Latest news with #MedievalMurderMaps
Mint
17-06-2025
- Mint
How ‘Walk of Shame' pushed a woman to kill a priest: Shocking details emerge in 700-year-old murder case
During a recent study, a nearly 700-year-old murder case was reopened. And, researchers found shocking details. In 1337, a priest named John Forde was stabbed to death near a church by a group of men in London. Only one attacker was jailed. A powerful woman named Ela Fitzpayne, who may have planned the murder, was never punished. Medieval England was violent. In Oxford, murder rates reached 60–75 deaths per 1 lakh, nearly 50 times today's average. Records show students fighting with swords and slings while tavern brawls turned into street battles. New research shows Forde was once her lover and possibly part of her gang that robbed a French priory. After Forde betrayed her, the Archbishop of Canterbury accused Fitzpayne of serial adultery "with knights and others, single and married, and even with clerics in holy orders", according to CNN. Fitzpayne was punished with a 'Walk of Shame' by the Church. She was asked to walk barefoot in Salisbury Cathedral carrying a heavy candle evey fall for seven years. She was also asked to donate large sums of money to the poor. She was not allowed to wear gold or precious gems. While she did not care much about other punishments, experts think her public shame may have pushed her toward revenge. Years later, she likely took revenge by having Forde killed. New findings about John Forde's murder in 14th-century London reveal how public killings were sometimes used to show power. The case is part of the Medieval Murder Maps project by Cambridge University. This project, led by Professor Manuel Eisner, translates old Latin records written by coroners. The records list details of suspicious deaths after jury discussions. In Forde's case, records say Fitzpayne convinced four men, her brother, two servants and a chaplain, to murder Forde. As the chaplain distracted him on the street, the others attacked. Forde's throat was slit and he was stabbed. Only one attacker, servant Hugh Colne, was jailed. Eisner found a second clue in a 1322 royal report. It was a decade older than the murder of priest John Forde. It described how Forde, along with Sir Robert and Lady Fitzpayne, attacked a French Benedictine priory near Fitzpayne's castle.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Yahoo
Reopening a 688-year-old murder case reveals a tangled web of adultery and extortion in medieval England
Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. The sun was setting on a busy London street on a May evening in 1337 when a group of men approached a priest named John Forde. They surrounded him in front of a church near Old St. Paul's Cathedral, stabbed him in the neck and stomach, and then fled. Witnesses identified his killers, but just one assailant went to prison. And the woman who might have ordered the brazen and shocking hit — Ela Fitzpayne, a wealthy and powerful aristocrat — was never brought to justice, according to historical records describing the case. Nearly 700 years later, new details have come to light about the events leading up to the brutal crime and the noblewoman who was likely behind it. Her criminal dealings included theft and extortion as well as the murder of Forde — who was also her former lover. Forde (his name also appeared in records as 'John de Forde') could have been part of a crime gang led by Fitzpayne, according to a recently discovered document. The group robbed a nearby French-controlled priory, taking advantage of England's deteriorating relationship with France to extort the church, researchers reported in a study published June 6 in the journal Criminal Law Forum. But the wayward priest may have then betrayed Fitzpayne to his religious superiors. The Archbishop of Canterbury penned a letter in 1332 that the new report also linked to Forde's murder. In the letter, the archbishop denounced Fitzpayne and accused her of committing serial adultery 'with knights and others, single and married, and even with clerics in holy orders.' The archbishop's letter named one of Fitzpayne's many paramours: Forde, who was rector of a parish church in a village on the Fitzpayne family's estate in Dorset. In the wake of this damning accusation, the church assigned Fitzpayne humiliating public penance. Years later, she exacted her revenge by having Forde assassinated, according to lead study author Dr. Manuel Eisner, a professor at the UK's University of Cambridge and director of its Institute of Criminology. This 688-year-old murder 'provides us with further evidence about the entanglement of the clergy in secular affairs — and the very active role of women in managing their affairs and their relationships,' Dr. Hannah Skoda, an associate professor of medieval history in St. John's College at the UK's Oxford University, told CNN in an email. 