
my placename theory!).</span></span></span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 100%;">
</span></span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="line-height: 100%; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhynLa1q8ZDEU5jH3m_L7Cp2Fq7df-0QUrztZXh7ZBCgThCnlk44HWv9MRFxg1eiaSExlBZ6F-DJVMLBERN1BEzOxJDVW5Cnv0O1rL1DnpTlNE4MKRDdeNr4CQydnj85Q2hFeeCpBXNdzv0/s1600/Beheading-BritLib.jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhynLa1q8ZDEU5jH3m_L7Cp2Fq7df-0QUrztZXh7ZBCgThCnlk44HWv9MRFxg1eiaSExlBZ6F-DJVMLBERN1BEzOxJDVW5Cnv0O1rL1DnpTlNE4MKRDdeNr4CQydnj85Q2hFeeCpBXNdzv0/s400/Beheading-BritLib.jpg.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">How Murcod was probably killed (no guillotine, sorry!)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">When</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
Murcod Ballagh was </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">kill</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">ed
</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">in
1307</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">,
</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">he
was described</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
as a felon. The Anglo-Irish annals </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">reveal</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
that </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">David
</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">de
Caunteton decapitated him. </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Since
he was </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">an
outlaw, his captors </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">had
the right to execute</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
him </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">once
they apprehended him, </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">without
going through any other legal process</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">.
</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Outlaws
taken into custody could be beheaded</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">.
</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">In
fact,</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
o</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">ne
of the reasons </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">why
beheading was a component of</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
William Wallace</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">'s
execution</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
was because he </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">was</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
an outlaw </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">at
the time of his arrest</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">.
</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">And
Edward I hated him, </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">that's
important too.</span></span></span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; line-height: 100%;">
</span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="line-height: 100%; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfkviBIkHrHfEII9KS6-dNtfMLFhxScv1GpKpD6UFu-MCj8_2aX5mhnxc29QmIvW_EEhzHYyoZldjRBNiOkR6StFyvQB65Fah2KmE_vohZv0hN_fm-J66mWUZAkLoeWGnTumJClQiNUGiK/s1600/William+Wallace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfkviBIkHrHfEII9KS6-dNtfMLFhxScv1GpKpD6UFu-MCj8_2aX5mhnxc29QmIvW_EEhzHYyoZldjRBNiOkR6StFyvQB65Fah2KmE_vohZv0hN_fm-J66mWUZAkLoeWGnTumJClQiNUGiK/s320/William+Wallace.jpg" width="315" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">William Wallace, not Edward I's favourite person.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Two
years after </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Murcod</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">'s
execution </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">(I'm
not entirely convinced it was an execution, but we'll call it that
for now, while I figure it out)</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">,
one of his killers,</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
David de Caunteton, </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">suffered
the same fate</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">.
An examination of the justiciary rolls illustrates de Caunteton's
journey from loyal Englishman to English rebel, </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">and,
eventually, the gallows</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">.
</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">In
January 1308, he received twelve marks, seven shillings and eight
pence </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">as
a reward</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
for his part in Murcod's death. </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">(</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>C</i></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>alendar
</i></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>J</i></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>usticiary
</i></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>R</i></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>olls</i></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>,
1308-14</i></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">,
p. </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">22).</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
Court records from April and July 1308, however, reveal that he was
heavily in debt and his goods and property were taken into the king's
hands. </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">(</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>C</i></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>alendar
</i></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>J</i></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>usticiary
</i></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>R</i></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>olls</i></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>,
1308-14</i></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">,
p</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">p
61, 106-7).</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
This may have served as </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">the</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
catalyst </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">that
forced</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">him</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
into rebellion. </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">A</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">nother
court record</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
reveals that Maurice de Caunteton, David's brother, and his
accomplices, both English and Irish, had “openly put themselves at
war against the King's standard,” and David was accused of
receiving, that is giving aid, to his brother. </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">(</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>C</i></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>alendar
</i></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>J</i></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>usticiary
</i></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>R</i></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>olls</i></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>,
1308-14</i></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">,
p</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">p
146, 159)</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">The
justiciar, John Wogan, led an expedition against Maurice and his
accomplices, and </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">he</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
was </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">eventually</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
hunted down and killed. David was captured and hanged on 13 November
1309 </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">and
this is recorded in the Chartularies of St. Mary's Abbey:</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 100%; text-indent: 0cm;"><br /></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 100%; text-indent: 0cm;">Item,
die Sancti Bricii, Episcopi, David de Caunteton suspensus est, de quo
dolendum est.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 100%; text-indent: 0cm;">Item,
on the feast of St Bricii, bishop, David de Caunteton is hanged,
which is to be regretted.</span></blockquote>
<br />
<div align="left" class="sdfootnote" style="line-height: 100%; margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 100%;">
</span></span>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizjzUAT5nLvMklYHS4tXockI9KJf1kDbtSv5PhLzkk9ij1Zq69t74wzwrtbtAktRxK1fHwzQTIyE50MGVfo-oZQFHpu6sygSazd5SUltLryisK4uSgfEOUgW_VBXdSDJN26sA8JNClTkHf/s320/Pisanello_010.jpg" width="264" /></span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 100%;"></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Ironically,
Murcod Ballagh's relatives took advantage of this situation. Muiris
MacMurrough,</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
Murcod's father,</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
was employed by the crown from 1310 </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">onwards</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
to guard the marches of Wexford. </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">The
pictorial depictions of Murcod Ballagh's “execution” are
intriguing, but only prove that guillotine-like devices existed in
the sixteenth century and, </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">regrettably,</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
they do not reveal anything about </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">f</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">ourteenth
century executions. An early prototype of the guillotine was used in
Halifax, Yorkshire in the sixteenth century, and may date back to an
earlier period, though there is no definitive evidence for this.
Felons in Halifax were usually beheaded rather than hanged </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">from
at least the thirteenth century </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">onwards</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">.
</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">(</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">J.C.
Holt, </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Colonial
England, 1066-1215</i></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
