Crime & Justice in the 14th century

120 sourced entries, 1301 CE to 1399 CE, oldest first. Also see Crime & Justice across every century or everything else in the 14th century.

1301July 10 – Indian forces under Sultan Alauddin Khalji capture Ranthambore Fortress. During the siege, General Nusrat Khan Jalesari is hit and killed by a manjaniq stone.source
1301October 5 – (Shoan, 22nd day of the 8th month) Hojo Morotoki becomes the 10th regent for the Kamakura shogunate of Japan.source
1302Alice Kyteler and her second husband, Adam le Blund, are accused of homicide. She was later the first person in Ireland to be condemned for alleged witchcraft.Ireland source
1305August 3 – William Wallace, Scottish rebel leader and knight, is captured near Glasgow at Robroyston, by English troops led by John de Menteith. He is transported to London and led, crowned mockingly with laurel, in procession to Westminster Hall.source
13055 August – John de Menteith, a Scottish knight loyal to King Edward of England, captures William Wallace and turns him over to English soldiers at Robroyston.Scotland source
1305August 23 – After a three-week trial at Westminster, William Wallace is convicted of treason and of atrocities against civilians in war. After the trial, he is dragged through the streets of Smithfield in London and hanged, drawn and quartered – strangled by hanging – but cut down while still alive, emasculated, disemboweled (with his bowels burned before him), beheaded, and then cut into four parts. Wallace's head is placed on a spike above the London Bridge, and his limbs are displayed separately, in Newcastle, Berwick, Stirling, and Perth.source
1305September 15 – King Edward I of England issues ordinances for the government of the Kingdom of Scotland. King Edward issues the first commission of Trailbaston – which empowers him to appoint judicial commissions to punish crimes (such as homicide, theft, arson, and rape) and certain trespasses. Edward adds also conspiracy to the list of presentments.source
1306January 28 – After two hearings, Sunni Muslim theologian Ibn Taymiyyah is found innocent of charges of heresy by the Indian Qur'an scholar Safi al-Din al-Hindi. Taymiyyah is found guilty three months later by a panel of judges in the Mamluk state and imprisoned for four months.source
1306February 10 – Robert the Bruce murders John Comyn III, Scottish nobleman and political rival, before the high altar of the Greyfriars Church at Dumfries. Bruce and Comyn meet to discuss their differences at the church (without their swords). An argument between the two ensues, and Bruce draws his dagger in anger and stabs Comyn. He flees the church, telling his followers outside what has occurred. Roger de Kirkpatrick, cousin of Bruce, goes back inside and finishes off the seriously wounded Comyn. In response, Bruce is excommunicated by Pope Clement V.source
130610 February – Robert the Bruce murders John Comyn before the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries.Scotland source
1307February 17 – Eight days after their capture at Loch Ryan, Thomas de Brus, and Alexander de Brus, Reginald Crawford are all executed. Thomas and Alexander are taken to Carlisle, where hanged, drawn and quartered.source
1307October 13 – King Philip IV of France orders the arrest of all members of the Knights Templar in France. The Templars, together with their Grand Master Jacques de Molay, are imprisoned, interrogated, and tortured into confessing heresy. In Paris, the king's inquisitors torture some 140 Templars, most of whom eventually make confessions. Many are subjected to "fire torture": their legs are fastened in an iron frame and the soles of their feet are greased with fat or butter. Unable to withstand these tortures, many Templars eventually confess.source
1307November 18 – William Tell, Swiss mountain climber and marksman, shoots (according to legend) an apple off his son's head with a crossbow at Altdorf, Switzerland.source
1307Donnchad Muimnech Ó Cellaigh, Lord of Uí Maine, killed most of the English of Roscommon at Ahascragh, in response to the burning of the town by Edmund Butler.Ireland source
1309October 22 – The trial of the Knights Templar arrested in England begins and will continue for the next five months, ending on March 18, 1310.source
1310January–June – trial of Knights Templar in DublinIreland source
1310April 15 – Sultan An-Nasir Muhammad of Egypt has his predecessor, the former Sultan Baybars II, executed.source
1310Áed Bréifnech Ó Conchobair killed by Seónac Mac Uidilín, officer of his mercenaries, at the instigation of Sir William Laith de Burgh.Ireland source
1312July 8 – In Italy, Francesco I Pico, Lord of Mirandola, is captured at Baggiovara by Guelph rebels in Bologna, while on his way home to Mirandola after being invested by the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry VII as imperial vicar. Pico is imprisoned for the next nine months before being released to resume his Lordship.source
