Legal Definitions - presentment of Englishry

Presentment of Englishry was a historical legal requirement in medieval England. It referred to the obligation placed upon a community to provide proof that a person found slain within their jurisdiction was of English descent, rather than belonging to the ruling foreign class. This rule was initially imposed by the conquering Danes and later by the Normans after 1066. Its primary purpose was to protect the lives of the conquerors by deterring attacks against them. If a community failed to demonstrate that the deceased was English, they would face a severe collective fine, known as an amercement, levied against the entire village or hundred.

• Imagine a scenario in 12th-century England where the body of an unknown man is discovered near a remote village mill. The local sheriff, a Norman appointee, arrives to investigate. The villagers are immediately put on notice. To avoid a heavy fine being imposed on their entire community, they would need to undertake the presentment of Englishry. This might involve bringing forward elderly residents who could testify that the deceased was a known English peasant from a neighboring hamlet, perhaps by identifying his distinct English clothing or dialect, or by confirming his family's long-standing presence in the area. If they could not conclusively prove he was English, the village would be collectively punished.

• Consider a bustling market town where a violent dispute breaks out between a group of local merchants and some foreign-speaking travelers. One of the travelers is killed in the altercation. The town's authorities would be under immense pressure to establish the identity of the deceased. If the slain individual was identified as one of the foreign travelers (and thus presumed Norman), the entire town would be liable for a substantial fine unless they could definitively perform the presentment of Englishry. This would require them to gather irrefutable evidence, such as witnesses or documents, proving that the deceased, despite their foreign appearance or language, was in fact of English lineage, perhaps a merchant who had recently returned from abroad.

• In a sparsely populated hundred, a lone traveler is found dead by the roadside, far from any immediate settlement. The responsibility for identifying the deceased would fall upon the surrounding communities within that hundred. They would need to conduct a thorough inquiry, perhaps checking local inns for missing persons or circulating descriptions among nearby villages, all in an effort to perform the presentment of Englishry. If they could not identify the person as English, or if the deceased was identified as a Norman, the entire hundred would face a collective financial penalty. This system incentivized communities to be vigilant and to protect the ruling class, even in cases where the victim was a stranger.