(London, 1997), pp 19-23</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">). </span></span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 100%;">
</span><span style="color: black;"></span></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">
</span></span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="line-height: 100%; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheZOYzya0E5MHd7TfyJxZSTijCFZiRDgRctDqsirNTwehrxMC6Oh3gG2Iw5iuFLTPGYTYkBTEgmWxSWR4MjlUpMeiXCIqWzsO69T8sab9JXRbh7m8QFkofaMLB3GmsD7ciKGVRXzeZIqPY/s1600/Halifax_gibbet_%2528Hoyle%252C_1650%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheZOYzya0E5MHd7TfyJxZSTijCFZiRDgRctDqsirNTwehrxMC6Oh3gG2Iw5iuFLTPGYTYkBTEgmWxSWR4MjlUpMeiXCIqWzsO69T8sab9JXRbh7m8QFkofaMLB3GmsD7ciKGVRXzeZIqPY/s400/Halifax_gibbet_%2528Hoyle%252C_1650%2529.png" width="281" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Halifax Gibbet</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 100%;">Not
medieval, but I get a kick out of this. </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 100%;">Regent
Morton, who was passing through Halifax on his way to Scotland was
impressed with the guillotine and introduced it to Edinburgh, where
it was known as the maiden and where he was eventually executed on it
himself. As was the </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 100%;">Earl
of Argyll in 1685. He described it as the “sweetest maiden he had
ever kissed.” Weirdo.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"> </span></span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"> </span></span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
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</span>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="line-height: 100%; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB5y_XMQ4XjxOPIokjk-8b29MrFtt5hCSsVlKdxove3qRmj0kfNn07eJzqLhptalxx0qzWbnTZj9b8D7U7OsfOkfYh4LGb10bMOVBkCFk5ARbJov3RbB4RSyrVOmRok3knwXfWqVuh6KL2/s1600/Scottish_Maiden_%2528Pennant%252C_1774%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB5y_XMQ4XjxOPIokjk-8b29MrFtt5hCSsVlKdxove3qRmj0kfNn07eJzqLhptalxx0qzWbnTZj9b8D7U7OsfOkfYh4LGb10bMOVBkCFk5ARbJov3RbB4RSyrVOmRok3knwXfWqVuh6KL2/s400/Scottish_Maiden_%2528Pennant%252C_1774%2529.png" width="311" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Scottish Maiden</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 16px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Any questions or comment? Comment below, pester me at @AineMedievalDub or email me at aine@irishplearolls.net</span><br />
<h2 style="clear: both; line-height: 100%; text-align: center;">
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Ainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17277414701801283815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321038297553260558.post-1764758390618313012015-05-18T06:21:00.000-07:002015-05-18T10:33:03.637-07:00Henry Tyrel's Outlaw GangIn this blog post I will be looking at Henry Tyrel's followers. I
spoke about Henry in two of my previous posts and as you now know he
caused murder and mayhem across south-west county Dublin and north
county Kildare in the early fourteenth-century. He could not have
done it alone though, he would have found it very hard to cause this
murder and mayhem without his outlaw gang. We're all familiar with
outlaw gangs, Robin Hood had his Little John and Will Scarlett
(though no Maid Marian until mid sixteenth century, see A.J. Pollard,
Imagining Robin Hood (London, 2004), pp 14-15), they are as intrinsic
to the outlaw tales as Robin, or the evil sheriff of Nottingham.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjczFPAErAxzSEwnI68_B7hKGrr25VlvyuF6qOsFEtuFqKRE3cGoc1fNCD2LJFJb9GjY6_l9wvA9z3hI4EY5t07Ci35sb5aGrrLZJzgZk264Rx2pG7Jiv-KChyOR2O10SWbWd7LsitWr0fS/s1600/robin-sherwood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjczFPAErAxzSEwnI68_B7hKGrr25VlvyuF6qOsFEtuFqKRE3cGoc1fNCD2LJFJb9GjY6_l9wvA9z3hI4EY5t07Ci35sb5aGrrLZJzgZk264Rx2pG7Jiv-KChyOR2O10SWbWd7LsitWr0fS/s320/robin-sherwood.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: red;">Robin (of Sherwood) poses sexily in front of his merry men, who don't look very merry really.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
In the previous post I mentioned how outlaws like Henry were often
of the gentry class – members of their gang, however, could come
from all levels of society. Some, like Henry, came from well-to-do
families, others were much more humble in origin, like Adam, whose
surname does not survive because of the fragmented nature of the
source:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Pleas of the crown and gaol-delivery, at Dublin, before John
Wogan, Justiciar, on Tuesday the morrow of St. Lucia the Virgin, <i>anno
regni</i> 34 Edward I. [14 December 1305] </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Dublin </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
[Henry Tyrel] charged that he is a common robber and thief of
oxen and afers and that he waylays (<i>foristallat</i>) faithful men
passing [between] Lyouns and Ughtrard and exhorts from them money and
other their goods under pretence of a courtesy; [and he entered] the
house of Arnald de Penrys, and wastes his goods against the will of
Arnald . . . . . . uses [her as] his own wife, and brings her to and
fro with him at his will. And Adam son of . . . .rche charged with
associating with Henry. They come and defend all robbery, etc., and
put themselves on the country. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Reginald Berneual, Robert de Caunteton, Walter . . . . as
above, say that they are guilty. Therefore Adam is hanged.
(<i>Justiciary Rolls, 1305-1307</i>, p. 477)</blockquote>
<b><br /></b>
Like Adam, the vast majority of criminals executed in Dublin
recorded in the court records were executed by hanging. I suspect
Adam was Henry's squire, possibly someone of peasant stock who grew
up in the same locality as his master, though the lack of evidence
makes it impossible to establish that with any certainty.
<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBO3-fwmH5hhjld-9JRdwX6MLzb-cVHWm0tpENQuAhVNd_SJGvasbvY1Z_5fEZJVs8Wo81bcYpr-yISekxTsmKCVxrYR7tS8aqfpjDzNiwkCAE9Q68DFzQplWuTHY88UcNVzQK9rxwk3eO/s1600/marigny-hanging.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBO3-fwmH5hhjld-9JRdwX6MLzb-cVHWm0tpENQuAhVNd_SJGvasbvY1Z_5fEZJVs8Wo81bcYpr-yISekxTsmKCVxrYR7tS8aqfpjDzNiwkCAE9Q68DFzQplWuTHY88UcNVzQK9rxwk3eO/s320/marigny-hanging.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: red;">Poor Adam (like the unfortunate Enguerrand de Marigny, banker, pictured above) was hanged. </span></div>
<br />
<br />
Unlike Henry Tyrel and the unlucky Adam, the rest of the outlaw's
followers tried that day appear to have avoided the hangman's noose.
Thomas le Norreys was charged with robbery and being in Henry’s
company but the jury decided that he had been taken by force and he
was therefore acquitted.
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Thomas le Norreys charged that he was in the company of said
Henry and had part of one afer . . . . he robbed from Rosyna daughter
of Dermot the Smith, comes and denies all robbery, etc., and puts
himself on the country. The Jurors say he is not guilty, but that he
was in the company of Henry for one . . . . taken by force, and had
his part thereof. but is not suspected. etc. Therefore of grace,
etc., he is delivered quit, etc. (<i>Justiciary Rolls, 1305-1307</i>,
p. 477)</blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh213jR5VJ-ogF01tPCOIyj28KCbeSZq1ybfkWgEyHZQ_15iTGHPiXxInqd2mqItj4hkvC3m3F2qds4gwtoWzDIXszWeQr05Whc6bTPrDIrBen80nA76OXwCP5Sy2EndmJrD_kYLRhyJRs4/s1600/Robin_Hood's_Merry_Men.+Old+school.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh213jR5VJ-ogF01tPCOIyj28KCbeSZq1ybfkWgEyHZQ_15iTGHPiXxInqd2mqItj4hkvC3m3F2qds4gwtoWzDIXszWeQr05Whc6bTPrDIrBen80nA76OXwCP5Sy2EndmJrD_kYLRhyJRs4/s320/Robin_Hood's_Merry_Men.%2BOld%2Bschool.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: red;">Errol Flynn, looking merry, not sure his mates get the joke though.</span></div>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
Was he with Henry under duress? Well, that is unlikely, and it is
probable that he escaped harsher punishment because he was personally
acquainted with the jurors, who naturally would be very reluctant to
condemn him to the hangman’s noose. Certainly, in England many
judicial cases led to acquittals because the jurors were hesitant to
condemn a friend or neighbour to death.
<br />
Richard, son of Richard le Schepherd, was also accused of being in
the company of Henry Tyrel.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br />
Ricard son of Ricard le Schepherd, charged that he is of the
company of Henry Tyrel a notorious robber, and that he is a common
thief of oxen and afers, and that he exhorts money from faithful
people of the parts of Ughtrard and the parts adjacent, under
pretence of requiring a courtesy, etc. He comes and defends all
robbery etc., and puts himself on the country. And Walter Fox, John
le Mareschal, Simon le Joefne, Roger Schallingford, Hugo de la Felde,
. . . Blund de Tauelagh, John Oweyn, Martin Lange, Reginald le Clerk,
Peter son of Thomas, Geoffrey . . . . and Ricard de Cruys, jurors,
say that Ricard was in the company of Henry for taking certain small
courtesies, as beer and the like, but not for any burglary or gross
robbery. . . . Afterwards Ricard made fine by 10 marks by pledge
of Maurice Tyrel, William . . . . . de Athgo, John Godman, Reginald
Hyne and John de la Sale. (Justiciary Rolls, 1305-1307, p. 476.) </blockquote>
<b><br /></b>
Though the jurors agreed that he was an associate of Tyrel’s
they did not feel that he had taken part in some of the most serious
offences. Therefore his life was spared; instead he had to pay a
fine of 10 marks (a very substantial sum at the time). One of his
pledges had the surname ‘de Athgo,’ which would suggest that he
came from Athgo in Newcastle Lyons. Athgo is a hilly area, and it's
likely that pastoral (i.e. raising animals) rather than arable (i.e.
growing crops) was carried out here, so Richard le Schepherd, or one
of his ancestors, could literally have been a shepherd –
occupational surnames were all the rage back then. Maurice Tyrel, who
was probably Henry's brother, was another pledge, thus Richard may
have also been associated with other members of the family.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieruQ_7pHaOZkLndaEVUMmxkFWEFezYrMDrDNxVIDnIYZB8o0vGpzy2eRlLLzrNfe9c4XgzgBSnRZwlfPIbbwlDdrIV-dZRypR49ffDlNS1c630JSCZQ8_cMBfXklr1Of_0TgIjfBaUXEE/s1600/shepherd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieruQ_7pHaOZkLndaEVUMmxkFWEFezYrMDrDNxVIDnIYZB8o0vGpzy2eRlLLzrNfe9c4XgzgBSnRZwlfPIbbwlDdrIV-dZRypR49ffDlNS1c630JSCZQ8_cMBfXklr1Of_0TgIjfBaUXEE/s320/shepherd.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: red;">Richard le Schepherd may have been a shepherd, they didn't think too hard about surnames back then!</span></div>
<br />
<br />
David de
Naungle was possibly another follower of Henry's, he's mentioned in
the court case involving the Irishwoman Mcnabyth (who was mentioned
in my previous post). Richard de Bother was pardoned his murder,
because David was a felon at the time it took place. (Justiciary
Rolls, 1305-1307, 500).
