The office of

coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death. The official may also investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

was formally established in England by Article 20 of the Articles of Eyre in September 1194 to "keep the pleas of the Crown" (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, ''custos placitorum coronae'') from which the word "coroner" is derived. The eyre of 1194 was initiated under

Hubert Walter Hubert Walter ( – 13 July 1205) was an influential royal adviser in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries in the positions of Chief Justiciar of England, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Lord Chancellor. As chancellor, Walter be ...

's justiciarship to restore royal justice following the anarchy of Prince John's rebellion, which began when

Richard I Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199), known as Richard the Lionheart or Richard Cœur de Lion () because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior, was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ru ...

was detained in transit from the

Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt led by King Philip II of France, King Richard I of England and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by the Ayyubid sultan Saladin in 1187. F ...

. Within two months, justices on eyre had visited every shire in England. Local knights were appointed coroners to record crown pleas to be presented to the justices. The motivation for this administrative reform was the need to raise money for

King Richard King Richard normally refers to the three English monarchs. English monarchs *Richard I of England or Richard the Lionheart (1157–1199) *Richard II of England (1367–1400) *Richard III of England (1452–1485) Although no monarch has assumed th ...

's reconquest of Normandy. The coroners were also required to account for the wealth forfeited by the rebels and list the financial resources of each shire.Robert C. Stacey, ‘ Walter, Hubert (d. 1205)’,

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

, Oxford University Press, 2004

Notes

References

* {{cite book , title=History of the English Speaking Peoples , first=Winston S. , last=Churchill , date=1956 , volume=1 Coroners 1194 in England 1190s in law