The People of 1381
Search All View Names A-Z View Locations A-Z
Source
| Type | Trespass action |
| Unique Identifying Text | TNA CP 40/493 m. 314 |
| Archive name | The National Archives (London) |
| County | Cambridgeshire |
| Text in Original Language | Cant'. Iohannes Spencer de Badburgham in misericordia pro pluribus defaltis. Idem Iohannes attachiatus fuit ad respondendum Thome Swafham de placito quare ipse simul cum Iohanne Trumpytone de Cantebrigge Hugone Roue Iohanne Hamertone Iohanne Hichecok Roberto Lowyn Thoma Horner et Willelmo Bakere de Burwell vi et armis clausum et domos ipsius Thome Swafham apud Burwell fregerunt et sex boviculos suos precii sex marcarum ibidem inuenta cepit et abduxit et maeremeum de domibus predictis ac alia bona et catalla sua ad valenciam viginti librarum necnon viginti et quinque libras de denariis suis in pecunia numerata ac quandam cistam suam cum cartis scriptis et aliis munimentis suis in eadem cista contentis ibidem inuenta cepit et asportauit et alia enormia ei intulit ad graue dampnum ipsius Thome Swafham et contra pacem Regis etc. Et vnde idem Thomas Swafham per Thomam Triggs attornatum suum queritur quod predictus Iohannes Spencer die Dominica proxima post festum Corporis Christi anno regnorum domini Regis nunc quarto vi et armis scilicet gladiis arcubus et sagittis clausum et domos ipsius Thome apud Burwell fregerunt et sex boviculos suos precii etc ibidem inuenta cepit et abduxit et maeremeum de domibus predictis vidilicet postes trabes tigna et stothes ac alia bona et catalla sua vidilicet frumentum ordeum fabas pisas et auenas in granario lanam fenum et pannos lineos et laneos vasa enea et lignea ollas et patellas eneas et alia vtelensilia domus ad valenciam etc ac viginti et quinque de denariis suis in pecunia numerata ac quandam cistam suam cum cartis scriptis et aliis munimentis suis in eadem cista contentis ibidem inuenta cepit et asportauit. Et alia enormia etc. Ad graue dampnum etc. Et contra pacem etc. Vnde dicit quod deterioratus est et dampnum habet ad valenciam centum librarum. Et inde producit sectam etc. Et predictus Iohannes Spencer in propria persona sua venit. Et defendit vim et iniuriam quando etc. Et dicit quod per narracionem predicti Thome supponitur transgressionem predictam vnde idem Thomas queritur factam fuisse tempore insurrectionis quorumdam rebellium instigatore diabolica in regno hic iam rarum facte. Et dicit quod tempore insurrectionis illius quidam Iohannes Hauchet qui fuit primus et principalis duitor huiusmodi rebellium in comitatu Cantebrigiae venit cum non modico numero malefactorum et rebellium sibi aggregatorum tempore predicto apud Badburgham vbi idem Iohannes Spencer comorabatur et ibidem publicam proclamati fecerunt quod quilibet potens in corpore in eadem villa comorans secum venirent et irent usque Burwell pro predicti Thomas inquirendi et tam ad ipsum interficiendi quam ad domos suas prosternendi et destruendi et omnia bona et catalla tanquam domino Regi forisfacta seisiendi sub periculo incumbenti et percipue proclamatum fuit ad portam ipsius Iohannis in eodem villa quod idem Iohannes cum eis accederet sub pena decollacionis et incendii domorum suorum et destructionis omnium bonorum et catallorum suorum super quo idem Iohannes Spencer ex causis predictis et per cohercorem cum eisdem rebellibus usque Burwell accessit absque hoc quod ipse clausum aut domos predicti Thome Swafham fregit sine aliquam transgressionem vel aliquod dampnum eidem Thome Swafham fecit aut intulit prout per breuem et narracionem eiusdem Thome Swafham supponitur. Et hoc paratus est defendere et se excusare versus eundem Thomam Swafham per se ipsum et quatuor homines fidedignos et non suspectos iuxta formam statuti in huiusmodi casu prouisi et petit quod ipse ad hoc faciendi admittatur. Et admittatur etc. Et super hoc tam idem Iohannes Spencer quam Iohannes Slymplyngs Iohannes Bewyssh Iohannes Costyn et Robertus Lewyn homines fidedignus et per eundem Thomam Swafham accepit in ea parte de premissis omnibus et singulis super sacramentum suum separatim onerati et exonerati et dicunt singillatim super sacramentum suum quod idem Iohannes Spencer modo et forma ac causa supradictis superius allegata et metu mortis sue venit apud Burwell ad domum predicti Thome Swafham cum predicto Iohanne Hauchet et allis rebellibus predicto die Dominica et non ex voluntate sua propria nec ex aliqua malicia sine pro aliquo malo ibidem facienda nec aliquam transgressionem superius in breuem et narracionem predicti Thome Swafham contenta eidem Thome Swafham fecit sine aliquod malum vel dampnum eidem Thome Swafham ibidem intulit seu pro aliquo dampno eidem Thome Swafham facienda usque Burwell accessit nec aliquo alio modo sine pro aliquo alio agendo nisi solomodo metu mortis decollacionis et incendii domorum suarum et destructionis omnium bonorum et catallorum suorum. Et super hoc diem datus est partibus predictos de audiendum in dies suo super examinata predicta in octabis Sancte Trinitatis etc. Ad quem diem venerunt partes predicte etc. Et consideratum est quod predictus Thomas nichil capiat per brevum suum set sit in misericordia pro falso clamore suo etc. Et predictis Iohannes Spencer eat inde sine die etc. |
