A Story in Stone
A Murder in Geddington
The Right of Sanctaury
A measure of the Church’s power in the medieval period was the existence of its own courts to which people could appeal for judgement. Even today, Church courts have jurisdiction over certain matters relating to the conduct of clergy and churchwardens. A similar example of Church power was the right of sanctuary, under which a fugitive from the King’s justice who took refuge in a church or churchyard was protected from immediate arrest.
The following is based on an account in Sanctuary Seekers in England, 1394-1557 by Dr Shannon McSheffrey.
The Murder
In April 1446, three men of Geddington Walter Freman, John Iryssh (both yeomen), and William Campyon (a labourer) lay in wait to attack one William Shirwode. According to the indictment, the two yeomen attacked Shirwode with swords drawn, and the labourer, William Campyon, with a pitchfork. It was Campyon who struck the fatal blow, hitting Shirwode on the back of the skull with the pitchfork, killing him instantly.
Campyon Takes Sanctuary
The murderers fled following the killing – Campyon taking refuge in Geddington church, where he was guarded by the townspeople of Geddington until the coroner could arrive.
Campyon then invoked a legal process under which an accused person, having obtained sanctuary, would formally confess to the crime (or alleged crime) and surrender to the church authorities. He then formally “abjured the realm”, which entailed agreeing to leave the country as a condition of avoiding prosecution. It was effectively self-imposed exile. This process was overseen by a coroner and coroner’s jury.
The Inquest
The Coroner's inquest was held at Geddington on 25th April 1446. The Inquest jurors were: Richard Caswell, ___ Knyght, John Counford, Henry Bell, Thomas Roos, William Grey of Great Newton, Walter Ca__, Thomas Chapeleyn, Thomas Castilon, Robert Keys, John Clyfton of Weekley ('Woycley'), John Lanford of the same, John Grobbe of Weekley & William Graunger of Great Oakley.
The killing was allegedly ordered by Thomas Mulsho of Geddington, son and heir of the MP for Northamptonshire, Thomas Mulsho (Snr), and the grandson of John Mulsho, whose monument can be seen in the North Aisle. Thomas was charged as accessory; we might guess the two yeomen were his household retainers and Campyon a thug-for-hire.
The Verdict
The jurors found that William Shirwode was killed by Walter Freman, John Iryssh, and William Campyon, all of Geddington, and that Thomas Mulsho of Geddington, gentleman, was an accessory.
Exile for William Campyon
Campyon would have sworn an oath to leave the country directly, by the shortest route, and not to return without the King's permission. He would probably have been assigned a specific port of departure and given a limited amount of time to reach it, wearing a distinctive garment as a sign of his status. He would have been required to board the first available ship and, if no ship was available, to wade into the water daily as a sign of his intention to leave.
The Fate of Thomas Mulsho
Fleeing was not really an option for Thomas Mulsho, whose income and status depended on his landed property in Geddington and Newton. It is recorded that he pleaded not guilty, and having been found guilty by the Geddington jury, put himself “on the country” (i.e. asked for a jury trial by his peers), and was bailed. Although we don’t have the trial verdict and no pardon survives, the most common trial outcome in such cases was acquittal. Thomas Mulsho died in 1460, leaving his estates to his daughter Anne, and her husband, Henry Tresham – thus beginning a period in which the Treshams became the pre-eminent family in the area.
The End of Sanctuary
England outlawed sanctuary in 1623, a few decades after the Catholic church restricted the crimes to which sanctuary could apply. The memory of churches as places of refuge still persists however, even today, when occasionally a church will shelter a refugee facing deportation, for example.
An Earlier Murder in Geddington
In 1292 another murder seems to have been committed for, on the 30th January that year, the churchyard was re-consecrated because ‘blood had been shed therein’. However, we know nothing more beyond this tantalising hint.