'In this case, events dragged on for a very long time, with grudges being held, vengeance sought and emotions running high,' said Skoda, who was not involved in the research. The new clues about Forde's murder provide a window into the dynamics of medieval revenge killings, and how staging them in prestigious public spaces may have been a display of power, according to Eisner. Eisner is a cocreator and project leader of Medieval Murder Maps, an interactive digital resource that collects cases of homicide and other sudden or suspicious deaths in 14th century London, Oxford and York. Launched by Cambridge in 2018, the project translates reports from coroners' rolls — records written by medieval coroners in Latin noting the details and motives of crimes, based on the deliberation of a local jury. Jurors would listen to witnesses, examine evidence and then name a suspect. In the case of Forde's murder, the coroner's roll stated that Fitzpayne and Forde had quarreled, and that she persuaded four men — her brother, two servants and a chaplain — to kill him. On that fateful evening, as the chaplain approached Forde in the street and distracted him with conversation, his accomplices struck. Fitzpayne's brother slit his throat, and the servants stabbed Forde in the belly. Only one of the assailants, a servant named Hugh Colne, was charged in the case and imprisoned at Newgate in 1342. 'I was initially fascinated by the text in the coroner's record,' Eisner told CNN in an email, describing the events as 'a dream-like scene that we can see through hundreds of years.' The report left Eisner wanting to learn more. 'One would love to know what the members of the investigative jury discussed,' he said. 'One wonders about how and why 'Ela' convinces four men to kill a priest, and what the nature of this old quarrel between her and John Forde might have been. That's what led me to examine this further.' Eisner tracked down the archbishop's letter in a 2013 dissertation by medieval historian and author Helen Matthews. The archbishop's accusation assigned severe punishments and public penance to Fitzpayne, such as donating large sums of money to the poor, abstaining from wearing gold or precious gems, and walking in her bare feet down the length of Salisbury Cathedral toward the altar, carrying a wax candle that weighed about four pounds. She was ordered to perform this so-called walk of shame every fall for seven years. Though she seemingly defied the archbishop and never performed the penance, the humiliation 'may have triggered her thirst for revenge,' the study authors wrote. The second clue that Eisner unearthed was a decade older than the letter: a 1322 investigation of Forde and Fitzpayne by a royal commission, following a complaint filed by a French Benedictine priory near the Fitzpayne castle. The report was translated and published in 1897 but had not yet been connected to Forde's murder at that point. According to the 1322 indictment, Fitzpayne's crew — which included Forde and her husband, Sir Robert, a knight of the realm — smashed gates and buildings at the priory and stole roughly 200 sheep and lambs, 30 pigs and 18 oxen, driving them back to the castle and holding them for ransom. Eisner said he was astonished to find that Fitzpayne, her husband and Forde were mentioned in a case of cattle rustling during a time of rising political tensions with France. 'That moment was quite exciting,' he said. 'I would never have expected to see these three as members of a group involved in low-level warfare against a French Priory.' During this time in British history, city dwellers were no strangers to violence. In Oxford alone, homicide rates during the late medieval period were about 60 to 75 deaths per 100,000 people, a rate about 50 times higher than what is currently seen in English cities. One Oxford record describes 'scholars on a rampage with bows, swords, bucklers, slings and stones.' Another mentions an altercation that began as an argument in a tavern, then escalated to a mass street brawl involving blades and battle-axes. But even though medieval England was a violent period, 'this absolutely does NOT mean that people did not care about violence,' Skoda said. 'In a legal context, in a political context, and in communities more widely, people were really concerned and distressed about high levels of violence.' The Medieval Murder Maps project 'provides fascinating insights into the ways in which people carried out violence, but also into the ways in which people worried about it,' Skoda said. 'They reported, investigated and prosecuted, and really relied on law.' Fitzpayne's tangled web of adultery, extortion and assassination also reveals that despite social constraints, some women in late medieval London still had agency — especially where murder was concerned. 'Ela was not the only woman who would recruit men to kill, to help her protect her reputation,' Eisner said. 'We see a violent event that arises from a world where members of the upper classes were violence experts, willing and able to kill as a way to maintain power.' Mindy Weisberger is a science writer and media producer whose work has appeared in Live Science, Scientific American and How It Works magazine. She is the author of 'Rise of the Zombie Bugs: The Surprising Science of Parasitic Mind-Control' (Hopkins Press).