That was one of the dangers of being an outlaw, if someone killed you
they would literally get away with murder!<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg9ypp30dIYjfwBM9UvmYmeZ2mGE7KZiEszcNdRxAOkI5wFuxl6qPPUIDu3y66aMDcGds1EXRnuadn3CIL6EVw_syY9BCzqwzyBVR11IMGzJ24g3Jt_qAU2p56qdnEWWgzmgta5yoUGmsw/s1600/DWS8E3-MerryMen-Pix1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg9ypp30dIYjfwBM9UvmYmeZ2mGE7KZiEszcNdRxAOkI5wFuxl6qPPUIDu3y66aMDcGds1EXRnuadn3CIL6EVw_syY9BCzqwzyBVR11IMGzJ24g3Jt_qAU2p56qdnEWWgzmgta5yoUGmsw/s320/DWS8E3-MerryMen-Pix1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: red;">The Robin Hood from Doctor Who is very cute! Give him his own series!</span></div>
<br />
<br />
Several other men were declared outlaws in their absence at the
time Henry was sentenced to death. Even though Gerald Tyrel was a
very prominant and powerful individual in the locality, Thomas Tyrel
was described first as Henry’s brother and then as Gerald’s son.
This would imply that, at least to those in the locality, Henry was
more well known, and certainly more notorious, than his father.
Gerald may be more prominent in the records that survive, but Henry’s
crimes appear to have left more of an impression on his
contemporaries. This gives us some idea of how the selective survival
of sources can shape our preceptions of the past.<br />
<br />
Thomas Tyrel’s criminal career was even more spectacular (um, is
that the right word? I probably mean worse!) than that of his
brother. Not content with stealing cattle and other men’s wives he
would be responsible for murdering some of the most important
individuals in the colony. He was an accomplice in the murder of
John de Bonevill, sometime seneschal of Kildare and Carlow. He was
murdered by Arnald le Poer. Gerald, Thomas's father,<span lang="en-IE">
served as seneschal of Ralph Pipard’s lands in Ireland, including
the manors of Oughterard and Castlewarden in county Kildare. Shortly
after Pipard relinquished them to the crown, they were granted to
Arnold le Poer’s father Eustace. It is possible that Gerald
continued to act as seneschal after the le Poers acquired the manors
and it is likely that Thomas and Arnold become associates </span><span lang="en-IE">at
this point</span><span lang="en-IE">.
</span><span lang="en-IE">As
well as his involvement in de Bonevill's death,</span> Thomas
Tyrel was also accused of murdering the king’s serjeant Robert de
Someter and even in a society that was more often than not willing to
overlook the crimes and misdemeanours of the gentry undoubtedly the
killing of royal officials could not go unnoticed, or unpunished.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-n2FJFBm_cbWb1L3YQSMMWIMD6Fg70eM6TJWod_zGEYQIZe52hI51mFHColQKhFO6IUV_q6dn-xtzv3uYnvA0O8_gB2Olsy_f5LAlq9c6nX2-YVEomyJkTGWQPPG2VLw7VREJyRJTSrO5/s1600/murder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-n2FJFBm_cbWb1L3YQSMMWIMD6Fg70eM6TJWod_zGEYQIZe52hI51mFHColQKhFO6IUV_q6dn-xtzv3uYnvA0O8_gB2Olsy_f5LAlq9c6nX2-YVEomyJkTGWQPPG2VLw7VREJyRJTSrO5/s320/murder.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: red;">The axe was often the murder weapon of choice in medieval Ireland.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
Certainly violence against officials was not unknown; John de
Bonevill himself verbally attacked and physically threatened Robert
Braynok who served as a serjeant of the king at Naas:
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Robert Breynok for the King and for himself v. John de
Boneuill. It is found by the same jury [as previous entry, but they
are not named] that John did not inhibit his tenants to answer
Robert, a serjeant of the King, but that Robert by precept of the
Sheriff went to John and demanded from him pledges to acquit the
Sheriff in the Exchequer of certain debts directed to be levied from
John. John answered him: You ribald, you are my enemy. I will not
find pledges for you, but I inhibit you to do any office in my land
under penalty of life and limbs. But do you immediately find pledges
to me to answer in my court. Robert, who is tenant of John, found
pledges to him. Then John's wrath being somewhat soothed, he said to
Robert, that he would not find pledges to him, but if he would bring
him any serjeant of the King who was not under Robert, he would find
to him the pledges which Robert demanded from him. On which Robert
brought one of his subserjeants alleging that he was not one of his
men. And to that serjeant John forthwith found pledges which Robert
before demanded from him. Therefore it is adjudged [entry
unfinished]. (Justiciary Rolls, 1305-1307, p. 128.)</blockquote>
<b><br /></b>
This entry in the justiciary rolls reveals much about de
Bonevill’s character, he appears to have suffered from anger issues, and his arrogance and temper more
likely to win enemies than friends. Undoubtedly some officials
abused their power which would naturally have led to resentment among
locals. Whether the locals had some sympathy for the outlaws or just
a sense of fear is unrecorded, however, some must have rejoiced at
the premature demise of a seneschal and a serjeant; these officials
were surely seen as instruments of unwelcome royal oppression.
Certainly in outlaw legends like Robin Hood the officials are
portrayed as the villains, and it is likely that where some
individuals were concerned that this view reflected contemporary
opinion.<br />
<br />
Thomas Tyrel, like Henry, was also described as a common robber in
the sources and apart from the de Bonevill incident it is likely that
he committed most of his crimes in counties Kildare and Dublin. The
justiciary roll entry of Thomas’s trial states that he was so
feared ‘no one dared to come to the parts of Dublin to bring
victuals there.’ Thomas was brought to trial in 1311, six years
after his brother’s execution. If he and his gang were active for
all this time one can only imagine the extent of control they had
over the communities of both these counties. Here's the entry:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Pleas of the Crown and Delivery of Gaol at Dublin before John
Wogan, Justiciar, Monday after SS. Peter and Paul, a.r. 4 </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
5
July 1311 </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Thomas Tyrel, charged that he was at the slaying of John de
Bonevill, King's seneschal of the liberties of Kildare and Carlow,
and that he slew Robert le Someter, a King's serjeant, and that he is
a common robber, as well in Co. Dublin as in Co. Kildare, so that no
one dared to come to the parts of Dublin to bring victuals there,
being asked how he would acquit himself, comes and says he is a clerk
and that he neither ought nor can answer therefor here without his
ordinaries. And because he is not found in clerical garb he is told
to answer further if he will, but he refused to answer anything
therefor. And because he refused the common law, therefore to the
diet. And the constable of the castle of Dublin is directed to guard
him in fitting manner under pain, etc. (<i>Justiciary Rolls,
1308-1314</i>, p. 217.)</blockquote>
<b><br /></b>
Thomas refused to answer the charges laid against him claiming the
benefit of clergy. There are many examples of accused men claiming
to be clerks in the justiciary rolls and certainly in England it was
a legal loop hole much used and abused. Individuals claimed to be
clergymen because they knew if they could prove this that their case
would be moved to an ecclesiastical court where they would receive a
much lighter punishment. It is not clear if Thomas was a clerk or
not, but it certainly was plausible. One of the Folville brothers
was in religious orders but he also happened to be one of the most
violent members of the gang and was eventually murdered outside his
own church. In Thomas Tyrel’s case the jurors seemed unconvinced
by his claims as he was not found in clerical garb. However because
he continued to refuse to answer the accusations laid against him he
was subsequently put on the diet. The constable of Dublin castle was
ordered to guard him and, it is presumed, make sure he did not
receive food or water. It does not record if the case was moved to
an ecclesiastical court or whether Thomas met the same end as Henry.
If he did succeed in convincing the court of his clerical status than
it is likely that he avoided his brother’s fate.<br />
<br />
Two of Thomas’s accomplices stood trial on the same day as their
leader. One of them, Richard de Mora, was a chaplain, which may lend
some credence to Thomas’s claims of being a clergyman too. A jury
cleared Richard of robbing a horse but found him guilty of breaking
into a church at Aderrig, which is a small parish to the west of
Esker and Lucan, and stealing goods from a chest belonging to a
Robert Fedan. The jury also declared he was responsible for stealing
Hugh de le Felde’s oxen and burning down Jordan le Mouner’s
house, but the only punishment he received was a fine of 40
shillings. Adam Squer was the other individual accused of being a
follower of Tyrel’s, unfortunately the justiciary roll entry does
not give any indication of the crimes he committed and he was
sentenced to death. The entry informs us that he had neither
chattels nor free land.
