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Hello gentle listeners, and welcome back to the History of England, episode 85, Crime

and Punishment. This week another Parry Grenation. During the great silver penny give away, there

were comments about a desire to hear more about crime in medieval England, and so obedient

and compliant as ever, I've produced one. I read a few books with sections on crime and punishment

for today's episode, and there were some more obviously scholarly, but none were as easy

to understand as the chapter in Ian's, and therefore I used Ian's almost exclusively

I have to admit, so I make no apology for recommending this book again.

One day, in 1303, a fisherman in the Thames landed a most unusual fish, a silver goblet,

belonging to none other than the King of England. The fisherman would have been holding

an object worth more than he had in likelihood ever held before, or ever would again.

Now if said fisherman had had access to Tintonet in those days, he'd have found lots of other

people in the blogosphere reporting strange goings on, as Mrs. Niggins would say. Silver

plates were found behind tombstones in the church out of St. Margaret's church in Westminster.

Small boys in neighbouring fields found precious dishes under hedgerows. A prostitute

flaunted and outrageously precious ring and told everyone that Adam, the sacriest at Westminster

Abbey, had given it to her to keep her affections as it were. But was going on.

All these objects it turned out belonged to the King, and had somehow walked from his treasury,

deep and supposedly secure in the crypt beneath Westminster Abbey, carefully guarded by the

monks of the Abbey. Finally, suspicions aroused, and inspection of the treasury was undertaken

...