The Anatomy of a Knightly Homicide in Rural Nottinghamshire, 1295

A murder of a man who was probably a local freeholder, committed near the Nottinghamshire village of Staythorpe near Newark in 1295, has left a remarkably detailed record in a plea roll of the Court of King’s Bench, resulting from the persistent attempts made by the victim’s widow to convict the perpetrators through the use of a judicial procedure known as an appeal. It includes details of the alleged culprits, the location and date of the crime, and even the weapons used by the individual killers. The killing was allegedly carried out at the instigation of three knights of the county, one of whom was probably the victim’s lord, but the social significance of the crime can only be the subject of speculation because, despite all the circumstantial detail, as usual no motive is recorded.