Syracuse University SURFACE Syracuse University Honors Program Capstone Syracuse University Honors Program Capstone Projects Projects Spring 5-1-2007 Presentment of Englishry at the Eyre of Kent, 1313 Lydia Stamato Follow this and additional works at: https://surface.syr.edu/honors_capstone Part of the European History Commons, and the Other History Commons Recommended Citation Stamato, Lydia, "Presentment of Englishry at the Eyre of Kent, 1313" (2007). Syracuse University Honors Program Capstone Projects. 582. https://surface.syr.edu/honors_capstone/582 This Honors Capstone Project is brought to you for free and open access by the Syracuse University Honors Program Capstone Projects at SURFACE. It has been accepted for inclusion in Syracuse University Honors Program Capstone Projects by an authorized administrator of SURFACE. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. CHAPTER 1 Introduction In 1313 an eyre was summoned for the county of Kent before which there had not been an eyre since 1288. The people of Kent feared that their customs would not be honored. If this fear was confirmed, it could cause the county significant distress and cost the people money. Instead of targeting landholders, as they had in the past, the royal justices effectively challenged every person in Kent who lived in a community where a homicide had occurred since the last eyre. The justices asked if the people of Kent were accustomed to presenting Englishry, and if so, in what form. The people, knowing that their coroners had not recorded presentments of Englishry, feared the penalty of the murder fine. A knight named Sir Edmund Passele spoke on behalf of the county in their defense.