The Manor of Death

Professor Bernard Knight, CBE, became a Home Office pathologist in 1965 and was appointed Professor of Forensic Pathology, University of Wales College of Medicine, in 1980. During his forty-year career with the Home Office, he performed over 25,000 autopsies and was involved in many high profile cases.

Bernard Knight is the author of twenty-two novels, a biography and numerous popular and academic nonfiction books.
The Manor of Death
is the twelfth novel in the Crowner John series, following
The Noble Outlaw
,
The Elixir of Death
,
Figure of Hate
,
 
The Witch Hunter
,
Fear in the Forest
,
The Grim Reaper
,
The Tinner’s Corpse
,
The Awful Secret
,
The Poisoned Chalice
,
Crowner’s Quest
and
The Sanctuary Seeker
.
 

Also by Bernard Knight

The Sanctuary Seeker
 

Crowner's Quest

The Poisoned Chalice

 
The Awful Secret

 
The Tinner's Corpse

 
The Grim Reaper

 
Fear in the Forest
 

 
The Witch Hunter

Figure of Hate

The Elixir of Death

The Noble Outlaw

The Manor of Death

Bernard Knight

LONDON * NEW YORK * TORONTO * SYDNEY

First published in Great Britain by Simon & Schuster UK Ltd, 2008

A CBS company

Copyright © Bernard Knight, 2008

This book is copyright under the Berne Convention No reproduction without permission

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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
 

ISBN 978-0-7432-9-499-7

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either a product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Dr John Morgan Guy of the University of Wales, Lampeter for his help on medieval religious matters and Mr Ted Gosling, the Secretary of the Axe Valley Heritage Association, for his advice about Axmouth and Seaton in ancient times - and to Gillian Holmes and Kate Lyall Grant for performing their usual editorial wonders.
 

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Much of this story takes place in Axmouth in South Devon - not to be confused with Exmouth, a dozen miles to the west. Now a small and picturesque village, in former times Axmouth was one of the most important ports in the west of England, being situated on the then wide tidal estuary of the River Axe. One of the few natural harbours on that steep and rocky coast, it was an important Roman port, attested by their settlements in the vicinity. In fact, the Fosse Way, the great Roman road to Lincoln, began at Axmouth, with a spur to Exeter.
 

In medieval times this port along the lower banks of the Axe was of prime importance for the shipment of tin, stone and especially wool, the last being England's most valuable export, accounting for the 'Woolsack' still being the seat of the Lord Chancellor when presiding over the House of Lords. Unfortunately, in the fourteenth century the wide entrance to the estuary began to be blocked by a huge pebble bank and, in spite of many efforts over hundreds of years to remove it, the harbour became unusable. The size of the estuary as seen today is only a vestige of how it would have appeared in Crowner John's time, when it extended several miles inland and was up to half a mile wide. The present village would have been far larger, and recent excavations have revealed the foundations of many more buildings.
 

The 'Keepers of the Peace' described in the story were the forerunners of the present Justices of the Peace, first introduced in 1195 by Hubert WaIter, the Chief Justiciar to Richard the Lionheart, a year after he revived the office of coroner. Richard's castle of Chateau Gaillard, where some of the action takes place, was the finest example of military architecture in Europe, its ruins still standing above the Seine today. Unfortunately, he did not live to see its completion.
 

One of the problems of writing a long series, of which this is the twelfth, is that regular readers will have become familiar with the background and main characters and may become impatient with repeated explanations in each book. However, new readers need to be 'brought up to speed' to appreciate some of the historical aspects, so a Glossary is offered with an explanation of some medieval terms, especially those relating to the functions of the coroner, one of the oldest legal offices in England.
 

Any attempt to use 'olde worlde' dialogue in a historical novel of this period is as inaccurate as it is futile, for in late-twelfth-century Devon most people would have spoken Early Middle English, which would be incomprehensible to us today. Many others would have spoken a Celtic tongue similar to Welsh, Breton and Cornish, and the ruling classes used NormanFrench - while the language of the Church and virtually all writing was Latin.
 

Almost all the names of people and places are authentic, the former being either real historical characters or taken from the Exeter Crown Pleas Roll of 1238. Unfortunately, though the sheriffs and senior churchmen are known, history does not record the names of the Devon coroners until the thirteenth century, so Sir John de Wolfe has to be a product of the author's imagination.
 

The only' money in circulation would have been the silver penny, apart from a few foreign gold coins known as 'bezants'. The average wage of a working man was about two pence per day, and coins were cut into halves and quarters for small purchases. A 'pound' was 240 pence and a 'mark' was 160 pence, but these were nominal accounting terms, not actual coinage.
 

GLOSSARY

ABJURING THE REALM
 

A sanctuary seeker, if he confessed his crime to the coroner, could abjure the realm of England, never to return. He had to dress in sackcloth and carry a crude wooden cross, then walk to a port nominated by the coroner and take the first ship abroad. If none was available, he had to wade out up to his knees in every tide to show his willingness to leave. Many abjurers absconded en route and became outlaws; others were killed by the angry families of their victims.
 

ALE
 

A weak drink brewed before the advent of hops. The name derived from an 'ale', a village celebration where much drinking took place. The words 'wassail' and 'bridal' are derived from this.
 

AMERCEMENTS
 

Arbitrary fines imposed on a person or community by a law officer for some breach of the complex regulations of the law. Where a fine was imposed by a coroner, he would record the amercement, but the collection of the money would normally be ordered by the royal justices when they visited at the Eyre (q.v.).
 

APPROVER
 

A criminal who attempted to save himself by implicating his accomplices. His confession had to be recorded by the coroner.
 

ASSART
 

An area where forest has been cut down to increase the amount of arable land.
 

ATTACHMENT
 

An order made by a law officer, including a coroner, to ensure that a person appeared at a court hearing. It resembled a bail bond or surety, distraining upon a person's money or goods, which would be forfeit if he failed to appear.
 

BAILEY
 

Originally the defended area around a castle keep, as in 'motte and bailey', but later also applied to the yard of a dwelling.
 

BAILIFF
 

An overseer of a manor or estate, directing the farming and other work. He would have manor reeves under him and be responsible either directly to his lord or to the steward.
 

BONDSMAN
 

An unfree person in the feudal system. Several categories, including villein, serf, cottar, etc.
 

BURGAGE
 

A plot of land, usually comprising a house and garden, in a town or city. Long and narrow at right angles to the street, it was often the property of a burgess.
 

BURGESS
 

A freeman of substance in a town or borough, usually a merchant or craftsman. A group of burgesses ran the town administration; and in 1195 they elected two portreeves (later a mayor) to lead them in Exeter.
 

CANON
 

A senior priest in a cathedral, deriving his living from the grant of a parish or land providing an income (a prebend). Exeter Cathedral, a secular not a monastic establishment, had twenty-four canons.
 

CHAPTER
 

The administrative body of a cathedral, composed of the canons (prebendaries). They met daily to conduct business in the chapter house, so-called because a chapter of the Gospels or of the Rule of St Benedict was read before each session.
 

COB
 

A plaster made of straw, clay, dung and horsehair which was applied to panels of willow or hazel withies, which filled the spaces between the frames of a house. Small cottages might be constructed entirely of cob.