If the killers seek refuge in a church, they can stay there for up to 40 days (but will be arrested if they leave the church). After 40 days they must either submit to justice, or take an oath to go into exile:
"Hear this, ye justices, that I will go forth from the realm of England and hither I will not return save by leave of the lord king or his heirs, so help me God" (from Bracton)
Another thing to bear in mind: certainly in the reign of Henry I the laws of "englishry" remained in force; not sure about Stephen's reign. According to this, if the murdered man was Norman/French or unknown and the killer was not identified and brought to justice, then the entire community where the body was found were liable to pay a heavy fine (46 marks of silver).
That said, duing Stephen's Anarchy especially, justice was much more a matter of negotiation than a code of strict justice. The lord and kinsmen of the murder victim wanted compensation from the murderers, their kinsmen and their lord; and while the King had set down various rules on how to go bout this, they were generally treated only as guidelines. It wasn't until the reign of Henry II and afterwards that kings started sending out royal officials to make sure the law was administered evenly all through the country.
If the books are any indication, justice was pretty much depending on the world view of the local sheriff. I'm fortunate that at the time my story takes place, the sheriff of Shrewsbury was already Hugh Beringar. He was a surprisingly enlightened character (sadly, not an historic one) and tended to listen to Cadfael's common sense.
Thanks for the fascinating details. I'll save this entire discussion. Even after all these years as a Middle Ages affectionado, I learn a great deal of new things every day.
I know, fanfic etc. -- but really, trusting the books to be a reliable guide to anything historical is not a good idea if your goal is to be accurate. Those books have many fine qualities, but historical accuracy is definitely not one of them (they are, after all, works of fiction written by a 20th century person for a 20th century audience, and they embed the primary objectives of telling a good, dramatic story and flattering the intended audience's values and morality).
Yes, I know; that's why I checked the Gies books first, which are aimed to readers who're interested in the actual facts of medieval life, or what we know about it anyway. I'm trying to be as historically accurate as possible, as long as it doesn't hamstring the story and its morale. If it does, well, then I do take some liberties myself; after all, this is a work of fiction, too. :) But I like to be accurate if I can.
Historical accuracy is a bit like fanfiction in general: you ought to know canon very well before you can afford to bend it a little.
It's an English translation of 'On the Laws and Customs of England' by Henry of Bracton, written in approximately 1230 - so about a century later than the Cadfael books, but still pretty contemporary. It's where I took the quote about the oath sworn by a man fleeing the country from.
A couple more comments:
1. Being outlawed wasn't generally a punishment given by a court: rather, it was imposed on people who fled justice (or went into exile and then returned) instead of presenting themselves at court at the proper time.
2. Trial by combat and trial by ordeal were still much used in the 12th century.
justice was pretty much depending on the world view of the local sheriff.
Or rather the local powerful nobleman, who might happen to be the sheriff or he might not. Unless you had a strong king who sent his agents out to bring the locals under control.
Especially early on in the Middle Ages, or under weak kings (Stephen's reign qualifies on both counts) the system of admnistration was a lot more ad hoc and irregular and subject to purely local variations than a simple overview might suggest.... :-)
"Hear this, ye justices, that I will go forth from the realm of England and hither I will not return save by leave of the lord king or his heirs, so
help me God" (from Bracton)
Another thing to bear in mind: certainly in the reign of Henry I the laws of "englishry" remained in force; not sure about Stephen's reign. According to this, if the murdered man was Norman/French or unknown and the killer was not identified and brought to justice, then the entire community where the body was found were liable to pay a heavy fine (46 marks of silver).
That said, duing Stephen's Anarchy especially, justice was much more a matter of negotiation than a code of strict justice. The lord and kinsmen of the murder victim wanted compensation from the murderers, their kinsmen and their lord; and while the King had set down various rules on how to go bout this, they were generally treated only as guidelines. It wasn't until the reign of Henry II and afterwards that kings started sending out royal officials to make sure the law was administered evenly all through the country.
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Thanks for the fascinating details. I'll save this entire discussion. Even after all these years as a Middle Ages affectionado, I learn a great deal of new things every day.
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Historical accuracy is a bit like fanfiction in general: you ought to know canon very well before you can afford to bend it a little.
Reply
http://hlsl5.law.harvard.edu/bracton/Unframed/calendar.htm
It's an English translation of 'On the Laws and Customs of England' by Henry of Bracton, written in approximately 1230 - so about a century later than the Cadfael books, but still pretty contemporary. It's where I took the quote about the oath sworn by a man fleeing the country from.
A couple more comments:
1. Being outlawed wasn't generally a punishment given by a court: rather, it was imposed on people who fled justice (or went into exile and then returned) instead of presenting themselves at court at the proper time.
2. Trial by combat and trial by ordeal were still much used in the 12th century.
justice was pretty much depending on the world view of the local sheriff.
Or rather the local powerful nobleman, who might happen to be the sheriff or he might not. Unless you had a strong king who sent his agents out to bring the locals under control.
Especially early on in the Middle Ages, or under weak kings (Stephen's reign qualifies on both counts) the system of admnistration was a lot more ad hoc and irregular and subject to purely local variations than a simple overview might suggest.... :-)
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