Volume II 1603-1660 - The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple

xxii INTRODUCTION.
patent of i6o8, though not by name, was the right of sanctuary
which had attached from time immemorial to the buildings and the
burying ground of the Temple church. The local troubles which,
during the reign of Elizabeth, had led to orders as to the gates at
vol. i., pp. 290, Ram Alley and Whitefriars, came to a head in the early days of the
296, 416
reign of King James. In 1604 and thenceforward the inn was much
p. 8 annoyed by the incursions of outlaws and others who made of the
Temple and its precincts a convenient halting place between the city
and Whitefriars. The antient right of sanctuary, dating back to the
establishment of cities of refuge for the manslayer as described in the
book of Numbers, had for a period long antecedent to the conquest
been recognized as part of the law of England. By it any felon in
peril of his life might, if he could, take refuge in a sanctuary for forty
days. If within this period he confessed his crimes to the coroner,
rendered up his goods to the sheriff, and took an oath to abjure the
realm, he was passed in safety from constable to constable till he
reached the sea-port nearest to his asylum, where he was put on
board ship, and left the country never to return without pardon, at
the peril of his life. The only offences originally excluded from the
benefit of sanctuary were treason, as touching the safety of the
crown, and sacrilege as touching the property of the church. Rape,
burglary, highway robbery, and some other heinous offences were
afterwards excluded, and under the reign of Henry VI I I. the oath
of abjuration was discontinued. Sanctuary men thenceforward,
instead of being sent abroad to some foreign country, where it was
feared they might strengthen the enemies of the king by teaching
the practice of archery as used in this country, were interned for life
in certain places indicated from time to time by parliament. They
wore a distinguishing badge. Like persons who had enjoyed the
benefit of clergy for a first offence, they were branded on the thumb,
and they were prohibited the use of any weapon except an eating
knife, and, that only at time of meals. The dissolution of the
religious orders, and the disestablishment of the monasteries, left the
lands and houses formerly occupied by these bodies still impressed
with the privilege of sanctuary, but without the controlling influence
of the priors, abbots, or priests, who, while offering the shelter of
Society of the Middle Temple," by Wm. Downing, Steward of the said Society, 1739.
Printed by and for the Society of the Middle Temple, 1896, p. 5.