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo1fahL5mWwWupS_Yx_cvf6WP_I3ZfU77lusGL2IQUF-QQTu31XxAJVMBNJVmIQRcSdx2QC33nLvY6sWvIP3aw9SXnBsOouLIjiySeK4ZZwPmsQSdal9rZwuQRQcOlWM1BMSTH1121Lix4/s1600/Robin_Hood's_Merry_Men.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo1fahL5mWwWupS_Yx_cvf6WP_I3ZfU77lusGL2IQUF-QQTu31XxAJVMBNJVmIQRcSdx2QC33nLvY6sWvIP3aw9SXnBsOouLIjiySeK4ZZwPmsQSdal9rZwuQRQcOlWM1BMSTH1121Lix4/s320/Robin_Hood's_Merry_Men.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: red;">It's very difficult to find pictures of the merry men where they actually look merry...</span></div>
<br />
<br />
Henry, and possibly Thomas, Tyrel were executed for their criminal
behaviour, in spite of their relatively high social status and
influential connections. The fate of their followers was a bit more
mixed. Adam, who was executed with Henry, was probably his squire and
of humble origins. Adam Squer, would appear to have been Thomas's
squire, and the source confirms he had no property, so they may have
died because they couldn't buy themselves a pardon. The other men
involved appeared to have been a bit more affluent and were able to
pay fines. Richard de Mora may have escaped execution because he was
a clergyman but one has to wonder if Adam Squer could have avoided
his fate for the sake of 40 shillings.<br />
<br />
Thanks for reading – if you have any questions, observations or
corrections email me at <a href="mailto:aine@Irishplearolls.net">aine@irishplearolls.net or comment below! </a><br />
<br />
<br />Ainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17277414701801283815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321038297553260558.post-54811562969308790282015-04-25T19:26:00.000-07:002015-05-18T06:24:10.382-07:00Henry Tyrel, outlaw<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="line-height: 100%;">In this blog post,
as promised, I will be talking about Henry Tyrel, an outlaw whose
execution I mentioned in my previous post. I also mentioned Henry in
my very first post, and I expect I'll be mentioning him in future
posts. I'm very fond of Henry. He appeared in an article I wrote on
violence and crime in fourteenth-century Ireland, which was published
in Medieval Dublin X (ed. Seán Duffy):
</span><a href="http://www.fourcourtspress.ie/books/archives/medieval-dublin-x/" style="line-height: 100%;">http://www.fourcourtspress.ie/books/archives/medieval-dublin-x/</a><span style="line-height: 100%;">
I also dealt with him in my book (see previous post for image of book
and link, I won't be shameless enough to post it again!) ;-)</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Lots of comparisons
can be made between outlaws that lived in late medieval Ireland, and
their counterparts in England. The early fourteenth century in
England was a period when outlaw gangs, whose exploits were somewhat
similar to those that were committed by the legendary Robin Hood and
his gang, reigned supreme. Outlaws like the Coterels of Derbyshire
and the Folvilles of Leicestershire have received much attention from
English social historians. Surprisingly, the criminal gangs that
existed in Ireland in this same period have received less attention
in spite of the fact that their exploits are recorded in the plea
rolls. There are plenty of them to look at, and I will do so in
future blogs.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
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</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-nBjDjUhca4_QmTMlimvz-t7Z6nD27bYicqnpgHd24Ln_daOE3JnOWk4drvBUsukFhRJzLWbUcp3LqJYnaXfyJiEcLn1BMPKy97uEczRvFrgvxaDRfjQLaOasHzzWkbctBU5taextuLM3/s1600/Robin+of+Sherwood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-nBjDjUhca4_QmTMlimvz-t7Z6nD27bYicqnpgHd24Ln_daOE3JnOWk4drvBUsukFhRJzLWbUcp3LqJYnaXfyJiEcLn1BMPKy97uEczRvFrgvxaDRfjQLaOasHzzWkbctBU5taextuLM3/s1600/Robin+of+Sherwood.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In my head, this is what Henry Tyrel looks like! :)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Who was Henry Tyrel?
Henry was a member of the burgeoning gentry class. His father was
Gerald Tyrel, a knight who held the manor of Lyons in north county
Kildare. Gerald was a close associate of two important men: John Fitz
Thomas, lord of Offaly and future first earl of Kildare, and Ralph
Pipard, who as well as owning extensive lands in county Louth and
Monaghan also owned the manors of Leixlip, Oughterard and
Castlewarden in county Kildare. These manors had originally been
granted to Adam de Hereford by Strongbow just after the invasion and
came into the Pipard family’s possession when Adam’s daughter
Auda married William Pipard. Although he was a major landholder in
Ireland, by the beginning of the fourteenth century Ralph Pipard was
spending all of his time in England and Gerald Tyrel served as
seneschal of his lands in Ireland. Eventually, Ralph relinquished his
Irish lands to the crown and they quickly passed into the hands of
Eustace le Poer, and Gerald may have served as his seneschal too.
Gerald liked to use the courts on a frequent basis, and will probably
be the subject of a future post.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Henry had at least
two brothers: Roger and Thomas. It is also likely that Maurice Tyrel,
who served as seneschal of the royal demesne (i.e. he was the main
administrator of the king's manors located in south-west Dublin) in
1314, was another brother. Sometime before 1309 Gerald had granted
lands in Saggart and Newcastle Lyons to Maurice, which would suggest
some sort of close kinship. It appears that Maurice avoided a life of
crime by becoming a royal administrator. Roger, probably the eldest
son, also avoided the life of an outlaw by inheriting his father's
lands. He does appears in the court records briefly in 1302 (<i>Calendar
of the Justiciary Rolls, 1295-1303</i>, p. 449), when he was involved
in a trespass with Richard Tyrel of Castleknock, but generally
appears to have avoided his brothers' criminal lifestyle.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8IHmwrwM3_gNSkoowXMw-Cv5AcUrOAwGFa88zl6QWgjKZQ8mhs38qvYfxwAHgc4UOQy4OlXy0xEoMpe_dwLE00QboMNlI1pUAHGH8l6Hto1-LubrvDwndaPmw6nRQ5fGVr6JjTX7e7Amn/s1600/Royal+Manors+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8IHmwrwM3_gNSkoowXMw-Cv5AcUrOAwGFa88zl6QWgjKZQ8mhs38qvYfxwAHgc4UOQy4OlXy0xEoMpe_dwLE00QboMNlI1pUAHGH8l6Hto1-LubrvDwndaPmw6nRQ5fGVr6JjTX7e7Amn/s1600/Royal+Manors+4.JPG" width="619" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Map of south county Dublin, including royal manors of Newcastle, Saggart, Esker and Crumlin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Did real-life
outlaws like Henry in any way resemble their literary counterparts
like Robin Hood? In a superficial sense they probably did, and it is
likely that these tales were based on the exploits of real outlaws.
Certainly, the outlaws depicted in medieval tales could behave just
as violently as their real-life counterparts. The difference was that
these outlaws probably didn't share Robin Hood's socialist
sensibilities. They probably stole from the rich, but that was
because they had something worth stealing, it's highly unlikely that
there was any redistribution of wealth. Most leaders of outlaw gangs,
like our Henry, would have been members of the gentry class. Barbara
Hanawalt uses the phrase “fur-collar crime”, a perfect
description of the medieval equivalent of white collar crime. Why did
these young men, of high social status, turn to a life of crime?
