Assizes of Clarendon 1166
In early 1166, from his hunting lodge at Clarendon in Wiltshire, Henry of Anjou ⓘ (Henry II) issued a series of instructions to his judges on how they were to conduct criminal trials. The exact date is unknown but it was most probably between late January and late February 1166 as Henry left England on March 3rd and did not return until 1170.1
These instructions have become known as the Assizes of Clarendon. The Assizes established a grand jury composed of twelve lawful men from each hundred and four from each village, who were required to report to the sheriff and county judges any crimes committed within their area and to name suspected offenders.2
Sheriffs were instructed to arrest suspects and hold them until the arrival of the royal justices. The accused were subjected to the ordeal of water; if convicted, their property was confiscated and they were either hanged or mutilated. Those acquitted by ordeal but deemed to have a bad reputation were nevertheless banished.
The Assizes were an important step in the establishment of public prosecution of crime within the King's Courts. Previously prosecution had been left to the Baronial courts which could be slow to prosecute some crimes.3
- 1. Gesta Regis Henrici Secundi Benedicti Abbatis. Cambridge Cambridge University Press 2012. lx.
- 2. Britannica http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/119804/Assize-of-Clarendon
- 3. Henry Ii Yale English Monarchs Series Yale English Monarchs Series New Haven, London Yale University Press 2000. p286.