The Criminal Trial in Later Medieval England

Louis A. Knafla is a professor of history at the University of Calgary,
the co-editor of Law, Society, and the State: Essays in Modern Legal
History, and the author of Lords of the Western Bench.

The author of this first full-length study of the English criminal trial
jury from 1300 to 1550 is a professor of history at the University of
Ottawa who has written extensively on crime and the law of treason in
the era. The book’s four chapters cover accusation of jury and appeal,
major capital crimes, trial and verdict, and aftermath. There are two
appendixes (covering rape and minor felonies, respectively), a glossary,
notes on contemporary legal commentaries, a note on sources, and a
comprehensive index.

The work makes several positive contributions to our knowledge of the
criminal trial subject, including a fine analysis of the accusation
process as a trial within a trial and of the changes in conviction rates
between the early 15th and late 16th centuries, as well as useful
discussions of parliamentary legislation, judges, commissions of jail
delivery, appeals of felony, benefit of clergy, and pardons. Some
interesting evidence is presented regarding trials in the jurisdictions
of Chester and Middlesex. The value of the book is enhanced by the
inclusion of technical terms and subjects in the index.

The considerable scholarship on juries and trials in the era receives a
cursory treatment. Notable authors such as Thomas Green, James Cockburn,
Barbara Hanawalt, and John Langbein are referred to, but their ideas and
interpretations that differ from those of Bellamy are not explained.
While much attention is focused on cases, perhaps too much of the
author’s interpretation is based on the patent rolls and statutes (the
formal law) rather than on the trial in the courtroom (the informal
law). In addition, distinctions between what happens at Westminster (the
centre) and what happens in the local courts of boroughs and liberties
are not fully drawn. Finally, the “aftermath” is not a synthesis of
what has gone before but rather discussions of other matters.
Nonetheless, this work adds to our understanding of crime, the criminal
law, and jury trials in the late medieval England.