Simply put, many participated in criminal activities in order to
maintain their social status. It was usual for the eldest son (or at
least just one individual son) to inherit his father's property, the
eldest brother of the Folville gang in England, for example,
inherited from his father, thus becoming a country gentleman while
the rest of his brothers became criminals. This meant that, unless
their father made other provisions, there was little left for the
other sons to inherit. Additionally, many of these men would have had
previous military service. It is possible that, as a knight’s son,
Henry had served in the king’s overseas campaigns. Gerald had
certainly served in royal military expeditions, and his sons may have
accompanied him. After serving in the army, the men who returned home
must have found it hard to settle back into a civilian life,
especially considering that killing, looting and other criminal
behaviour was intrinsic to the life of a soldier. Henry (and his
brother Thomas) may also have been behaving violently as a way of
enforcing their father's authority or settle his disputes, or they
may have been working for a more powerful lord. <span lang="en-IE">Although
they had access to courts, members of the ruling class felt that they
had the right to resolve disputes by more direct, </span><span lang="en-IE">and
often violent,</span><span lang="en-IE">
means.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Of course, Henry may
have simply become an outlaw because he was attracted to that
lifestyle. The dissemination of outlaw tales may have offered the
lifestyle a sort of glamour. Could outlaws have possibly been the
fourteenth-century equivalents of rock stars?</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxrBhjgj_ets50R4UmRB7mf5uueojcr6obxVKjTX4gn_vGcjnmML9ORGNdVLhQZUjWm43yrXRTdMAqrtSANPdKkZBpbKQ3_RHMxCmrYGf3IyltANMVkvoahxYaLINFuzruT1w2qsYsLsqt/s1600/eagles1972desperado.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxrBhjgj_ets50R4UmRB7mf5uueojcr6obxVKjTX4gn_vGcjnmML9ORGNdVLhQZUjWm43yrXRTdMAqrtSANPdKkZBpbKQ3_RHMxCmrYGf3IyltANMVkvoahxYaLINFuzruT1w2qsYsLsqt/s1600/eagles1972desperado.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eagles: rock stars who wanted to be outlaws (admittedly not medieval ones)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
Henry embarked on a life of crime he did
not move beyond his own locality. An examination of the justiciary
rolls reveal that most of his crimes were committed between Lyons and
Oughterard:</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 100%;">
Pleas of the crown and gaol-delivery, at
Dublin, before John Wogan, Justiciar, on Tuesday the morrow of St.
Lucia the Virgin, anno regni 34 Edward I. [14 December 1305] </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 100%;">
<span style="line-height: 100%;">Dublin</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 100%;">
[Henry Tyrel] charged that he is a
common robber and thief of oxen and afers and that he waylays
(<i>foristallat</i>) faithful men passing [between] Lyouns and Ughtrard and
exhorts from them money and other their goods under pretence of a
courtesy... (Calendar of the Justiciary Rolls of Ireland, 1305-1307,
p. 477 – for whole entry see previous blog post).</blockquote>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
John Bellamy has noted that most
criminal gangs in England operated in the locality where their leader
either originated from or held lands. Obviously they were more
comfortable in their own locality because they understood the lay of
the land. The location of Lyons manor was also important
strategically, it was located in north Kildare, close to the border
with county Dublin. This meant that when Tyrel and his gang of
outlaws committed crimes in Dublin, they could quickly escape back
over the border to Kildare. The sheriff of one county did not have
jurisdiction in another, and could not, or would not, pursue a
criminal over the county line. Criminals were escaping justice and
this motivated the passing of a statute in 1351 that ordered sheriffs
and other county officers to pursue felons into other counties and
apprehend them. The statute also ordered the sheriff of the county
into which the felon escaped was to provide aid in his capture. This
reflects trends in England, where criminal gangs had a tendency to
establish themselves in areas where two or more counties met, and
escaping into one county after committing crimes in another.
Coincidentally, American outlaws of the Depression-era behaved in an
almost identical fashion. Criminals, like the infamous Bonnie and
Clyde, committed some of their crimes near county lines, and escaped
over the border to avoid arrest. A practice that proved successful
until different jurisdictions coordinated their efforts to apprehend
them.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaMbH_qLdQvOkx4oBfYIGuIOweyd1A6BWaXw14pkbB0ISHZW3Qs4z4ZvF2FVvPlGBbZN79w74VIgJh49pXAW1RNGegf1q4eEglnlEBP50JwrHJIRL-nWm_dkiUSsuNLxuVmb8pHJ5OgE1w/s1600/003-bonnie-and-clyde-theredlist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaMbH_qLdQvOkx4oBfYIGuIOweyd1A6BWaXw14pkbB0ISHZW3Qs4z4ZvF2FVvPlGBbZN79w74VIgJh49pXAW1RNGegf1q4eEglnlEBP50JwrHJIRL-nWm_dkiUSsuNLxuVmb8pHJ5OgE1w/s1600/003-bonnie-and-clyde-theredlist.jpg" width="303" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bonnie and Clyde</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
Parallels can also be made between the
Irish colony in the early fourteenth-century and Depression-era
America. The United States plunged into an economic recession in the
aftermath of the Wall Street Crash in 1929, and this was further
exacerbated by the severe droughts of the 1930s that turned the
agricultural heartland into a dust bowl. Centuries earlier, Edward
I's military expeditions and the construction of his Welsh castles
were partly funded by Irish revenues. The frequent taxes levied on
his Irish subjects financially crippled the colony and helped
contribute to the lawless conditions here. The situation was made
worse by the Bruce Invasion, which began in 1315, and the Great
Famine that coincided with it. In both cases a combination of
economic recklessness and natural disasters (and in Ireland's case, trouble-making Scots) helped breed a situation
where lawless behaviour thrived.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
The similarities do not end there. Much
like Clyde Barrow, Henry Tyrel had his own Bonnie Parker. A court
roll entry says:</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 100%;">
[and he entered] the house of Arnald de
Penrys, and wastes his goods against the will of Arnald . . . . . .
uses [her as] his own wife, and brings her to and fro with him at his
will. (Calendar of the Justiciary Rolls of Ireland, 1305-1307, p.
477)</blockquote>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj06_alZN4AaSWKtvNTUoKB3p-3fTTf1-kKzC8ARrn0ofv_kAw5dHDQoam62Yv7mY8c6KuWpd1TPVPQHH9anN1zOeWWydOzFLsSVuv0rEJNdxwCQReo1dSV-6xZVtI4aLHXNb1FIiduS2TB/s1600/BL+Egerton+MS+881,+f.+141v+K061043.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj06_alZN4AaSWKtvNTUoKB3p-3fTTf1-kKzC8ARrn0ofv_kAw5dHDQoam62Yv7mY8c6KuWpd1TPVPQHH9anN1zOeWWydOzFLsSVuv0rEJNdxwCQReo1dSV-6xZVtI4aLHXNb1FIiduS2TB/s1600/BL+Egerton+MS+881,+f.+141v+K061043.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BL Egerton MS 881, f. 141v K061043</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
This entry is pretty fragmented, but it
appears that Tyrel was committing adultery with Arnald de Penrys'
wife, who is not named in the justiciary roll entry, and bringing her
with him on his travels. Her feelings on the matter were not
recorded, but because she was travelling around with Henry and he was
not charged with abducting her, she may in fact have been his willing
companion. It is possible that de Penrys’ wife was an Irishwoman.
A very fragmented entry in the justiciary rolls for 1306 describes a
concubine named Mcnabyth associated with an outlaw called Henry.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 100%;">
Ric. de Bother, charged with the death
of David de Naungle, [comes and defends], and puts himself on the
country . . . . Naungle, a felon, was slain, but not by Ricard. And
John . . . . Will. Seys, Stephen son of Gilbert, Thomas Seys, John
son of Ricard, Thomas . . . . the white of Tauelauth, Henry son of
Ricard of Balymargy, Will. . . . . . . of Tassagard, Ric. Daniel,
John Colynm jurors, say that [David was] a felon, of the company of
the Ototheles, notorious felons, <b>who
lived with Henry . . . . . a concubine, on</b><b>e</b><b>
Mcnabyth, who is with said Irish felons</b>. And . . . .
continually with Henry, knowingly. And Ricard slew him . . . .but
would have rather taken him alive if he could. And Ricard, after he
slew David, took from him . . . . . And because the Jurors testify
that David was a common thief, and that the slaying of him . . . . by
grace let him go quit. (Calendar of the Justiciary Rolls of Ireland,
1305-1307, p. 500).</blockquote>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
I have highlighted the relevant bit of
this entry. Mcnabyth appears to have been either the concubine of
Henry or one of his followers, David de Naungle. Though Henry's
surname isn't given, this is undoubtedly Tyrel, all the jurors (who
can be identified) come from the same locality as Tyrel (as was usual
in this period) and this case comes soon after Henry's trial and
execution, so chronologically it fits too. James Mills, the editor of the
justiciary rolls, was also of the opinion that this may have been
Henry Tyrel and he records this in the index. She was also an
associate of the O’Tooles and if this is the case Arnald, an
Englishman, was married into one of the most notorious Gaelic
families in the locality. Mcnabyth may have found life with Arnald
dull, and chose to accompany Henry on his adventures, terrorizing the
surrounding countryside.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfYaE8igNbit7N12YKJYd0zyPNtZS2skabq6_fRu2PGzXDgENzEUm_Pla95_-Fw2619DjEh7VvoLdWzE336vtrtPAdsRUgp-PZ2oMK2sn_Da1pTFTT40dnXMFukcVpVqrVRgzx4AUqvIjn/s1600/the+Codex+Manesse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfYaE8igNbit7N12YKJYd0zyPNtZS2skabq6_fRu2PGzXDgENzEUm_Pla95_-Fw2619DjEh7VvoLdWzE336vtrtPAdsRUgp-PZ2oMK2sn_Da1pTFTT40dnXMFukcVpVqrVRgzx4AUqvIjn/s1600/the+Codex+Manesse.jpg" width="216" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the Codex Manesse</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
I was going to deal with Henry's
followers (including his brother Thomas) in this post, but it has
grown longer than expected, so I will deal with them in my next post.
