The Medieval Coroner: Part 1 Trivia Quiz

Answer: It is from the Latin translation of the phrase "to keep the pleas of the crown"

The edict of King Richard I ordered that an officer should "keep the pleas of the crown" and the word "coroner" comes from the original Latin text "custos placitorum coronas". In medieval documents the term often appears as "Crowner" and was used as such even in Elizabethan times, as seen in Shakespeare's "Hamlet".

Answer: They were found in Saxon times as early as 871

Documents on the role of coroner have been found in England as early as 871 though very little is known of the nature of the duties. In 925 King Aethelstan makes mention of a coroner in a charter. King Richard I's proclamation of 1194 was the first to formalize the role of coroner and set some specific parameters of the office.

Answer: Richard I needed money

During his ten year reign, King Richard I was notoriously short of money because of his many wars and crusades. Hubert Walter, the Archbishop of Canterbury and Richard's Justiciar observed that the county sheriffs were often corrupt and the Crown did not always get the funds it was due.

The coroner's role was formalized to record incidents that might result in fines and other assets coming to the royal coffers and reduce the chance that the sheriff and other officials could appropriate them.

Answer: The Coroner's Roll

The Coroner's Roll was kept in a specific rolled format which was to be presented to the court when required. A surprising number of these rolls still exist and are preserved in the Public Record Office, the earliest surviving one being the Devon Roll of 1229.

Answer: The royal court of law

The General Eyre comes from the term "in itinere" and was a royal court of law that traveled from place to place to hear cases and ensure that the privileges and monies due the King were properly rendered. The period between visits of the Eyre to a locale was roughly seven years, making the records kept by the coroner crucial to the court's ability to determine what had occurred in the area in that time.

The Eyre was eventually replaced by the county courts.

Answer: A landholder with the rank of knight

The medieval coroner was always a person of social standing and usually held the rank of a knight. The only real qualifications were that the person must live in the locale (to reach the scene of investigations quickly) and must hold sufficient lands in fee in the county. Land in fee in feudal England was generally inherited land that passed from generation to generation in the same family.

This type of land was very difficult to sell and as the feudal system waned, land in fee was held as fee simple where the land could be bought and sold at will, similar to how we handle real estate today.

The job of medieval coroner had no requirement for any knowledge of medicine, law or science.

Answer: The record of deaths was needed for local histories

The rules for public behavior when an unexpected death was discovered were very specific and included the "hue and cry" (actually creating a clamor to bring public attention to a crime or event), when and how the body could be moved and how the coroner was summoned.

A minor infraction of any of these rules by the public would be duly noted by the coroner and a fine imposed which was collected by the Eyre for the King. The identity of the deceased was crucial to determining his/her heirs, property and social status.

The cause of death was obviously important to determine if it resulted from a crime or accident and if a fine could be imposed. The finder of the corpse might be able to claim some financial reward which was taxable. Recording events for history's sake was not a factor.

Answer: No

Religious authorities in the Middle Ages prohibited autopsies. Coroners were not medical specialists and were only required to observe the details of how and where the corpse was found, by whom and the condition of the body.

Answer: The coroner was usually elected by a select group

Originally the coroner was elected by only the most influential men of the county. After some discontent with this exclusive method of obtaining such a prestigious office of trust, the coroner was elected by the full county court.

Answer: A fine levied on the township or hundred where a body was found

William the Conqueror instituted the murdrum fine which was to be paid by the English inhabitants of an area where the body of a Norman or Frenchman was found dead by unknown hands. His intent was to impose a penalty on his new subjects when deliberate harm befell their new foreign masters.

A hundred was a unit of land in medieval England and was originally the area of land that could be literally covered by 100 hides. Eventually, the murdrum fine was imposed for the presence of a corpse of any nationality and even for causes of natural or accidental death.

The cost to the community became unduly burdensome and the practice was abolished in 1340.

Answer: No

The sheriff was a person in the county of some social standing and rank. By the time of Richard I's reign, the corruption engaged by many sheriffs was widespread. Many had a habit of skimming off funds before they reached the royal coffers. The King's 1194 proclamation established that the coroner was independent of the sheriff and would be responsible for ensuring that all revenue due to the Crown was safeguarded.

Answer: The object(s) that caused a death

The deodand could be a sword, a club or even a horse and cart if the death was accidental. As part of his investigation, the coroner had to estimate the value of the deodand which was confiscated and given to the constable to safeguard until the court arrived. Usually the deodand or its equivalent value was forfeit to the Crown.

In the case of accidental death, the confiscation of the deodand could cause extreme hardship to the owner. This practice continued well after the Middle Ages and was not abolished until 1846 at a time when deodands such as steam locomotives were confiscated for causing a death.

Answer: A criminal who was in sanctuary wished to leave the realm

Abjuring the realm followed a highly ritualized set of conditions that the criminal was required to follow and the coroner was tasked to observe. The coroner first had to record the criminal's confession of guilt and then seize all of the felon's lands and possessions.

The criminal must leave sanctuary at the end of the customary 40 day period and the coroner designated from which port the person must quit the realm and how long he had to get there. The felon would wear an identifying garment, such as a white robe and carry a wooden cross and the coroner would given warning to the public in the vicinity so no one would interfere. Any deviation by the felon from these requirements would cause him to lose his period of safety in leaving the kingdom.

Answer: All were medieval ordeals

Ordeal by fire required the person to carry a bar of hot iron in his hands, lick a red-hot iron or walk barefoot upon red-hot plowshares. If he suffered no burns, he was innocent but if burns occurred he was hanged. Ordeal by bier was used to judge cases of murder in the belief that the body of the victim would react to its killer.

The accused would approach the corpse and if the wounds on the body were observed to bleed, the person was judged to guilty. Ordeal by water is one of the better known ordeals (especially for Monty Python fans) where the person who was thrown into a body of water was guilty if they floated and innocent if they sank.

There was also ordeal by combat where the plaintiff could fight the defendant or could choose a champion to do so.

The outcome of the combat determined the guilt or innocence of the accused.

Answer: All of these were duties of the coroner

In cases of rape, the woman would raise the "hue and cry" and had to produce some physical evidence of the crime which the coroner was required to observe and record. If a person was wounded in an assault but did not die, the coroner was still the person who had to view the injuries, count the wounds, measure them and record them. In the case of a fire where no one was killed, the coroner had to view the damage and assess the value of the lost property. This latter duty was abolished in the Coroner's Act of 1887.
There are two excellent sources for further research (and to get ready for the Part 2 quiz):
http://britannia.com/history/coroner1.html and "The Medieval Coroner" by Roy F. Hunnisett.