Miami Herald
09-06-2025
- Miami Herald
‘Brazen' 688-year-old murder of medieval priest solved. ‘Thirst for vengeance'
In 1337, a priest named John Forde walked down a busy street in London where he was ambushed and killed in broad daylight as crowds milled about. Now, researchers at the University of Cambridge have solved the brazen murder, believed to have been carried out at the request of Ela Fitzpayne, an English noblewoman with a 'thirst for revenge,' according to a study published June 6 in the peer-reviewed journal Criminal Law Forum. Researchers called Westcheap, where Forde was killed, London's 'commercial and ceremonial heart.' It was also 'London's most prominent homicide hotspot,' researchers said, adding that Forde's killing ranks among 'one of the most extraordinary events' to take place there. On May 3, 1337, Forde ran into a fellow priest who 'distracted' him with friendly conversation before four men, all with connections to Ela Fitzpayne, attacked him, according to a June 5 news release from the University of Cambridge. One slit his throat with 12-inch dagger and two others stabbed him 'in the belly with long fighting knives,' according to the study. Researchers said Forde's murder was instigated Fitzpayne who had been publicly denounced by the Archbishop of Canterbury for having 'sexual affairs 'with knights and others, single and married, and even with clerics in holy orders,'' including Forde, while she was married, according to the study. Forde's complicated connections to Fitzpayne Records suggest Forde, who was also accused of being in a gang with Fitzpayne and her husband, may have been the one to inform the archbishop of her dalliances, experts said. Forde 'went from being in Ela Fitzpayne's crime gang and possibly her bed, to a player in her denouncement,' according to the release. 'The archbishop imposed heavy, shameful public penance on Ela, which she seems not to have complied with, but may have sparked a thirst for vengeance,' researcher Manuel Eisner said, per the release. 'Not least as John Forde appears to have escaped punishment by the church.' In an effort to 'publicly humiliate' Fitzpayne for her supposed affairs, she was ordered to take 'barefoot walks of shame across Salisbury Cathedral,' and pay large sums of money to the clergy and the poor, experts said. Experts said 'the brutal show of strength' on Westcheap that day may have served to remind 'the clergy of the power of the nobility, and that Ela Fitzpayne doesn't forget or forgive,' according to the news release. 'A woman in 14th century England who raided priories, openly defied the Archbishop of Canterbury, and planned the assassination of a priest,' Eisner said, summing up Fitzpayne's legacy. 'Ela Fitzpayne appears to have been many things, including an extraordinary person,' he said. Ford's was one of 355 unsolved homicides documented by the Medieval Murder Maps project — a database created by the University of Cambridge that visualizes spatial patterns of 14th-century killings in London, Oxford and York, according to the study. The Cambridge news release and the Medieval Murder Maps project lists the year of Forde's killing as 1337, while the study says it occurred in 1336.
Newsweek
09-06-2025
- Newsweek
Brutal 14th Century Revenge Murder Finally Solved
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A new investigation by a Cambridge University criminologist has revealed evidence of a 14th-century murder entangled in betrayal, scandal, and power struggles. Professor Manuel Eisner, head of the Medieval Murder Maps project at the University's Institute of Criminology uncovered what appears to be a revenge killing orchestrated by a noblewoman, following a scandal involving sex, crime and church politics. The killing of priest John Forde in 1337—his throat cut in broad daylight on a busy London street—has been brought to light 688 years later. "We are looking at a murder commissioned by a leading figure of the English aristocracy," said Eisner. "It is planned and cold-blooded, with a family member and close associates carrying it out, all of which suggests a revenge motive." Records indicate that Forde was once a lover and criminal accomplice of Ela Fitzpayne, an aristocrat punished publicly by the Church for adultery. A 1332 letter from Archbishop Simon Mepham accused her of affairs "with knights and others, single and married, and even with clerics in holy orders," including Forde, and ordered her to undergo a degrading punishment. Location of the murder of John Forde, taken from the Medieval Murder Maps. University of Cambridge's Institute of Criminology and the Historic Towns Trust. Location of the murder of John Forde, taken from the Medieval Murder Maps. University of Cambridge's Institute of Criminology and the Historic Towns Trust. Medieval Murder Maps. University of Cambridge's Institute of Criminology and the Historic Towns Trust That punishment included a barefoot walk of shame through Salisbury Cathedral—every fall, for seven years. "The archbishop imposed heavy, shameful public penance on Ela, which she seems not to have complied with, but may have sparked a thirst for vengeance," said Eisner. "Not least as John Forde appears to have escaped punishment by the church." The murder took place near St Paul's Cathedral on May 3, 1337. According to coroners' rolls, Forde was walking along Cheapside when fellow priest Hasculph Neville distracted him "with pleasant conversation." Suddenly, four men attacked: Hugh Lovell, Ela Fitzpayne's brother, slit Forde's throat with a 12-inch dagger