1314August 14 – Scottish raiders led by Edward Bruce plunder the north-eastern counties of England in the Pennines; they are attacked at Stainmore by the English under Andrew Harclay.source
1317April 27 – John XXII orders the Spiritual Franciscans, including the French priest Bernard Délicieux, to come to Avignon and answer for their disobedience. Upon arrival, Délicieux is arrested and interrogated.source
1318January 26 – Sir Gilbert Middleton, an English knight who had rebelled against King Edward II and kidnapped the Bishop of Durham on September 1, is convicted of treason and then executed by being hanged, drawn and quartered.source
1318November 22 – Grand Prince Mikhail of Tver is summoned by Özbeg Khan at Sarai, the capital of the Golden Horde. After his arrival, he is executed.source
1319February 6 – (14 Dhu al-Hijjah 718 AH) Rumaythah ibn Abi Numayy and Sayf al-Din Bahadur al-Ibrahimi, both former Emirs of Mecca, are arrested by the incumbent Emir, Shams al-Din Aq Sunqur al-Nasiri and taken from Mecca to Cairo for imprisonment. Rumaythah is charged with having provided support to his brother, Humaydah ibn Abi Numayy and al-Ibrahimi is accused of allowing Humaydah to escape. Rumaythah is pardoned a month later after arriving in Cairo.source
1320July – Shepherds' Crusade: Many followers are arrested and executed, after which there are no further incidents and the crusade disperses.source
1320August 4 – William II de Soules confesses to treason before the Scottish Parliament at a hearing at the "Black Parliament" session held at Scone. For the crime of conspiring against King Robert, Soules is sentenced to life imprisonment at Dumbarton Castle.source
1320September 5 – Delhi's Sultan Khusrau Khan, who betrayed and murdered Qutbuddin Shah earlier in the year to become ruler in India, is himself betrayed and murdered by his governor, Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq, who founds Delhi's Tughlaq dynasty. Sultan Ghiyath appoints military governors in Punjab and Sindh province, who manage to halt Mongol incursions towards the sultanate.source
1322April 14 – Baron Badlesmere, another leader of the unsuccessful Contrariant attempt to overthrow King Edward II of England, is found guilty of treason at a trial in Canterbury. His death sentence is carried out later in the day.source
1323February 25 – The Earl of Carlisle is arrested at Carlisle Castle by the Castle's warden, Anthony de Lucy, on charges of treason and turned over to the custody of King Edward II of England.source
1323March 3 – The Earl of Carlisle is tried and convicted for treason, then executed later in the day. Carlisle is hanged, drawn and quartered, and parts of his body are sent to various sites in England for public display.source
13233 March – Andrew Harclay executed for treason by Edward II of England.Scotland source
1323December 7 – John of Nottingham and Robert of Coventry, two Englishmen believed by Coventry residents to be expert on necromancy, begin the process of casting a spell to kill King Edward II, Sir Hugh le Despenser of Winchester, as well as the prior of Coventry. John allegedly accepted 20 pounds sterling, and starts his necromancy by making wax figurines of the targets of elimination and then using them for the next six months. The two men will later be prosecuted for sorcery after one of the designated victims allegedly dies after a pin is driven into his figurine.source
1323December 21 – In further retaliation by the King Charles of France against King Edward of England for the Saint-Sardos incident, Edward's chief advocate in France's parliament, Pons Tournemire, is arrested and imprisoned in the Grand Châtelet.source
1324October 7 – (Genko 4, 19th day of 9th month) The Shōchū Incident, the plan by Japan's Emperor Go-Daigo to overthrow the Kamakura shogunate, is discovered by the shogun's security police, the Rokuhara Tandai, and persons involved (other than the Emperor) are arrested and punished.source
1325April 20 – Elizabeth de Comyn, daughter of the late Guardian of Scotland, John Comyn III of Badenoch, is forced to sign away her title to her properties in England at Painswick and at Goodrich Castle to Hugh Despenser the Elder after being kidnapped in 1324 and imprisoned in England at Pirbright.source
1326October 27 – The day after his capture at Bristol, Hugh Despenser the Elder, the chief adviser to King Edward II of England, is dressed in his armor and hanged in public. Afterwards, Hugh's body is dismembered, with his head presented to Queen Isabella to show to others among Edward's allies.source
1327April 5 – Edward II is moved to Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire. He is kept under the custody of Roger Mortimer's son-in-law, Thomas Berkeley and John Maltravers, who are given £5 a day to look after him. Despite records showing luxury goods being bought for him, Edward is possibly mistreated by his captors.source
