Murder, Motive and Punishment in Fifteenth-Century England: Two Gentry Case-Studies

English Historical Review

Volumn 113, Issue 450, 1998, Pages

  Payling, S J ^a  

^a History of Parliament   (United Kingdom)

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EID: 79953442759     PISSN: 00138266     EISSN: 14774534     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/ehr/CXIII.450.1     Document Type: Review

References (53)

1. P. Maddcrn, Violence tnd Soatl Order: East AM/US, 1421-42 (Oxford, 1992), pp. 4-6, 14-19; E. Powell, Ktxpbtp. Ljtw tnd Society: Crimmtl Justice m tbt Reign of Henry V (Oxford, 19I9), pp. 97-107; C. E. Momoo, The Towtubends tnd their World (Oxford, 1991), p. 1 12.
2. For an extreme "utrmmt of thii new: M. T. Clanchy, 'Law, Goremment and Society in Medieral England', Hutory, lix (1974), 7I; id, 'Law and Lore in the Middle Ages', in J. Bony (ed.), Disputes tnd Settlement Law tnd Humtn RtUltom in the WeU (Cambridge, 1983), p. 64. j . G. L. Harriu, Introduction', in K. B. McFarlane, EngUnd m tbt Fifteenth Century: Collected Etstyt (London, 19I1), p. xx.
3. Powell, Kmgshtp, L* tnd Society, p. 20.
4. Himu, 'Political Society and the Growth of Gorernroeot in Late Medieval England', Past and Present, no. 138 (Feb. 1993), j 1; S. J. Payling, 'Arbitration, Perpetual Entailj and Collateral Wairannes in Late-Medieval Ei^2nd', Joitmal of Legal Hsaory, 1111 (1991), 5 5; C. Carpenter, Locality andPolity: A Study of Warwickshire Landed Socuty, 1401-1499 (Cambridge, 1992), pp. 622, 624.
5. Powell, Kmgthtp, Law and Soaety, p. 274-3. Having succeeded hu brother Thomas (b. 1373) in 1400 (C[aiend*r of] I[lUfuwtumi] Pfost] Mfortem], zviii. no. 119), he had long played an important part in the administration of Rutland, holding a place on the county bench from 1411.
6. Sir John Argentine (d. 1382) of Great Wyraondley (Herts.) provides one of very few counterexample* J. S. Roikell, L. Clark and C. Rjwcliffe (eds.), The House of Commons, 1386-1421 (4 vols., Stroud, 1993), ii. 50-1. So it firit tight does William (d. 1361), Lord Kerdeston, but with the important distinction that his son was legitimate in the eyes of the Church: V. Gibbs and H. A. Doubleday, [The] C[omplete] PfeersgeJ (12 vols., London, 1910-59), vii. 192-9. For an instructive example of the defeat by an entail of a father's attempt to disinherit his brother in favour of his bastard sons; S. M. Wright, The Derbyshire Gentry of the Fifteenth Century (Derbyshire Record Soc, viii, '983). PP- 37-8-2. For examples of the disinheritance of sisters or their representatives in favour of bastard sons: CP, ix. 129; Select CUses m Chmcery, 1364-1471, ed. W. P. Baildon (Selden Soc., x, 1896), no. 138; Vtctoru County History, Bedfordshire, ui. 1J9.
7. Sir John's mother was Lord Zouche's great-June CP, xii, pt. ii, pp. 941-5; Lincolnshire] Afrchives] Offfice], Episcopal Register X, fo.2O3d.
8. Pfublic] Rfecord] Offfice], C139/97/5. t. The only direct evidence for these instructions is the inquisitions taken on his death: PRO, C139/122/41. Although the falsifying of inquisition returns was a well-tried method of pursuing a debatable claim to land, there is no reason to doubt the jurors' accounts of these instructions, which are partially confirmed by Sir John's ultima voluntas referred to below.
9. There must, however, be doubt as to whether these alleged conveyances took immediate effect. In October 1443 Sir John presented to the church of Normanton despite the supposed conveyance of the advowson to Agnes Brounfeld: LAO, Episcopal Register XVm, fo. 13 id.
10. Leicestershire Record Office, Nevill of Holt MSS, DE221/14/21.
