Englishry

Englishry or, in Old French, Englescherie, is a legal name given, in medieval England, for the status of a person as an Englishman (i.e., as a commoner of native Anglo-Saxon stock rather than a member of the Anglo-Norman elite).

Specifically, presentment of Englishry refers to the establishment that a person slain was an Englishman rather than a Norman. If an unknown man was found slain, he was presumed to be a Norman, and the administrative district known as the hundred was fined accordingly, unless it could be proved that he was English. Englishry, if established, excused the hundred.^[1]^[2]

^ Chisholm 1911.
^ "As after the Norman occupation, King William found that many of his soldiers would be found slain in outlying places, and no information could be obtained as to any criminal, he adopted this device. He varied an older custom by imposing a heavy fine on the district, were a man found slain, unless it was definitely proved that the deceased was of English blood. Therefore, unless the murdered man were proved to be of native descent, he was presumed to be a Norman, and in this case the record, as we have seen, would run: No Englishry presented, therefore murder (of a Norman) on the hundred (for which the fine must be paid)."Transactions of the Greenwich Antiquarian Society Vols 1-2 p. 153 (1907) Charles North, London "In cases of death by violence, and in Somersetshire amongst other counties, also in cases of death by misadventure, it was further the duty of the coroner, as the King's officer, not to lose an opportunity of recovering the murdrum, or murder fine which the district could only escape by a proper presentment of Englishry. This was a fruitful source of revenue. How common these fines were in the rough days of the 13th century a glance through the pleas of the crown in the assize rolls suffices to show. It is usual to describe the "murdrum" as a fine imposed upon a district for the secret killing of a person. Glanvill speaks of secret killing, and Bracton states that the fine was not imposed where the killer was known. Sir J. Fitzjames Stephen has also clearly expressed the same view. Even if this were so in very early days, it certainly would be inaccurate as a full statement of the practice during the 13th century. There are many recorded cases of the infliction of the fine where the slayer was known." Sir J. Fitzjames Stephen, History of the Criminal Law Vol. III., p. 77. fo. 135. Somersetshire Pleas Vol. 11 p. lix (1897) Somerset Record Society from the Rolls of the Itinerant Justices (close of the 12th century – Henry III)

[FOOTNOTEChisholm1911-1] Chisholm 1911.

[2] "As after the Norman occupation, King William found that many of his soldiers would be found slain in outlying places, and no information could be obtained as to any criminal, he adopted this device. He varied an older custom by imposing a heavy fine on the district, were a man found slain, unless it was definitely proved that the deceased was of English blood. Therefore, unless the murdered man were proved to be of native descent, he was presumed to be a Norman, and in this case the record, as we have seen, would run: No Englishry presented, therefore murder (of a Norman) on the hundred (for which the fine must be paid)."Transactions of the Greenwich Antiquarian Society Vols 1-2 p. 153 (1907) Charles North, London "In cases of death by violence, and in Somersetshire amongst other counties, also in cases of death by misadventure, it was further the duty of the coroner, as the King's officer, not to lose an opportunity of recovering the murdrum, or murder fine which the district could only escape by a proper presentment of Englishry. This was a fruitful source of revenue. How common these fines were in the rough days of the 13th century a glance through the pleas of the crown in the assize rolls suffices to show. It is usual to describe the "murdrum" as a fine imposed upon a district for the secret killing of a person. Glanvill speaks of secret killing, and Bracton states that the fine was not imposed where the killer was known. Sir J. Fitzjames Stephen has also clearly expressed the same view. Even if this were so in very early days, it certainly would be inaccurate as a full statement of the practice during the 13th century. There are many recorded cases of the infliction of the fine where the slayer was known." Sir J. Fitzjames Stephen, History of the Criminal Law Vol. III., p. 77. fo. 135. Somersetshire Pleas Vol. 11 p. lix (1897) Somerset Record Society from the Rolls of the Itinerant Justices (close of the 12th century – Henry III)

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