by Paul Doherty
Nevertheless, these fictional figures pale in comparison to the grim reality. The French chronicles talk of écorcheurs, literally ‘flayers’, who would peel the skin off their victims. Indeed, the English occupation was so pernicious that the chronicles point out that only God could resolve the situation, which he did by raising Joan of Arc who initiated the French recovery and the eventual English withdrawal. Joan had no time for the free companies, those mercenaries who wandered Northern France bent on murderous mischief. It was Joan who actually told the English to either go home in their ships or she would ship them home in their coffins. Despite her saintly ways, Joan was ruthless towards the captains of these companies. On one occasion, whilst attacking an English-held fortress, Joan approached the walls and screamed at its commander, ‘Glasdale, come out, so I can send your soul to Hell.’
One historian maintains that the English army was made up of sweepings of this country’s jails. There’s more than a dash of truth to this. Homicidal criminals, psychopaths, the mad and the bad could wander to their heart’s content, inflicting whatever damage and mischief they could.
The macabre figure of the serial killer is not just a modern invention. The forces of law and order became aware of this phenomenon through the use of computers and other modes of modern communication, so the police could learn that a murder committed in one area had been replicated in another. During the medieval era such facilities were non-existent, but it does not mean that these assassins did not exist. We can imagine the solitary rider, well-armed, passing through isolated small villages, farmsteads, or – as in this novel – châteaux and churches, with no real defence.
Ambrose Rookwood is not just a figment of my imagination. Indeed, wandering clerics were a constant thorn in the side of both church and Crown. ‘Criminous clerks’ were one of the great unresolved issues of the medieval era. If a man could demonstrate that he was a cleric by reciting the opening verses of the ‘Miserere’ psalm, then he could plead to be handed over to the church courts, which were much more lenient in their sentencing. The right of sanctuary was also a sacred one. Different churches throughout the city and kingdom enjoyed these privileges, to the absolute fury of officers of the crown.
The seizure of Rookwood is based on a true incident which occurred in 1305. Richard Puddlicot was a merchant who turned to crime. He organized the most brilliant robbery in medieval history: the seizure and theft of the Crown jewels, stored in the crypt at Westminster Abbey. The monks of Westminster were also involved, but that didn’t deter the royal clerk, John Drokensford, who was sent to investigate. He tore into the abbey claiming he was looking for something else and found treasure hidden beneath the monks’ beds. Richard Puddlicot was also tracked down, hiding in sanctuary. Drokensford, however, persuaded some city bailiffs to break into the church and seize him. They did so and were suitably rewarded, given every assurance that the excommunication levelled against them would be lifted. Richard Puddlicot was flung into the Tower, then taken down in a wheelbarrow to hang on the gallows at Westminster. The King ordered Puddlicot’s corpse be flayed and the skin nailed to a door in Westminster Abbey as a warning to the monks. In medieval London, life could be hard, but so was justice!
