I’ve put the first of the promised documents up at EMR (click on the small image below for a larger version and transcript).
This kind of examination or deposition represents the first stage in the legal process; I haven’t checked whether there’s any subsequent prosecution in this particular case.
UPDATE:
The men accused of assault were bound over to appear in court and subsequently discharged.
8 comments on “Documents: I, Witness examination”
It would make a good beginning for a Hollywood action movie: money owed, mistaken identity, brother’s condition getting worse. All it’s missing is the debtor turning up as Segall or Van Damme and wreaking vengeance on behalf of his brother to the consternation of the legal authorities….
More seriously, I’m always impressed by examination of original manuscripts and the skills that go into deciphering them and understanding them in context. One of the things I envy about people doing medieval philosophy is that it’s a standard part of their repertoire. Early modern philosophy, alas, is not so savvy in these matters. It’s one of the weaknesses of the field that these sorts of things aren’t taught (and no one expects them to be taught).
It is a good story, isn’t it? Whether it is much more than a story is open to question. (There is, if I remember rightly, a further short statement by a doctor that the victim is feeling much better now.) I’ve learned to take the language of this kind of assault deposition with a pinch of salt; attackers are always brutally sadistic, victims are always innocent peace lovers who are in peril of their lives. This could be a case of ‘police brutality’ in the 17th century; but equally there’s likely to be a good dose of exaggeration in there to cover up the deponents’ own bad behaviour. Not enough material to judge in this case. (This is one of the reasons I should check what happened subsequently, whether there was any prosecution, if anyone was bound to keep the peace.) I’m currently working through Star Chamber suits, which are full of horror stories that also make great reading but are probably in large part strategic fictions (so many ‘lewd and desperate people’ with ’causeless malice’ towards the plaintiff…) in the playing out of bigger disputes…
I’ve learned to take the language of this kind of assault deposition with a pinch of salt; attackers are always brutally sadistic, victims are always innocent peace lovers who are in peril of their lives.
In many cases, there are also legal formulae that have to be satisfied; the language you cite re “causeless malice” is likely an example. I suspect that at least some of the time, the JP prompted the witness to give the necessary responses before making his report of the examination - I’ve seen quite a few of them with “boilerplate” language coming straight out of a period handbook.
Yes, the input of the JP is always an issue with these things. The comment on ’causeless malice’ was prompted more by the Star Chamber bills of complaint (which are formal legalistic documents) that I’ve been reading lately than by assault depositions per se (although these can be very short and formulaic where they exist at all). Assault cases are interesting, but often difficult to interpret. The legal definition of assault was very fuzzy; it was a misdemeanour rather than a felony, and could be brought to the attention of courts - and to different kinds of court - in a variety of ways. It could be prosecuted formally in a criminal court (probably a rare response); or a victim could ’swear the peace’ before a JP and get the assaulter bound over by recognizance (I want to put one or two of these up by the way); or take it to a civil court; or go for informal mediation of a dispute… Historians have tended to shy away from this subject because of the difficulties with the sources (assaults cannot be meaningfully quantified), and to stick to homicides. But I really want to grapple with this one some more over coming months. The Cheshire material and Star Chamber cases should hopefully add something to source material I already have from Denbighshire. Oh, and if I have time I hope to get something from the Northern Circuit assize depositions too. (I’m doing a conference paper on the subject next summer, and it’d be really good to be able to expand beyond my PhD research by then…)
Hey, look, I do have some ideas lurking around beneath the surface of my befugged brain.
It could be prosecuted formally in a criminal court (probably a rare response); or a victim could ’swear the peace’ before a JP and get the assaulter bound over by recognizance (I want to put one or two of these up by the way); or take it to a civil court; or go for informal mediation of a dispute
One of the sources I consulted for my article on Jewish constables (I’ll find out which one when I get home) touched on mediation by magistrates and justices of the peace, albeit mostly in connection with property crimes. Do you know whether this sort of informal mediation was also conducted by constables or watchmen at the street level? I suspect it was - policemen have done this in every time and every place - although there may not be evidence because such instances would have much less chance of being reported.
Oh, I’d bet on it. But getting evidence for it is another matter. (Is the source you’re thinking of Robert Shoemaker’s book on Prosecution and punishment? that has a good deal on informal mediation, as well as recognizances of course. I think Peter King’s recent book discusses it too.)
It’s Peter King, Crime, Justice and Discretion in England, 1740-1820.
Good book. Amazingly, I couldn’t get it in paperback in the UK (amazing since it’s a Cambridge - or is it Oxford? - publication), and it was cheaper to order the paperback from the US than to get the ludicrously expensive hardback here!