1327September 21 – Less than a year after his arrest, the former King of England, Edward II, is brutally murdered in Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire.source
133116 August – Earl of Desmond captured by Justiciar at LimerickIreland source
1331August Irish raid and capture FernsIreland source
1331September Henry de Mandeville arrestedIreland source
1331November Walter de Burgh arrested and imprisoned by the Earl of UlsterIreland source
1331"Ten of the people of Donnchadh the Swarthy, son of Mael-Shechlainn Carrach Mac Diarmata, were drowned on Loch-Teiched."Ireland source
1331Irish raids in County Wexford.Ireland source
133220 January – 2 May Justicier de Lucy campaigns in Munster, where he captures William and Walter de Bermingham in February (see 11 July)Ireland source
13327 April Roger Mortimer's outlawry of Hugh de Lacy queriedIreland source
13324 August Justicer de Lucy ordered to stay execution against magnates imprisoned for felonies; Roger Outlaw commissioned to treat with English and Irish at war with Edward IIIIreland source
133220 September Prisage of wine at ports of Dublin, Drogheda, Limerick and Waterford granted to the Earl of OrmondIreland source
13323 December Thomas de Burgh acting as deputy justicierIreland source
1333Maurice FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Desmond, releasedIreland source
1333Donnchadh mac Aedh Ó Ceallaigh captured and imprisoned by King Toirdhelbach of ConnachtIreland source
133429 June Thomas de Burgh acting as deputy justiciarIreland source
1334Justicier Darcy campaigns against Ó Bríain and Mac Conmara in Thomond, Domhnall and Diarmaid Óg Mac Carthaigh in Desmond, Ó Tuathail and Ó Bróin in LeinsterIreland source
1335"John Ó hEaghra was taken prisoner by the son of the Earl and considerable part of his people were plundered."Ireland source
1337"Teige and Melaghlin, two sons of Ivor Mac Rannall, were taken prisoners by Cathal Mac Rannall. Cathal was afterwards killed by their kinsmen, who, having collected a considerable force, being joined by William Mac Mahon, and by Conor and Tomaltagh, the two other sons of Ivor Mac Rannall, went to rescue the sons of Ivor. Manus O'Farrell was killed by them on the same day. Teige, the son of Ivor Mac Rannall, was then made chieftain."Ireland source
1338Justiciar de Charleton campaigns against the Leinster IrishIreland source
1340March – Edmond Albanach de Burgh is granted a royal pardon for the murder of his cousin in 1338 and returns from exile in the western isles of Connacht.Ireland source
134116 March – John Morice is appointed deputy justiciar.Ireland source
13412 August – 2 October – deputy justicier campaigns in Leinster against Mac Murchada.Ireland source
134216 January – 18 May Deputy justiciar John Morice campaigns against the Irish of Mide.Ireland source
134216 July – 4 September – Deputy justiciar campaigns in Wicklow against the Ó Broin.Ireland source
1342Scots made a strenuous attempt to capture Lochmaben Castle, but were repulsed.Scotland source
1343Maurice Earl of Desmond occupies Imokilly (east County Cork).Ireland source
134421 July – Justiciar campaigns in south Leinster and Munster.Ireland source
1344King Edward III of England introduces three new gold coins, the florin, leopard, and helm. Unfortunately, the amount of gold in the coins does not match their value of 6 shillings, 3 shillings, and 1 shilling and sixpence, so they have to be withdrawn and mostly melted down, by August of this year.source
1345August 9 – Henry of Grosmont, Earl of Derby arrives in Bordeaux with 500 men-at-arms, 500 mounted archers and 1,000 English and Welsh foot archers.France source
134530 September – Justicier captures Askeaton.Ireland source
134515 October – Clann Mhuirchertaigh kills King Toirdhealbach of Connacht; who is succeeded by his son Aodh O Conchobhair.Ireland source
1345Autumn(?) Maurice FitzGerald, 4th Earl of Kildare is arrested and imprisoned in Dublin Castle.Ireland source
134627 July – Roger de la Freigne, Sheriff of Kilkenny, "seized a great prey over Cearbhall Mac Giollaphádraig and over his men such as had rearely been taken in those parts, remembered by men for many years." [8].Ireland source
1346October–November – Several Mongol towns in the Crimea are cleared of inhabitants by the Black Death.source
1347"William Mac David Burke was slain at Ballintober by Teige Roe Mac Dermot Gall."Ireland source
1347"Maurice Mac Dermot was slain by John Roe Mac David Burke."Ireland source
1347Ballymote Castle was taken by the Mac Diarmada, from the O'Connors of Sligo during the course of local struggles in 1347.Ireland source
1347"Thomas Mac Artan, Lord of Iveagh, in Ulidia, was hanged by the English."Ireland source
1347"Teige Mac Rannall, Chief of Muintir-Eolais, was taken prisoner by the Clann-Murtough O'Conor."Ireland source
134828 March – Domhnall Ó Ceinnéidigh is captured and imprisoned by the Purcells.Ireland source