11. The Basynges family were of London origin and had acquired their lands in Rutland and Kent by the marriage of William Basynges (d13) to Margaret, heiress of the Normanvilles: A. Wagner, Pedigree and Progress: Essays 01 the Genealogical Interpretation of History (Chichester, 1975). P- 88; C. Moor, Knights of Edward I (j vols., Harleian Soc., bm-iT, 1929-32), i. 48-9.
12. By a fine levied in 1317 two-thirds of the manor had been entailed on the heirs of the body of Margaret, widow of William Basynges: PRO, CP25(1)7192/5/21; CP, v. 18 j - 6 ; T. Blore, History and Antiquities of the County of Rutland (Stamford, i l l iX P 127; CIPM, v. n o . ; . Nevertheless, despite this fine, the manor had been resettled by Sir John's father, with successive life estates to himself and his wife and remainder over to his right heirt: CIPM, xv. no. 925; C[alendar of] CfloseJ R[oUs], 1381-1, P- 5
13. In the tax returns of 1436 Thomas Makworth had been assessed at a modest annual income of £20: PRO, E179/140/266. He was receiver of the duchy honour of Turbury between 1425 and 1432: R. Somemlle, History of the Duchy of Ltncsacr (1 vols., London, 1953-70), 1. 542-3.
14. Such injunctions, not enforceable at common law, were generally ineffective.
15. Qtlendtr op F[me] R/olls], ijw-140), p. 271, ibid-, 14)7-4S, P- 33-4. His most important acquisition was the valuable manor of Collyweston, just on the Northamptonshire side of the Rutland border, from the executors of Sir William Porter, former husband of Sir John's siiter-in-law. On 27 May 1441 Sir John witnessed a quitclaim concerning Collyweston, and, on 29 September 1443, he witnessed another quitclaim to Cromwell's benefit; CCR, 1431-41, p. 476; ibid., '44'-7, PP- 314. 467-1. Pay ling, Pohtuud Soaety ai LsncMStruai EngUnd. The Greater Gentry of Nottmglnmsbtre (Oxford, 1991), p. 99; CCR, 1441-7, pp. 218-19, 222-3. Earlier in 1445 Dudley hid acted for Cromwell in the purchase of a minor in Derbyshire: H. J. H. Guntt (ed.), Derbyshire Feet of Fvtei, i}2]-if46 (Derbyshire Record Soc., n, 19J5), no 1103.
16. Walker is an obscure figure. At the time of his shrievalty he was said to be in receipt of an annual fee of £2 from CromwelL PRO, KB27/741, just, roc 13. Described as "of Oakham, yeoman', he witnessed Richard, Duke of York's grant of the manor of Hambleton to Cromwell's feoffees on 27 Feb. 1449: KB27/7J2, just, rot 32.
17. CFR, 144!-fi, p. 1; Ahstrtas of the Inqmstttones Post Mortem ReUtntg to Nottmghsmsbtre, 14J7-8J (Thoroton Society Record Ser, rrii, 19J6), pp. 22-3; Blore, RiftlMtui, 127; PRO, C139/122/41
18. Sir John prorated to the church of Kenardington in Sept. 1444, suggesting that the minor waj not then in the hands of feoffees: Lambeth Pal ce Library, Reg. Stafford, fo. 80. Alice presented in Dec 1446: ibid, fo. 9 id. None the less, the later conveyance to Lord Say by Sir John's former steward (m/r, p. 8) strongly suggests that Sir John had made a conveyance of the manor before his death, presumably between Sept. 1444 and Aug. 1445.
19. On 7 Dec 144) the escheator of Kent was ordered to give her seisin: CFR, 144S-J2, p. 12.
20. PRO, KB27/739, j"1 1 - "* 3^; 74'. I"11- ™- '3- The dean had 1 long-standing connexion with Empingham, for, over forty years before, Henry IV had presented him to the prebendal stall of the church there, and he may thus have been responsible for his brother's marriage to Alice Basynges. He was a man of evil reputation. In 1434 he was indicted before John, Duke of Bedford, for conspiring to have two servants of the prior of Lenton falsely indicted for felony: KB27/693, rex rot 4. In 1440, before Cromwell and others, he was indicted for receiving felons: KB27/724, rex roc 8. In addition, as dean, he was involved in a long-running dispute with the cathedral chapter: R. M. Woolley (ed.), The Aunrd of Wdlum AlnwuJt, Bishop of Lincoln (Cambridge, 1913), pp. 15-17, KJV227/1/12; 2/73.
