Bloody Assizes

Bloody Assizes

The Bloody Assizes were a series of trials started at Winchester on 25th August 1685 in the aftermath of the Battle of Sedgemoor, which ended the Monmouth Rebellion in England.

There were five judges - Sir William Montague (Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer),cite book|last=Whiles|first=John|title=Sedgemoor 1685|publisher=Picton Publishing|location=Chippenham|year=1985|edition=2nd|isbn=094825100] Sir Robert Wright, Sir Francis Wythens, (Justice of the King's Bench), Sir Creswell Levinz (Justice of the Common Pleas) and Sir Henry Polexfen, [cite web|url=http://www.somersetgateway.com/aboutsom/somermag/june2000/jeffries.htm|title=Sick Man or Sinner?|publisher=Somerset Gateway|accessdate=2008-08-06] led by Lord Chief Justice George Jeffreys. [cite web |url=http://www.somersetgateway.com/aboutsom/somermag/june2000/jeffries.htm |title=Sick Man or Sinner? |accessdate=2008-02-20 |format= |work=Somerset Gateway ]

Over 1,000 rebels were in prison awaiting the trials, which started in Winchester on 26th August. The first notable trial was that of an elderly gentlewoman called Dame Alice Lyle. The jury reluctantly found her guilty, and, the law recognizing no distinction between principals and accessories in treason, she was sentenced to be burned. This was commuted to beheading, with the sentence being carried out in Winchester market-place on 2 September 1685.

From Winchester the court proceeded to Salisbury, Dorchester and on to Taunton, before finishing up at Wells on 23 September. More than 1,400 prisoners were dealt with and although most were sentenced to death about 300 only were hanged or hanged, drawn and quartered.cite web |url=http://www.britainexpress.com/History/battles/sedgemoor.htm |title=The battle of Sedgemoor |accessdate=2007-11-21 |format= |work=Britain Express ] The Taunton Assize took place in the Great Hall of Taunton Castle (now the home of the Somerset County Museum). Of more than 500 prisoners brought before the court on the 18th/19th September, 144 were hanged and their remains displayed around the county for all to see and know what happened to those who rebelled against the king.cite web |url=http://www.everythingexmoor.org.uk/_T/Taunton_Castle.php |title=Taunton Castle |accessdate=2007-11-21 |format= |work=Everything Exmoor ]

Some 800-850 were transported to the West Indiescite web |url=http://www.somerset.gov.uk/archives/ASH/Bloodyassize.htm |title=The Bloody Assize |accessdate=2008-02-20 |format= |work=Somerset County Council ] where they were worth more alive than dead as a source of cheap labour.cite web |url=http://www.earlymodernweb.org.uk/emn/index.php/archives/2004/11/from-the-dnb-the-bloody-judge/ |title=George Jeffreys (1645-1689) |accessdate=2008-02-20 |format= |work=Early Modern Notes ] Others were imprisoned to await further trial although many did not live long enough, succumbing to 'Gaol Fever' (Typhus) which was rife in the insanitary conditions common to most English gaols at that time. A woman called Elisabeth Gaunt had the grisly distinction of being the last woman to be burnt in England for political crimes. [cite web |url=http://www.strum.co.uk/twilight/shepton5.htm |title=The Bloody Assizes |accessdate=2008-02-20 |format= |work=From Watford Gap to Camelot ]

Jeffreys returned to London after the Assizes to report to King James who rewarded him by making him Lord Chancellor (at age of only 40), 'For the many eminent and faithful services to the Crown'.

After the Glorious Revolution Jeffreys was incarcerated in the Tower of London where he eventually died in 1689, the cause of death probably due to his chronic medical history of kidney and bladder stones leading to an acute infection, kidney failure and possibly toxaemia.

References

Further reading

* [http://www.somerset.gov.uk/archives/ASH/Bloodyassize.htm The Bloody Assize] , web site of [http://www.somerset.gov.uk Somerset County Council]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Bloody Assizes — Die Bloody Assizes (engl.; „blutige Assisen“) waren eine Serie von Gerichtsverhandlungen im September 1685, abgehalten in Dorchester, Dorset (Südengland). Sie waren eine direkte Folge der gescheiterten Übernahme des englischen Throns durch James… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Bloody Assizes — a series of assizes (= courts of law) in the west of England in 1685 at which Judge Jeffreys condemned 300 people to death, and 1 000 to be sent as slaves to America, for supporting the Duke of Monmouth against King James II. * * * ▪ English… …   Universalium

  • BLOODY ASSIZES —    the judicial massacres and cruel injustices perpetrated by Judge Jeffreys during Circuit in 1685 …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • (the) Bloody Assizes — the Bloody Assizes [the Bloody Assizes] a series of ↑assizes (= courts of law) in the west of England in 1685 at which Judge Jeffreys condemned 300 people to death, and 1 000 to be sent as slaves to America, for supporting the Duke of Monmouth… …   Useful english dictionary

  • John Tutchin — (Born 1660? 1664? September 23, 1707) was a radical Whig controversialist and gadfly English journalist (born in Lymington, Hampshire), whose The Observator and earlier political activism earned him multiple trips before the bar. He was of a… …   Wikipedia

  • George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys — of Wem, PC (May 15 1645 ndash; April 18 1689), also known as The Hanging Judge , became notable during the reign of King James II, rising to the position of Lord Chancellor (and serving as Lord High Steward in certain instances). Early years and… …   Wikipedia

  • United Kingdom — a kingdom in NW Europe, consisting of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: formerly comprising Great Britain and Ireland 1801 1922. 58,610,182; 94,242 sq. mi. (244,100 sq. km). Cap.: London. Abbr.: U.K. Official name, United Kingdom of Great… …   Universalium

  • Monmouth Rebellion — Battle of Sedgemoor memorial The Monmouth Rebellion,The Revolt of the West or The West Country rebellion of 1685, was an attempt to overthrow James II, who had become King of England, King of Scots and King of Ireland at the death of his elder… …   Wikipedia

  • Chard, Somerset — Coordinates: 50°52′22″N 2°57′31″W / 50.8728°N 2.9587°W / 50.8728; 2.9587 …   Wikipedia

  • George Jeffreys — Dieser Artikel oder Abschnitt ist nicht hinreichend mit Belegen (Literatur, Webseiten oder Einzelnachweisen) versehen. Die fraglichen Angaben werden daher möglicherweise demnächst gelöscht. Hilf Wikipedia, indem du die Angaben recherchierst und… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”