13482 June – Domhnall Ó Ceinnéidigh and the son of Brian Ó Briain are "judged, hanged and drawn at the tails of horses" at Thurles.Ireland source
1349February 19 – Jewish persecutions during the Black Death: The entire Jewish community in the remote German village of Saulgau is wiped out.source
1349May – The Black Death ceases in Ireland.source
1350The Punta Lobos massacre is carried out by members of the powerful Chimu Empire in Peru, leaving a residue of 200 murders.source
1350The Black Death first appears in Scotland and Sweden.source
1351Arnoul d'Audrehem is captured and the French pay a heavy ransoms for his release.France source
1351Guy II de Nesle is captured and the French pay a heavy ransoms for his release.France source
1351Robert de Emeldon, former Lord High Treasurer disgraced due to corruption, is appointed as Chief Baron of the Irish ExchequerIreland source
1362April – Sultan Muhammad V of Granada, returns to the throne after the murder of the usurper Muhammed VI.source
1369January 17 – Peter the Fat becomes the new King of Cyprus when his father, King Peter I, is stabbed to death while in bed at the Palace of La Cava in Nicosia. The murder is carried out by a group of noblemen, led by Philip of Ibelin, Henry of Jubail, John of Gaurelle, and James of Nores, along with some outlaws freed from imprisonment earlier in the evening.source
1371June 24 – In punishment for his malfeasance as regent during the reign of King David II, the property of William III, Earl of Ross at Inverness is confiscated by King Robert II.source
1372January 29 – John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and the third son of England's King Edward III, begins a claim to the throne of Spain's Crown of Castile after his September 21 marriage to Princess Constance of Castile. King Pedro of Castile, who was killed by his brother, who took control as King Enrique II, in 1369.source
1374January 17 – In Italy, at Padua, Alvise Forzatè is arrested on charges of treason and conspiracy with his nephew Filippo Forzate, in 1373, to assassinate Francesco I da Carrara, Lord of Padua. The two men are beheaded one week later on January 24.source
1375In Nanjing, capital of Ming dynasty China, a bureau secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Ru Taisu, sends a 17,000 character-long memorial to the throne, to be read aloud to the Hongwu Emperor. By the 16,370th character, the emperor has been offended by several passages, and has Ru Taisu summoned to court and flogged for the perceived insult. The next day, having had the remaining characters read to him, he likes four of Ru's recommendations, and instates these in reforms. Ru is nevertheless castigated for having forced the emperor to hear thousands of characters before getting to the part with true substance. The last 500 characters are elevated in court as the model-type memorial that all officials should aspire to create while writing their own.source
1378Ottoman Turks capture the town of Ihtiman in west Bulgaria.source
1378Sa'im al-Dahr is hanged for blowing the nose off the Great Sphinx of Giza.source
1379January 23 – Maria, Queen of Sicily since 1377, is kidnapped from her home at the Ursino Castle in Catania by Guglielmo Raimondo III of the rival House of Moncada claimants to the throne held by the House of Aragon. The action takes place with the support of King Pero IV of Aragon, who installs his son Martin of Aragon as the Viceroy of Sicily.source
1380Sir William Walworth, a member of the Fishmongers Guild, becomes Lord Mayor of London for the second time.source
1382Kęstutis, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, is taken prisoner by former Grand Duke Jogaila, whilst meeting him to hold negotiations. Kęstutis is subsequently murdered, and Jogaila regains the rule of Lithuania.source
1383March 16 – In France, Évrart de Trémaugon, an adviser to King Charles V, interrupts the King's dinner at the Louvre Palace and accuses Guillaume de Chamborant, the King's equerry, of the murder of Evrart's brother Yvon.Famiglietti 2015, vol.1, p.279. Charges are eventually dropped against Chamborant 16 months later and Evrart is ordered on July 30, 1484, to pay 500 Livres tournois, equivalent to more than 404 kilograms of fine silver, to Chamborant.source
1383September 12 – Shortly before his death, King Fernando I of Portugal creates the kingdom's first police force, the Quadrilheiros, initially consisting of 20 of the strongest men in Lisbon, and gives them the authority to arrest criminals. The concept of a city police force is expanded to other communities and becomes the basis for the Polícia de Segurança Pública.source
1384February 7 – Nicholas Brembre, Lord Mayor of London after defeating John Northampton's bid for re-election, arranges to have Northampton arrested on charges of sedition.source