Thanks for reading. :) x </div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
If you have any comments, corrections or additions please use comment box below or email me at aine@irishplearolls.net </div>
Ainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17277414701801283815noreply@blogger.com0Dublin, Ireland53.3498053 -6.260309699999993453.0463133 -6.9057566999999933 53.6532973 -5.6148626999999935tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321038297553260558.post-66373277685250684642015-04-13T17:32:00.000-07:002015-05-18T06:24:39.661-07:00“To be kept there without food or drink till he should die” an unusual form of execution in fourteenth century Ireland.Thanks to everyone for the positive response to my first blog
post, it has encouraged me to start writing more, so you won't have
to wait two years for this one! ;-) I can do special requests too, so
if there is a person, place or topic that interests you let me know
and I'll see if I can work it into a future post.<br />
<br />
I mentioned my main man Henry Tyrel in post #1. Henry features in
a plea roll dating to 1305, which was published in the <i>Calendar of
the Justiciary Rolls of Ireland, 1305-1307</i>, p. 477. Here's the
entry in full:
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Pleas of the crown and gaol-delivery, at Dublin, before John Wogan, Justiciar, on Tuesday the morrow of St. Lucia the Virgin, <i>anno regni</i> 34 Edward I. [14 December 1305] </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Dublin</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
[Henry Tyrel] charged that he is a common robber and thief of oxen and afers and that he waylays (<i>foristallat</i>) faithful men passing [between] Lyouns and Ughtrard and exhorts from them money and other their goods under pretence of a courtesy; [and he entered] the house of Arnald de Penrys, and wastes his goods against the will of Arnald . . . . . . uses [her as] his own wife, and brings her to and fro with him at his will. And Adam son of . . . .rche charged with associating with Henry. They come and defend all robbery, etc., and put themselves on the country.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Reginald Berneual, Robert de Caunteton, Walter . . . . as above, say that they are guilty. Therefore Adam is hanged.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
And because the Justiciar . . . . delivered by mainprise the said Henry from the prison in which he was detained upon similar charges . . . . . that he should amend himself. Who now committed worse crimes than before. And Gerald father of Henry took Henry . . . Henry is remitted to prison to die there of hunger. And the constable of the Castle is commanded not to permit Henry henceforth to have food or drink whereby his life may be sustained.</blockquote>
<br />
This entry is pretty fragmented, and you do have to read between the lines in places to establish what is going on. I'm going to focus on Henry, his followers and his family in my next post, here I'm just focusing on the punishment he received. Henry was sent back to prison, in Dublin Castle, “to die there of hunger.” When I first read this I thought that this was extraordinary. The vast majority of felons in Ireland at this time would have been hanged. What made Henry so special? Additionally, was he the only one punished this way?<br />
<div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjB7Zch2ItJLWPdQ1nYIEpMvDOtfnrxQQFVjyghb6PrmAnMr-4jhq6LSEZ4PGXKfkmvg1x_DMycUq-flbwPSpcNqC-_rER0W1fA7IGB1HKTIDKSAb2Iq01LPt3IgpQUNYh4-glFzu7FjhX/s1600/Naughty+outlaws.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjB7Zch2ItJLWPdQ1nYIEpMvDOtfnrxQQFVjyghb6PrmAnMr-4jhq6LSEZ4PGXKfkmvg1x_DMycUq-flbwPSpcNqC-_rER0W1fA7IGB1HKTIDKSAb2Iq01LPt3IgpQUNYh4-glFzu7FjhX/s1600/Naughty+outlaws.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red;">Some naughty outlaw types.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
Before I answer those questions I want to go back and look at a
couple of earlier examples of death by starvation, though they're a
bit different, as I consider them to be murder rather than
executions. Both of these incidences occurred in England during King
John's reign.
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPoJCfR16xn7phW4LPp-ADb1-dbEjboe4BxvrDBie1znpZd3jSraWZzJnr5EztK6pvjSdvWn246y0oh02q18Xs9G3e34qnwqsABRA_xUhj7773EZ8wreQbfOmWs_9WOSjk7j4ZBN_oeSAY/s1600/john_main.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPoJCfR16xn7phW4LPp-ADb1-dbEjboe4BxvrDBie1znpZd3jSraWZzJnr5EztK6pvjSdvWn246y0oh02q18Xs9G3e34qnwqsABRA_xUhj7773EZ8wreQbfOmWs_9WOSjk7j4ZBN_oeSAY/s1600/john_main.jpg" width="241" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red;">King John sneaks into another post, the bugger!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red;">Image from a manuscript of 'Abbreviatio chronicorum Angliae', an abridged version of Matthew Paris's chronicle, produced in St Albans, mid-thirteenth century.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="firstHeading"></a>The first incident is a very famous one
and it involved <span lang="en-US">Maud de Braose and her eldest son
William, who were locked up and starved to death in 1210. We don't
know exactly why John had Maud and William killed, but it may have
been because Maud had gossiped about John's part in the murder of his
nephew, Arthur. There is a rather macabre account of Maud gnawing on
her son's cheeks, hopefully after he was dead! Beat that Game of Thrones! The second incident,
reported by William le Breton, is when John had forty knights
imprisoned in Mirabeau Castle (<i>correction: these knights were probably executed in Corfe Castle, thanks to Marc Morris for this correction</i>) and instructed that they be given
neither food or water. He wanted them to die a “discrete sort of
death” (Source: <i>Oeuvres de Rigord et de Guillaume le Breton</i>, ed
H.F. Delaborde (2 vols, Paris, 1885), vol 2: p. 169. Thanks to Colin
Veach for bringing this to my attention).</span><br />
<span lang="en-US"><br /></span>
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<span style="color: red;">Corfe Castle, where Maud and William de Braose perished.</span></div>
<span lang="en-US"><br /></span>
<span lang="en-US"><br /></span>
The fourteenth century Justiciar's court may have had similar
motivations when they executed Henry Tyrel in the same manner.
Henry, too, was given a discreet sort of death. Henry was the son of a knight and men of his social
class were not typically executed for this sort of behaviour. Those executed
for felonies in medieval period were predominantly of low social
status. The nobility and gentry were rarely executed, and even then
it was usually for acts of treason. It is also possible that the courts
were worried that members of Henry's gang would help him escape
before they could hang him. Several individuals were outlawed on the
same day that Henry was convicted, including his brother Thomas, and
he clearly had a large group of followers. It is also possible that
Henry's family requested that he be executed privately. Another case,
dating to 13 October 1316, also suggests that a prisoner was quietly
executed in prison to spare family or associates from the humiliation
of a public execution.
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Pleas of the Crown and Gaol Delivery at Dublin before Edmund le
Botiller, Justiciar of Ireland, in the fifteen days from St Michael's
Day, <i>anno regni</i> 10 Edward II. [13 October 1316] </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Dublin</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Roger de Fynglas accused that he, in company with other robbers,
by night stole from John Otyr and Walter Ocolyn at Werne divers goods
and chattels to the value of one hundred shillings, and also of
stealing ten cows at Syaldwyn and that he is a common thief and
receiver of stolen goods in parts of Fyngal and that the whole
country suffers by him and the thieves who are received with him,
comes and says that he is not guilty and puts himself upon the
country. And Adam de Houth, Reginald de Berneuale, William de la
Felde, John Oweyn, Thomas le Waleys, William Luterel, Richard
Athelard, Andrew Tyrel, Reginald de la Felde, William le Blount of
Corauntestoñ, Robert Schirlok and Henry Godefelawe, Jurors, say that
he is guilty of the said charges. Therefore let him be hanged. He has
no chattels and no free land. Afterwards, by grace, at the instance
of Geoffrey de Tryuers, Knight, it is granted by the Justiciar that
the said Roger be recommitted to the gaol of the Castle of Dublin
there to stay without having any food until he be dead.<br />
(Source: NAI, KB 2/8, pp 26-7).</blockquote>
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<span style="color: red;">Dublin Castle.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
Though Roger was sentenced to be hanged, this sentence was changed
at the request of Geoffrey Travers. Geoffrey was possibly a
descendent of John Travers, who was sheriff of Dublin in 1228 and an
ancestor of Gilbert Travers, who was also sheriff of Dublin in 1337
(see my list of the sheriffs of Dublin in Medieval Dublin XII, edited
by Seán Duffy for more details
<a href="http://www.fourcourtspress.ie/books/2013/medieval-dublin-xii/">http://www.fourcourtspress.ie/books/2013/medieval-dublin-xii/</a>).<br />
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<span style="color: red;">Medieval Dublin XII, includes a list of the sheriffs of Dublin.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
The Travers held lands in Monkstown, in south Dublin, but they may
have had holdings in north Dublin too, and it's possible Roger de
Fynglas was a relative or an associate of Robert's. Alternatively,
Roger may have been a relation of William de Finglas, who served as
sheriff of Dublin in 1327. However, it is difficult to establish
family connections from toponymic surnames, Roger may have simply
come from the Finglas area.