| Text (English translation) | Cambridgeshire. John Spencer of Babraham is in mercy for multiple defaults. The same John attached to answer Thomas Swafham on a plea that, together with John Trumpytone of Cambridge, Hugh Rove, John Hamertone, John Hichecok, Robert Lowyn, Thomas Horner and William Bakere of Burwell with force and arms broke the close and houses of the said Thomas Swafham at Burwell and took and led away six bullocks of his found in the same, price 6m, and took and carried away the timber from the aforesaid houses, and also other goods and chattels of his found there to the value of £20, also £25 of his money reckoned in cash, and also a certain chest of his with charters, writings and other muniments of his contained in the same chest, and other, and inflicted other enormities on him to the grave damage of the aforesaid Thomas Swafham and against the King's peace. And whence the same Thomas Swafham complains through Thomas Triggs, his attorney, that on Sunday 16 June 1381 the aforesaid John Spencer, with force and arms, namely swords, bows and arrows, broke the close and houses of the said Thomas Swafham at Burwell and took and led away six bullocks of his found in the same, and took and carried away the timber from the aforesaid houses, namely posts, rafters, beams and supports, and other goods and chattels of his, namely wheat, barley, beans, peas and oats in the granary, wool, hay, and linen and woollen cloth, bronze vessels, and wooden pots, and bronze pans and other necessaries of the home, also £25 of his money reckoned in cash, and also a certain chest of his with charters, writings and other muniments of his contained in the same chest and other enormities, to the grave damage, and against the peace, whence he says that he suffered damages to the value of £100. And thereof he produces suit. And the aforesaid John Spencer appears in person and says that the trespass aforesaid, as supposed by the account of the aforesaid Thomas, about which the same Thomas complains, was made at the time of the rising up of certain rebels by diabolic incitement in this kingdom; now dispersed. And he says that, at the time of that uprising, a certain John Hanchet, who was first and principal leader of these rebels in Cambridgeshire, came with no small number of evildoers and rebels having flocked to him at the aforesaid time, to Babraham, where the same John Spencer lived, and there they issued a proclamation that anyone able in body in that vill should come with them and go as far as Burwell to search for the aforesaid Thomas, both in order to kill him and to knock down and destroy his houses, and to seize all goods and chattels as if forfeited to the lord King, under peril which would be incumbent, and it was proclaimed at the door of the said John in the same vill, that the same John must join with them under penalty of beheading, and of the burning of his houses, and the destruction of all his goods and chattels, whereupon the same John Spencer, for the aforesaid reasons and by coercion, went with the same rebels to Burwell. Without this he would not have broken the said close or houses of the aforesaid Thomas Swafham, made or inflicted any trespass or any damage to the same Thomas Swafham, as supposed by the writ and account of the same Thomas Swafham. And this he is prepared to defend and to excuse himself against the same Thomas Swafham, by himself and four trustworthy and unsuspected men, just as the form of the statute provided for in such cases, and he begs that he be admitted to do this. And he was admitted. And hereupon both the same John Spencer and John Slymplyngs, John Bewyssh, John Costyn and Robert Lewyn, the trustworthy men, and, accepted by the same Thomas Swafham for his part regarding the premisses, all and each are separately burdened and exonerated under their oath, and they say one by one under their oath that the same John Spencer, in the manner and form and also above written cause alleged above, came from a fear of his death to Burwell, to the house of the aforesaid Thomas Swafham, with the aforesaid John Hauchet and other rebels, on the aforesaid Sunday, and not by his own choice, neither from any ill will was any evil done there, nor did he do to the same Thomas Swafham any of the above trespass, contained in the writ and account of the aforesaid Thomas Swafham, inflicted there on the same Thomas Swafham without any evil or damage, or if some damage was done to the same Thomas Swafham, he came to Burwell not for any other purpose except solely from a fear of death, of beheading and of the burning of his houses and destruction of all his goods and chattels. And hereupon a day is given to the parties aforesaid to be heard in the octave of Trinity 1384. At which day the parties aforesaid appear and it is considered that the aforesaid Thomas take nothing by his writ but is in mercy for his false claim. And the aforesaid John Spencer may go without day. |
