Englishry or, in

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intellig ...

, ''Englescherie'', is a legal name given, in

medieval England England in the Middle Ages concerns the history of England during the medieval period, from the end of the 5th century through to the start of the Early Modern period in 1485. When England emerged from the collapse of the Roman Empire, the econ ...

, for the status of a person as an

Englishman The English people are an ethnic group and nation native to England, who speak the English language, a West Germanic language, and share a common history and culture. The English identity is of Anglo-Saxon origin, when they were known in ...

(i.e., as a commoner of native Anglo-Saxon stock rather than a member of the

Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to: *Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066 * Anglo-Norman language **Anglo-Norman literature * Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 10 ...

elite). Specifically, ''presentment of Englishry'' refers to the establishment that a person slain was an Englishman rather than a

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

. If an unknown man was found slain, he was presumed to be a Norman, and the administrative district known as the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...

was fined accordingly, unless it could be proved that he was English. Englishry, if established, excused the hundred.

Origins

It is thought that Danish invaders first introduced the practice in England and that the Norman conquerors preserved and revived it. W. Stubbs (''Constitutional History'', I p. 196) suggests such measures may have been taken by

King Canute Cnut (; ang, Cnut cyning; non, Knútr inn ríki ; or , no, Knut den mektige, sv, Knut den Store. died 12 November 1035), also known as Cnut the Great and Canute, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norw ...

. It is not, however, mentioned in Glanvill's treatise, which is the earliest known treatise of medieval English law. There is no direct evidence of an earlier date than Bracton's 13th century legal treatise ''De Legibus''. Attempts to prove that a murdered Norman was English were understandably frequent.

Abolition

The practice was abolished with the ''Engleschrie Act'' of 1340 (''14 Edw. III St. 1 c. 4''), passed by the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised ...

(itself repealed by the

Statute Law Revision Act 1863 The Statute Law Revision Act 1863 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was intended, in particular, to facilitate the preparation of a revised edition of the statutes. The enactments which were repealed (whether for the whol ...

and the

Statute Law (Ireland) Revision Act 1872 The Statute Law (Ireland) Revision Act 1872 (35 & 36 Vict c 98) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which repealed, as to Ireland, certain Acts of the Parliament of England which had been extended to the then Lordship of Ireland by ...

). Though for some 200 years prior to abolition, it had no longer been possible reliably to distinguish Normans from Englishmen, the practice had continued because it was so profitable to the crown, as only a small amount of the fine was allotted to the relatives of the murdered man.

References

*{{EB1911, wstitle=Englishry, volume=9, page=645 *''Select Cases from the Coroners Rolls, 1265-1413'', ed. C. Gross, ''Selden Society'' (

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, 1896)
Charles Gross (1896) ''Select Cases from the Coroner's Rolls, A.D. 1265-1413''
Bernard Quaritch, London Anglo-Saxon society Medieval English law

Origins

Abolition

See also

References