while Hugh Colne and John Strong, both recently in Fitzpayne's service, stabbed him in the belly. "Despite naming the killers and clear knowledge of the instigator, when it comes to pursuing the perpetrators the jury turn a blind eye," said Eisner. "A household of the highest nobility, and apparently no one knows where they are to bring them to trial. They claim Ela's brother has no belongings to confiscate. All implausible. This was typical of the class-based justice of the day." Only Colne was eventually indicted and imprisoned, five years later. Image of the Archbishop of Canterbury's letters to the Bishop of Winchester on the subject of Ela Fitzpayne, from the register of John de Stratford. Reproduced with permission of Hampshire Archives and Hampshire County Council. Image of the Archbishop of Canterbury's letters to the Bishop of Winchester on the subject of Ela Fitzpayne, from the register of John de Stratford. Reproduced with permission of Hampshire Archives and Hampshire County Council. Register of John de Stratford. Reproduced with permission of Hampshire Archives and Hampshire County Council. The case is one of hundreds in the Medieval Murder Maps database, which uses coroners' rolls to track real cases of unnatural death in 14th-century England—now mapped across cities like London, Oxford, and York. Forde's case was unusual: it had 33 jurors—"one of the highest in all murders mapped by the project," said Eisner. The area of Westcheap, where Forde died, was "London's most prominent medieval homicide 'hotspot,'" featuring markets, guilds, and frequent violence, Eisner explained. He added: "As a setting for public rituals of punishment, this appears to have included extrajudicial killings." A full account of the case, with digitized records and coroner reports, is now available on the University's website. An academic paper detailing the case appears in the Criminal Law Forum, and a podcast series explores Forde's murder and other medieval cases. "Taken together, these records suggest a tale of shakedowns, sex and vengeance that expose tensions between the church and England's elites, culminating in a mafia-style assassination of a fallen man of god by a gang of medieval hitmen," said Eisner. Newsweek reached out to Professor Manuel Eisner via Cambridge University for comment. Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about criminology? Let us know via science@ Reference Eisner, M., Brown, S. E., Eisner, N., & Eisner, R. S. (2025). Spatial dynamics of homicide in medieval English cities: the Medieval Murder Map project. Criminal Law Forum.
NDTV
06-06-2025
- NDTV
Sex, Power And A Medieval Murder: Priest's 1337 Death Mystery Finally Solved
A cold case in England appears to be solved after nearly 700 years. A research team from the Cambridge University Institute of Criminology's Medieval Murder Maps project did a comprehensive analysis of the priest John Forde 's murder case details. The priest was killed in May 1337 when some assailants slit his throat on a busy city street. The research team found that Mr Forde's murder was calculated and was an act of revenge by an elite woman. The Medieval Murder Maps project is a database of unnatural deaths in England during the 14th century. Manuel Eisner, who is a criminologist at the University of Cambridge, recently studied the details that can be termed as the reopening of the case after nearly seven centuries. Eisner, the study author, studied coroners' rolls and church archives for his research. The latest findings tell a tale of a gruesome murder - a medieval reality that looks like a Hollywood crime thriller. As per the findings, a woman named Ela Fitzpayne was accused of multiple affairs, including with Forde. She was punished with barefoot walks of shame across Salisbury Cathedral. She was also banned from wearing gold, pearls or precious stones. A large sum was asked to be paid to monastic orders. "We are looking at a murder commissioned by a leading figure of the English aristocracy. It is planned and cold-blooded, with a family member and close associates carrying it out, all of which suggests a revenge motive," said Manuel Eisner as quoted by Cambridge University. "Attempts to publicly humiliate Ela Fitzpayne may have been part of a political game, as the church used morality to stamp its authority on the nobility, with John Forde caught between masters," he said. What exactly happened? Eisner found in another record that Fitzpayne had even conspired with her husband and John Forde to lead a gang of extortionists. It happened around the time of these allegations. The gang is said to have raided a church priory and broken into buildings. They held livestock to ransom. As per Eisner, the Forde's murder could have been a show of strength in order to remind the clergy of the power of the nobility. The records suggest that Ela's lover Forde was a member of the crime gang, but ultimately became a part of her denouncement by the church, which could have been the reason behind his murder, with one of the killers recognised as Fitzpayne's brother. Two others were her recent servants. "Attempts to publicly humiliate Ela Fitzpayne may have been part of a political game, as the church used morality to stamp its authority on the nobility, with John Forde caught between masters," Eisner said. "Taken together, these records suggest a tale of shakedowns, sex and vengeance that expose tensions between the church and England's elites, culminating in the mafia-style assassination of a fallen man of god by a gang of medieval hitmen," Eisner added.