<br />
<br />
The fact that Roger de Fynglas had no chattels (that is, movable
property) and no free land, does not mean he was of low social
status, like Henry Tyrel, he could have been a younger son of someone
of high social status. If Roger was the leader of the gang, he may
have had a similar background to Henry Tyrel. In my next post I will
explore why members of the gentry became criminals.
<br />
<br />
Around the same time that Roger was executed, William son of David
le Poer also suffered the same fate. Though the plea roll for this
case no longer exists it can be found in Cambridge University
Library, Additional MS 3104, fo. 37ii and it is also usefully
transcribed in Robin Frame's <i>Colonial Ireland</i> (p. 146):<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br />
William son of David le Poer was convicted of felony and adjudged
to be hanged. Afterwards because the baron of Donoil (who is named
John le Poer) captured the said William and brought him to court, at
the petition of the said baron, on the grounds that William is of the
lineage of the le Poers, it was agreed and granted that William
should not be hanged, but should be sent back to gaol, to be kept
there without food or drink till he should die.</blockquote>
<br />
Both Henry Tyrel and Roger de Finglas were described as common
robbers in the sources, and William le Poer was convicted of felony,
however there are at least two examples of the same method of
execution being used on men accused of treason.
<br />
<br />
The court records of these trials and executions no longer exist,
but the were extraordinary enough to be recorded in other sources.
The execution of John Lacy, in the spring of 1318 was mentioned in
Pembridge's Annals :<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Item, die Dominica in mense Pasche ductus fuit Johannes Lacy de
Castro Dublin usque Trym ad audiendum et ibi judicium suum
recipiendum, qui adjudicatus fuit ad dietam et in carcere moriebatur.
</i>(J.T. Gilbert, <i>Chartularies of St Mary's Abbey, Dublin and annals
of Ireland</i>, vol. ii, p. 358)</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Item, on Sunday in the month of Easter John Lacy was led from
Dublin Castle to Trim, there to hear and receive his judgement, which
judgement was to be put on a diet, and he died in prison.</blockquote>
<br />
<span lang="en-IE">John Lacy’s removal to Trim from Dublin
reflects trends in England to execute those guilty of treason in
their own locality. </span><span lang="en-IE">(see, J.S. Bothwell,
</span><span lang="en-IE"><i>Falling from Grace: Reversal of fortune
and the English nobility, 1075–1455</i></span><span lang="en-IE">,
p. 67.) </span><span lang="en-IE">John Gilbert provides us with a bit
more information about de Lacy’s execution and that of Sir Robert
de Coulragh </span><span lang="en-IE">in <i>Viceroys of Ireland</i>, p. 147</span><span lang="en-IE">:</span><br />
<span lang="en-IE"><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span lang="en-IE">Jean de Lasci and Sir Robert de Coulragh, who
fell into the hands of the colonial government, were, as adherents of
Bruce, starved to death in prison, under a sentence which allowed
each of them but three morsels of the worst bread, and three draughts
of foul water, on alternate days, till life became extinct.</span></blockquote>
<span lang="en-IE"><br /></span>
<span lang="en-IE">It is likely that </span><span lang="en-IE">this
description of their execution comes</span><span lang="en-IE"> from the
original plea roll, </span><span lang="en-IE">Gilbert made extensive use of the
primary sources, which are now lost to us. I</span><span lang="en-IE">t
gives us an idea of how painfully slow </span><span lang="en-IE">and
agonising </span><span lang="en-IE"> this method of execution must
have been, and </span><span lang="en-IE">prisoners would have died of
thirst rather than starvation.</span><span lang="en-IE"> </span><span lang="en-IE">T</span><span lang="en-IE">he
fact that there was a sense of ritual to it might imply that it was
used more often than the sources would suggest. Legal treatises from
the thirteenth century established that those guilty of treason
should be executed by torment. </span><span lang="en-IE">(J.G.,
Bellamy. </span><span lang="en-IE"><i>The Law of Treason in England
in the Later Middle Ages</i></span><span lang="en-IE"> (Cambridge
1970) p. 20.) This method of execution would</span><span lang="en-IE">
certainly fulfil this requirement.</span><br />
<span lang="en-IE"><br /></span>
Walter Harris provided us with a little more information on Robert
de Coulragh and why he was sentenced to death in <i>The His</i><i>t</i><i>ory
and Antiquities of the City of Dublin</i>, published in 1766 (p.
260):
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Edward Bruce, brother to the king of Scotland, having this year
landed 6,000 men at Carrickfergus, overran a good part of the north,
and possessed himself of Green-Castle. But the citizens of Dublin
sent out a strong party by sea, and soon recovered it for the king.
They took therein the governor Sir Robert de Coulragh, whom they
brought with them to Dublin, and cast him in prison; where being
stinted to a hard diet, he died for want.</blockquote>
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<span style="color: red;">Robert the Bruce (because there are no handy images of Edward).</span></div>
<br />
Sir Robert de Coulragh, like John de Lacy, was executed for his
part in the Bruce Invasion. Sir Robert had served as constable of
Greencastle on behalf of Bruce. Robert was possibly the constable of
Greencastle before Edward Bruce captured it, if he gave the castle up
to Bruce willingly and held it for him against the king than the
charge of treason was a reasonable one.
<br />
<br />
The de Lacy family had sided enthusiastically with Edward Bruce
when he invaded Ireland – so John’s fate is of little surprise.
However, there may have been some ulterior motives to his execution.
Roger Mortimer was Lord of Trim and he oversaw de Lacy’s execution,
it proved to be a very handy way of disposing of a local opponent.
The plea rolls may also show evidence of Mortimer's antagonistic
behaviour driving the Lacys into the arms of Edward Bruce, and this
will be examined in a future blog.<br />
<br />
<span lang="en-IE">Aside from these few cases I haven't found
any more examples in Ireland of the Crown using starvation as a form
of capital punishment. It should be noted that all the executions,
apart from Henry Tyrel’s, took place during the Great Famine.