21. PRO, KB27/740, just. rot. 6d; 741, JUH. rots. 3 jd, 73; 742, just, rot 54 (this suit disappears from the plea rolls after the issue of wriu of arrest for Hilary term 1447).
22. PRO, KB9/254/26. There is no writ attached to the indictment. Palmer may hare been acting here in the capacity of the county's custos Toudorum. That he held this office in the 1440s is suggested by the appearance of his name on the dorse of writs of ceruorsn and termatsn directed to the Rudand JPs: e.g. KB9/23S/48.
23. PRO, KB27/743, roll of attorneys; 746, rex rot. id. }. His oppressions are well documented: e.g. I. M. W. Harvey, Jdde CMU'S RekeUwn of 14)0 (Oxford, 1991), pp. 37-8, 131; PRO, 01/10/326; 17/419.
24. British Library, Add. MS 46846, fo. 484, printed in C. Munro (ed.), Lettm of Queen Miajdret of Anjou (Camden Soc, old ser., rravi, 1863), p. 160; C[*Und*r of] P[*ttnt] RloUs], 1446-52, p. 146.
25. CCR, i44j-)4t p. J4. Kirkeby and Baker had been named among his feoffees in Lincolnshire and Rutland in 1439. On 2 Oct. 1447 Sir Henry Pleasington had released to Alice, described as right heir of Sir John, all his right in the lands in Kent which be had of the feoffment of her brother Blore, RutUnd, p. 130.
26. On 22 NOT. 1448 Say acknowledged that the terms of the recognisance had been fulfilled: CCR, 1447-H, PP- 5<-7-2 PRO, 017/746, rex roc id. On the tame day she produced in Chancery the»ii sureties necessary to Tilidate her pardon. It may be significant that none of them were drawn from her neighbours or from the lawyers who routinely stood surety for pardons. Moreover, only one, Thomas Atkyn, an obscure gentleman from Lincoln, was of gentle rank; the other fire were yeomen; PRO, C237/4J/} J7. Atkyn and one of the yeomen, John Boys of Nassington in Northants., were associates of her brother-in-law. Dean Makworth. Atkyn was later one of the dean's executors: CCR, 14)4-61, p. IJ7. ). C. Rawdiffe, The Suffordt, EMTU ofSufjoriuU DHJUI of Budtrnghm, IJ^-I)JI (Cambridge, 1978), p 240. In new of this connexion, it may be significant that the escbeator who took Sir John's inquisition post mortem in Kent was Stafford's long-senring steward there, William HexstaO.
27. PRO, KBi7/74, rex rot J7-, CPR, 1446-12, p. I j .
28. T. Hoccleve, The Regement of Princes, ed. F. J. Furnivill (Early English Text Soe, extra ser, l""ii >8 7). PP- "3-'5-2. Powell, Ktngtbtf, L*w *nd Society, p. i l l ; R. I- Storey, The End of the House of Ltnctaer (London, 1966), pp. 210-16; C. D. Ron, Edwtrd IV (London, 1974), pp. 390-1; M. BUtcber, The Court ofKmg's Bench, /.fjo-zjjo (London, 1978), pp. 83-5.
29. E.g. Storey, House of Ljaicmstcr, pp. 57-8; Payling, 'Inheritance and Local Politics in the Later Middle Agej: The Case of Ralph, Lord Cromwell, and the Herii Inheritance', N[outngh*m] M[edxev*l]Sftudttt], xxx (1986), 90; Carpenter, Loaday aid Polity, pp. 511-12; H. NorrU, Btddesley Chiton (London, 1897), pp 22, 25; The House of Commons, i}86-i4ii, 11 479-80; R. Virgoe, Trie Murder of Edmund Clippesby', Norfolk Archaeology, X23rv (1970-3), 302-7.
30. N. Saul, Scenes from ProvmcuU Life- Knightly Fdmtlui m Sussex, 1280-1400 (Oxford, 1986), pp. 85-7; id., 'Murder and Justice, Medieval Style: The Pashley Case, 1327-8', History TocUy, m i v (Aug 1984), 30-j.
31. While Alice and Henry Makworth escaped punishment, the lesser men indicted with Henry as the principals were not so fortunate. Their failure to answer led to their outlawry on 6 Nov. 1449, and I have not been able to trace their subsequent fate. Of the accessories one of Henry's servants was also outlawed: PRO, KB29/79, rot 3d; 91, Hil. 28 Hen. VI. Nevertheless, even if those outlawed were never able to put themselves back on the right side of the law, the fact remains that the commissioners and beneficiaries of the murder were not unduly inconvenienced by common law process. Only two of the eight indicted either as principal or accessory were brought to trial, and both were acquitted in June 1451: PRO, KB27/760, rex. rot. 7d.