| General Information | cf. TNA CP40/484 m. 388d; TNA CP 40/485 m. 119d. |
| Image of Source |  |
People
| ID | First name | Last name | Gender | Occupation | Domicile | Role in source | Incidents | Go to participant page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20818 | William | Bakere | Male | Burwell,Cambridgeshire | 3918 | Go to participant page | ||
| 20822 | John | Bewyssh | Male | 3918 | Go to participant page | |||
| 20823 | John | Costyn | Male | 3918 | Go to participant page | |||
| 20814 | John | Hamertone | Male | 3918 | Go to participant page | |||
| 20820 | John | Hanchet | Male | 3918 | Go to participant page | |||
| 20815 | John | Hichecok | Male | 3918 | Go to participant page | |||
| 20817 | Thomas | Horner | Male | 3918 | Go to participant page | |||
| 20824 | Robert | Lewyn | Male | 3918 | Go to participant page | |||
| 20816 | Robert | Lowyn | Male | 3918 | Go to participant page | |||
| 20813 | Hugh | Rove | Male | 3918 | Go to participant page | |||
| 20821 | John | Slymplyngs | Male | 3918 | Go to participant page | |||
| 20810 | John | Spencer | Male | Babraham,Cambridgeshire | 3918 | Go to participant page | ||
| 20811 | Thomas | Swafham | Male | Burwell,Cambridgeshire | 3918 | Go to participant page | ||
| 20819 | Thomas | Triggs | Male | Attorney | 3918 | Go to participant page | ||
| 20812 | John | Trumpytone | Male | Cambridge,Cambridgeshire | 3918 | Go to participant page |
Incidents
| ID | Summary | Description | Type | Go to incidents page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3918 | Attack on property of Thomas Swafham at Burwell by John Spencer and others | Property of Thomas Swafham at Burwell with force and arms; close and houses broken; theft of livestock, timber, goods and chattels worth £20, £25 in money and documents; damages of £100. John Spencer appears and pleads coercion under influence of John Hanchet (very detailed account); produces pledges; is found not guilty; Thomas Swafham in mercy for false claim. | Larceny: theft of livestock,Larceny: theft of goods,Larceny: theft of money,Larceny: theft of documents,Raising the commons: forcing others to join company,Trespass to land: forcible entry of close and houses,Trespass to chattels: removal of goods | Go to incidents page |
Incidents and People
| Person | Incident | Role | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| William Bakere ( 20818 ) | Attack on property of Thomas Swafham at Burwell by John Spencer and others (3918) | Accused | |
| John Bewyssh ( 20822 ) | Attack on property of Thomas Swafham at Burwell by John Spencer and others (3918) | Pledge | |
| John Costyn ( 20823 ) | Attack on property of Thomas Swafham at Burwell by John Spencer and others (3918) | Pledge | |
| John Hamertone ( 20814 ) | Attack on property of Thomas Swafham at Burwell by John Spencer and others (3918) | Accused | |
| John Hanchet ( 20820 ) | Attack on property of Thomas Swafham at Burwell by John Spencer and others (3918) | Mentioned | |
| John Hichecok ( 20815 ) | Attack on property of Thomas Swafham at Burwell by John Spencer and others (3918) | Accused | |
| Thomas Horner ( 20817 ) | Attack on property of Thomas Swafham at Burwell by John Spencer and others (3918) | Accused | |
| Robert Lewyn ( 20824 ) | Attack on property of Thomas Swafham at Burwell by John Spencer and others (3918) | Pledge | |
| Robert Lowyn ( 20816 ) | Attack on property of Thomas Swafham at Burwell by John Spencer and others (3918) | Accused | |
| Hugh Rove ( 20813 ) | Attack on property of Thomas Swafham at Burwell by John Spencer and others (3918) | Accused | |
| John Slymplyngs ( 20821 ) | Attack on property of Thomas Swafham at Burwell by John Spencer and others (3918) | Pledge | |
| John Spencer ( 20810 ) | Attack on property of Thomas Swafham at Burwell by John Spencer and others (3918) | Accused | |
| Thomas Swafham ( 20811 ) | Attack on property of Thomas Swafham at Burwell by John Spencer and others (3918) | Victim | |
| Thomas Triggs ( 20819 ) | Attack on property of Thomas Swafham at Burwell by John Spencer and others (3918) | Attorney | |
| John Trumpytone ( 20812 ) | Attack on property of Thomas Swafham at Burwell by John Spencer and others (3918) | Accused |
