medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Subject: Re: [M-R] Margaret Clitheroe
I thought Margaret Clitheroe refused to plead in order to save her children
> from being summoned as witnesses?
> Cate
Her OFFICIAL reason - the one which she is recorded as having used in reply
to her judges - was along the lines of "that her conscience was clear, she
didn't feel guilty about anything so saw no point in pleading. "
[I have suggested to legal friends that there ought to be three pleas, not
two: guilty; not guilty and justified. But that would imply that there could
be more than one opinion about whether any given action is licit or
illicit.]
This must have been only part of the story. If she died under the punishment
for Contempt of Court - which is what it was - then she was technically Not
Guilty because she had never been found guilty. Presumption of innocence was
the basis of English law even then. Thus her property passed to her kin as
normal. The nature of the torture was such that it could be stopped at any
time, and the jailers would crouch by the head of the person being pressed
to listen for any word or cry which could be interpreted as a "Yes" or a
"No" which would then be deemed (lovely word that) to have been a plea,
whereupon the stones would be whipped off and the prisoner brought to trial.
Such an involuntary plea could not be retracted. Margaret's famous silence
was a legal necessity.
In the absence of a Council for the Defence (they hadn't yet been invented)
and in the absence of any law about age limits on witnesses, the judge could
call any witness however young and bully them into all kinds of admissions.
This would have led not only to the traumatising of Margaret's children and
step-children but would certainly have produced evidence to accuse several
of her friends and neighbours and their children as well. Margaret was at
the centre of a recusant community. And technically they were all guilty.
They had been sheltering priests and hearing mass.
All this must have been in her mind and she was given plenty of time to
think about it. She also had to take into consideration the fact that she
was pregnant. If she was found guilty and condemned to death, the execution
would be deferred until the child was born so that it could be baptised. If
she was pressed to death, the child would die with her - unbaptised.
Brenda M.C.
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|