1384August 16 – The Hongwu Emperor of Ming China hears a case of a couple who tore paper money notes, while fighting over them. Under the law, this is considered an act of destroying stamped government documents, which is to be punished by a caning with a bamboo rod of 100 strokes. However, the Emperor decides to pardon them, on the grounds that it was unintentional.source
1385March 13 – Officials in the Kingdom of Scotland discover that 700 pounds sterling of bullion has been taken from the customs collectors of Edinburgh by John Stewart, the Earl of Carrick, who diverted the funds while acting as Guardian of Scotland.source
1385Castello Estense in Ferrara (now in Italy)source
1385Bodiam Castle (East Sussex, England)source
1386July 25 – Elizabeth of Bosnia, mother of Queen Jadwiga of Poland is kidnapped by Croatian rebels at Gorjani, along with Jadwiga's sister, Queen consort Mary of Hungary Mary, when they are ambushed by John Horvat and his men while traviling to Dakovo. Nicholas I Garai, who had accompanied Elizabeth and Mary, is murdered and his severed head is sent by the rebels to Margaret of Durazzo, the former Queen consort of Hungary and Naples, as proof that the murderers of her husband King Charles III, have been captured.source
1387November 19 – By order of the Lords Appellant, Sir Robert Tresilian, Chief Justice of the King's Bench of England, is arrested along with other nobles loyal to King Richard II, and charged with treason for malfeasance in office, with trial to take place four months later at Parliament in February.source
1388February 19 – Chief Justice Robert Tresilian, one of the five advisors to King Richard convicted of treason in absentia, is discovered hiding in sanctuary at Westminster and is dragged by a mob into the Parliament. Because he was already convicted, Tresilian is hanged in publicon the same day.source
1388February 20 – London's Lord Mayor Bembre is hanged in public at Tyburn after having been imprisoned in the Tower of London.source
1388December 27 – At Thăng Long, Tran Ngung overthrows and kills Tran Hien as Emperor of Dai Viet (now Vietnam).source
1388Petru of Moldavia receives Pokuttya, as a pawn for a loan to the Polish king.source
1389June 11 – The Hättebröder, a group of German-speaking burghers during the reign of the German Albrecht as King of Sweden, arrest and imprison the Swedish mayor of Stockholm, Bertil Brun, and two other city officials, whom they hold for ransom. Brun and the other two officials become victims two weeks later of the Käpplinge murders.source
1389June 17 – On the night of the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Käpplinge murders (Käpplingemorden) take place in Sweden at Käpplingeholmen when 76 Swedish men are taken prisoner, convicted of treason, then burned alive in a barn.source
1392July 22 – After a second hearing at Nottingham Council concerning the Fleet Street riot, former London Mayor John Hende and other imprisoned city officials are assessed a fine and released from prison after posting bond to secure their return for future charges.source
1392September 23 – Aleid van Poelgeest, the mistress of Count Albert of Holland, is found dead at the Altena Castle in The Hague, along with the Count's chamberlain, Willem Cuser, the victim of Hook nobles who were opposed to Count Albert.source
1393September 13 – Sir Walter Devereux, a prominent knight in the English county of Hertfordshire, is dispatched by King Richard II to suppress the Lollards, activists, led by Walter Brut seeking a reformation of the Catholic Church in the county.source
1393October 3 – Walter Brut, a leader of the Lollards sect of Christian reformers, is put on trial for heresy before the Roman Catholic Bishop of Hereford, Thomas Trefnant. Brut is acquitted of the charges.source
1394August 15 – Two months after being captured by King Zsigmond of Hungary, the Serbian rebel Janos Horvati, is brutally executed at Pécs by dismemberment to avenge the 1387 execution of the former Queen consort of Hungary, Elizabeth of Bosnia.source
1395John Rykener, also known as Johannes Richer and Eleanor, a transvestite prostitute working mainly in London (near Cheapside), but also active in Oxford, is arrested for cross-dressing and interrogated on December 11, 1394. The records have survived, the only surviving legal records from this age which mention same-sex intercourse.source
1397July 12 – King Richard II of England orders the arrest of members of a group of powerful barons known as the Lords Appellant, including Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester and Richard Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel. Gloucester is murdered while under house arrest on September 9 and Arundel is behaded on September 21.source
1398February 20 – The vicar John de Aston of Colston Bassett is released from incarceration at Fleet Prison in England by order of King Richard II upon the payment of mainprise or bail.source
1399September 1 – Richard II, though still nominally the King of England, is imprisoned by Henry Bolingbroke at the Tower of London.source