32. PRO, KB9/308/82 (I owe this reference to Dr. L. Clark); KB27/817, just, roc IOJ. 1 In July 1454 Archbishop Booth had appointed John'i elder brother, William, a> steward of the archiepiscopal lordship of Southwell, an office previously held by Margaret's grandfather, Sir John Zouche: Payiing, Pohtiad Soaety, p 1, fo 488d ioo. These connections gave the Archbishop his interest in the affairs of the Chaworths. The victim had named his wife among the executors of his will of t Nov. 1461, and it seems be never came to suspect her loyalty: Borthwick Institute, York, Probate Register
33. PRO, KB9/308/81
34. PRO, KBZ7/817, just. rot. iojd; KB9/318/59.
35. Thii petition u known only from it several enrolments on the pica rolli of the court of King's Bench; PRO, KB27/816, just, roti. 70, 71; 817, just. rot. 105.
36. The petition provides the explanation for the surprising obscurity of Sir William's career. He is there described as '1 sekely man and often tyraes nott of power to labour in rydyng'.
37. For examples of other parliamentary petitions requesting summary process: J. G. Bellamy, Crane tnd Public Order 01 EngUnd m the Liter Middle Ages (London, 1973), pp. 11J -17. It addressed the great defects of mesne process: insufficient penalties for the failure of defendants to appear and of sheriffs to return writs.
38. Piyhng, 'Political Society in Lancastrian Nottinghamshire' (Univ. of Oxford, D. Phil, thesis, 987), pp. 71-3.
39. CPR, 1461-j, p. 196; PRO, KB27/816, just, rot 70.
40. PRO, KB27/817, just, rot. j% 820, just, rot. 13d.
41. PRO, KB27/827, rex rot. 22. She hid first secured a pardon on 6 March 1466, but her waiver eleven days later meant that she was put to the inconvenience of securing another: C237/4J/41.
42. PRO, KB2y/9f, rot. 17.
43. PRO, KB27/847, rex rot. 2
44. PRO, KB29/9; , rot. 17; KB27/8J9, rex rot. 16; 863, rex rot. 15, 867, rex rot. i6d.
45. PRO, KB27/874, rex rot. id; 875, just, rot. io, rex rot- id. The case disappears from the plea rolls after the outlawry of the two accused as principals in Michaelmas term 1480: KB27/876, just. rot. 86d, rex roc lid.
46. G. Baker, The History tnd Antiquities of the County of Northampton (2 vols., London, 1822-41), ii. 274 (1 owe this reference to Dr. G. L. Harnss, to whom it was communicated by the late K. B. McFarlane); CCR, ij2j-?t p. 413; Cslend*r of Inquisitions Mircrlltrnrrrff. 1307-49, no. 459.
47. L. C. Hector and B. Harvey (eds.), The Westminster Chrotude (Oxford, 1966), pp. 322-3.
48. R. Sillem (ed.), Records of Some Sessions of the Petce in Louolnshtre, ij6o-ij?f (Lincoln Record Soc^ xxx, 1936), pp. bm-lxxiv.
49. For a very negatrre rerdict on the commission of the peace: A Harding, The L*w Courts of Medieval ErtgLtrui (London, 1973), p. 94
50. Stai, Scttut from ProvoKud Lift, p. 85.
51. The pattern of pardon ind acquittal wai certainly already ettablished a century earlier Virgoe, 'Murder of Edmund Clippesby', 505-*; B. A. Hanawalt, 'Fur Collar Crime: The Pattern of Crime among the Fourteenth-Century Fnglith Nobility', Jottnud of SOOMI History, nii (1975). n; B. McLane, 'A Caje Study of Violence and Litigation in the Early Fourteenth Century: The Dispute! of Robert Godsfield of Sutton-le-Marjh', NMS, xxviii (1984), 41.
52. L. Stone, The Crisis of the Anstocrtcy, iaS-1641 (Oxford, IJ
53. D. Hiy, 'Property, Authority ind the Criminal Law', wAUnon't Fdtti Tree: Crime aid Soatty m Eightetnth-Century EngUnd, ed. D. Hiy et *L (London, 1975X PP- 33-4, 44-6