Bruce’s presence in Ireland certainly exacerbated a difficult
situation and perhaps the method in which de Lacy and Coulragh were
executed reflected the suffering felt by the community at large (thanks to Clare Downham for this suggestion). If
anyone has any other examples of execution by starvation, I would be
very interested in knowing more about them, especially any
occurrences of it in England. </span>
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<br />
Email me at aine@irishplearolls.net<br />
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Ainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17277414701801283815noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321038297553260558.post-48420705834581613482015-04-09T21:51:00.000-07:002015-05-18T06:25:02.812-07:00Introducing the Irish plea rolls.<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
What are the Irish plea rolls? Simply put, plea rolls are court records. They include a summary of judicial cases, verdicts and the punishments or awards meted out.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix6-6UKHvFBEUt-JlaGdFw0DP53pn-4-8CJZwFBWWpt-jtJvSPlTlp3k40jvRcBABMphHX7e31bdMff1VOm0b3G5k8pgz_B4_cohXftQBUrD_EzwnVlTTxk4zvbdKZns79Ja9TiuE-1RZd/s1600/Medieval_Manorial_Rolls.JPG"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix6-6UKHvFBEUt-JlaGdFw0DP53pn-4-8CJZwFBWWpt-jtJvSPlTlp3k40jvRcBABMphHX7e31bdMff1VOm0b3G5k8pgz_B4_cohXftQBUrD_EzwnVlTTxk4zvbdKZns79Ja9TiuE-1RZd/s1600/Medieval_Manorial_Rolls.JPG" /></a></div>
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These are actually manorial rolls, but you get the idea.</div>
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The administration of royal justice in late medieval Ireland was conducted in the justiciar's court (the justiciar was the English king's representative in Ireland, therefore the justiciar's court was the equivalent of the king's bench in Ireland) and the common bench, or by itinerant justices (that is judges wandering around the country, um, dispensing justice). The lordship of Ireland was a colony of England, and the English king was also lord of Ireland. This means if you see a Henry, Edward or Richard with a Roman numeral after his name in this blog, you will know that it is a king I'm referring to. There was a John as well, but he doesn't need a numeral since he was a one-off, in all senses of the word.<br />
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King John, not a fan of hipster beards...or barons.</div>
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Source: <span style="background-color: white;"><i style="color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.3000001907349px; line-height: 23.6444454193115px;">De Rege Johanne</i><span style="color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.3000001907349px; line-height: 23.6444454193115px;">, 1300-1400. MS Cott. Claud DII, folio 116, British Library.</span></span></div>
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I won't be mentioning him much, since we don't have any plea rolls from his reign. Basically, we're stuck with the Henrys, Edwards and Richards. <br />
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Lots of Henrys, Edwards and Richards.</div>
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In administrative records you will often see a number before their names too, this denotes their regnal year, more information on regnal years can be found here: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regnal_years_of_English_monarchs">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regnal_years_of_English_monarchs</a>. Each regnal year began at the date of the king's accession, so Edward II's reign began on 8 July 1307, the day after his father (Edward I) died. The first regnal year of his reign was 8 July 1307 until 7 July 1308, the second year started on the following day, and so on. To make matters even more complicated documents were usually dated to the nearest feast day – for example 31 March 1316 is the Wednesday next after the feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary <i>anno regni</i> (translates as <i>in the year of the reign</i>) 9 Edward II. Confusing? You bet.<br />
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Thanks to an explosion in 1922 that destroyed the Public Records Office of Ireland [PROI], located in the Four Courts, most of our medieval judicial records are now gone. Some genius thought it would be a good idea to store ammunition in the same building as irreplaceable historical documents. Before the explosion, 488 medieval plea rolls were stored in the PROI, afterwards only three complete rolls, and various fragments of other rolls survived. <i>I could weep!</i> Fortunately, before this calamitous event, the PROI had started to calendar these valuable records, though what survives can't possibly make up for the devastating loss of so much of our past. To date, the Justiciary Rolls dating from 1295 to 1314 have been published.</div>
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Destruction of the Four Courts.</div>
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What else remains? Quite a bit as it happens, and the late (and brilliant!) Philomena Connolly provided us with a useful summation of what survives in her book <i>Medieval Record Sources</i>. If you have any interest in medieval Ireland then you need to pick up a copy of this book. You can find it here: <a href="http://www.fourcourtspress.ie/books/archives/medieval-record-sources/">http://www.fourcourtspress.ie/books/archives/medieval-record-sources/</a><br />
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Just in case you don't have a copy to hand, this is what is left: two original justiciary rolls for 6-7 Edward II (1312-13) and a common bench roll from 6 Edward IV (1466-7). (See, I told you those regnal years were going to be important.) Also, two rolls that had gone astray sometime before the explosion (and isn't it a shame that whoever stuffed them under his jacket didn't take more of them) found their way back to the PROI back in the 1960s. One is a justiciary roll from Edward II's reign and the other is a common roll from Henry V's reign. The National Archives of Ireland [NAI, previously the PROI] also has unpublished calendars, particularly RC 7 and KB 2, though some plea rolls can also be found in RC 8. Other calendars and copies of court proceedings can be found in the Royal Irish Academy, the National Library of Ireland and The National Archives of the United Kingdom. Of course there's always the chance that more material will be found in archives.<br />
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Okay, now we know what plea rolls are, and what survives, but why am I looking at them? In 2004 I embarked on my post-graduate thesis, which dealt with lands held by the English crown in south-west county Dublin. During the course of my research I became fascinated by the published justiciary rolls, particularly by the case of the outlaw Henry Tyrel, I will discuss Henry in my next post, and possibly the one after that too. Henry is my pet.<br />
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If you can't wait that long to find out more about Henry, (because, let's face it, it could be two years before I write my next post) I've written about him in <i>Medieval Dublin X</i>: <a href="http://www.fourcourtspress.ie/books/archives/medieval-dublin-x/">http://www.fourcourtspress.ie/books/archives/medieval-dublin-x/</a> He also pops up in my book, if they ever find his bones in a carpark I'm going to be one excited girl. Here's a gratuitous book plug: <a href="http://www.fourcourtspress.ie/books/2013/royal-manors-of-medieval-co-dublin/">http://www.fourcourtspress.ie/books/2013/royal-manors-of-medieval-co-dublin/</a><br />
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My book. It's pink!</div>
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I think court records are a valuable resource for social historians, they offer us a window into the lives of people who lived long ago and they help us reconstruct their lives. I am writing this blog to demonstrate how much valuable material, both published and unpublished survives. The aim here is to be entertaining and light-hearted, but also to be informative and (hopefully) occasionally scholarly. There will be lots of very lame attempts at humour (see above), and I apologise in advance. Some of the cases dealt with in the plea rolls can be dark, and justice was often harsh, so a bit of gallows humour is always good. There will also be actual gallows.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc07LyORIKssYDcGg7O1XdtdbeCe7U9QVdm0Xqc1hDZiPDBA3Jm4kK7DEe_AGEWMwy8ZPG3til9KcqFlY_Wi90T8RO1sD0htnI7wedaYrTV1un5Qe489o_vX0753hzX1eXjGFCPOivM4Fr/s1600/Town_square_350x355.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc07LyORIKssYDcGg7O1XdtdbeCe7U9QVdm0Xqc1hDZiPDBA3Jm4kK7DEe_AGEWMwy8ZPG3til9KcqFlY_Wi90T8RO1sD0htnI7wedaYrTV1un5Qe489o_vX0753hzX1eXjGFCPOivM4Fr/s1600/Town_square_350x355.jpg" /></a></div>
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Execution gallows on a town square. Brussels, Royal Library, Ms. 9231, fol. 90v, ca. 1450</div>
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If you have any feedback or comments, please feel free to comment below, or email me at aine@irishplearolls.net<br />
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After all this, I feel like I should leave you with an odd and interesting plea roll entry. This one is unpublished and can be found in the National Archives of Ireland [<b>NAI</b>], the source is<b> KB 2/8 pp 40-1</b>. I have left the spelling as it is in the calendar, and haven't modernised names. The dashes in document denotes gaps in record. It is a classic twist on the dog-ate-my-homework excuse, except it was a patent letter, and the dog was framed. Enjoy.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Pleas of the Crown at Cassell [Cashel] before Edmund le Botiller Justiciar of Ireland on the Thursday next after the feast of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a.r. 10 Ed. II.f<br />
9 December 1316<br />
Tipperary<br />
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Margaret daughter of Luke de Stoketon accused that whereas Luke de Stoketon by his deed had enfeoffed Thomas de Stoketon his son of the manor of Moygorban with its appurtenances and by another letter patent of his had granted to Thomas all his goods and chattels as well living as dead being at time in the said manor, and by another letter patent had commanded all the tenants of the said manor to be as intendent to Thomas as they had been accustomed to be to him before the making of the said feoffment, the said Margaret stole the deed and letters patent which she found in the chamber of Thomas his brother in the said manor deposited in a certain box (<i>pyx</i>) under the head of the bed of Thomas, at the instigation of the said Luke her father, and handed the box, deed and letters patent who afterwards broke their seals, comes and says that she is not guilty and puts herself upon the country. And John de Lond, Stephen de Lond, Adam Byford, Andrew Sauce, John de Cantewell, Milo de Cantewell, John de Valle, Henry Euijas, Henry Haket, _ _ O Conagh, Abel Brysky, John de Stokes, Roger le Bret, Joceus Manclerk, and Philip Haket of S_ _ _ _ say that Margaret is guilty. Therefore let her be recommitted _ _ _ _ to await judgment. She has no chattels and no free land.</blockquote>
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And Luke de Stoketon, accused of aiding and abetting his daughter Margaret to commit the said theft and receiving from her hand the box, deed and letters patent and breaking the seals, comes and says that he is not guilty and puts himself upon the country. </blockquote>
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And [John de] Lond, Stephen de Lond, Adam Byford, Andrew Sauce, John de Cantewell, Milo de Cantewell, _ _ _ _ Vaal, Henry Ewyas, John de Stokes, Andrew Seysell, Maurice son of Walter, and Elyas Burdon, jurors, say that Luke aided and abetted Margaret in committing the said theft and that Luke received the box, deed and letters patent which she had stolen, at her hands and broke the box with his teeth and threw it into the manger of Thomas' stable, so that when it was found it would be thought that mastiffs or other dogs of that house had broken it and gnawed the deed and letters patent, and afterwards tore off the seals from the deed and letters patent and broke them, well knowing that they had been stolen by Margaret. Therefore let him be recommitted to gaol to await his sentence. He has no chattels and no free land.</blockquote>
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