2008
DOI: 10.1080/01440360801903596
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Picking up the Pieces: Cases Presented to the London Sheriffs' Courts between Michaelmas 1461 and Michaelmas 1462

Abstract: Almost no records of proceedings in the medieval London sheriffs' courts are extant. I will demonstrate in this feasibility study of one shrieval year to what extent the reconstruction of the lost archives of the London sheriffs is possible and what can be learned from a systematic collection of all available evidence. By going beyond the Chancery corpus cum causa files our knowledge of cases heard in the sheriffs' courts is not only nearly doubled. We also get a more representative picture of proceedings. In … Show more

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Cited by 3 publications
(3 citation statements)
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“…There survives a single, but well-preserved and legible, set of records covering cases heard before one of the City's two sheriffs, John de Preston, for the period 1 July to 26 September 1320. 44 However, thanks to the quite Herculean efforts of Susanne Jenks, who studiously sought out references to Sheriffs' Court cases in various other document collections, including those of the Chancery, King's Bench, Common Pleas, the Exchequer, king's remembrancer's memoranda rolls and enrolment books, we have a substantial reconstruction of about 8-10 per cent of the Sheriffs' Court business of Michaelmas 1461 to Michaelmas 1462. 45 In particular, far and away the most common sources of references to Sheriffs' Court cases found by Jenks were Chancery and King's Bench corpus cum causa writs, issued to direct the addressee to present a specified imprisoned individual and the causes for his or her imprisonment to the issuing court -for our purpose, imprisonment in relation to a case or cases heard in the Sheriffs' Court.…”
Section: The London Sheriffs' Court and King's Court Of Common Pleasmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…There survives a single, but well-preserved and legible, set of records covering cases heard before one of the City's two sheriffs, John de Preston, for the period 1 July to 26 September 1320. 44 However, thanks to the quite Herculean efforts of Susanne Jenks, who studiously sought out references to Sheriffs' Court cases in various other document collections, including those of the Chancery, King's Bench, Common Pleas, the Exchequer, king's remembrancer's memoranda rolls and enrolment books, we have a substantial reconstruction of about 8-10 per cent of the Sheriffs' Court business of Michaelmas 1461 to Michaelmas 1462. 45 In particular, far and away the most common sources of references to Sheriffs' Court cases found by Jenks were Chancery and King's Bench corpus cum causa writs, issued to direct the addressee to present a specified imprisoned individual and the causes for his or her imprisonment to the issuing court -for our purpose, imprisonment in relation to a case or cases heard in the Sheriffs' Court.…”
Section: The London Sheriffs' Court and King's Court Of Common Pleasmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Lacey uses the judicial proceedings following the Peasants' Revolt of 1381 to consider how the common understanding of mercy and of pardon helped underline a general assumption regarding the relationship between the king and his subjects. Jenks explores a range of potential sources in order to reconstruct the work of the sheriff's court in London for one year in the second half of the fifteenth century, and finds that the search of writs, petitions, and other material flowing from the court, even though its own records are not extant, allows a great deal of information to be gleaned about its activity, personnel, and those who used it as litigants. The author hopes that the exercise has proved sufficiently beneficial so as to encourage further such attempts for other years.…”
Section: (Ii) 1100–1500
P R Schofield
Aberystwyth Universitymentioning
confidence: 99%
“…For a summary, see Bolton, Money , pp. 261–3, 268–95; Postan, ‘Revisions’; idem, Medieval economy and society ; Hatcher and Bailey, Modelling ; Hatcher, ‘Great slump’.…”
mentioning
confidence: 99%