The Medieval Murder Mystery You Didn't Read in History Class...

we'll begin as all good murder stories do with the finding of a body it was the end of May 1375 in the Lincolnshire Countryside when the decomposing remains of a man were discovered in the fields near gringham the man was about 30 years old and had been lying there for several months but his clothes showed that he was a man of means on examining the body the coroner decided he had died from diverse mortal wounds caused by a knife but but who was the man what was the motive for his murder and what has a

court case between William's brother Nicholas and Nicholas's wife some 7 years earlier have to do with anything let's travel back in time now to the late 14th century to discover treason conspiracy a tiny penis and the connection between a wife her lover the chambermaid The Cook The Squire and their neighbor welcome to Medieval Madness the body it was up to the first finder who was one of the field workers to raise the alarm and alert the sheriff and the coroner The Village was now responsible for the body and would face a hefty fine if they

tried to hide it the coroner was a man named William D curon who was originally from the local area but had gone on to be a successful Merchant in London Sir Thomas da kaidel was the sheriff of lincolshire who joined him for the investigation dressed in a riding outfit with a belt and Spurs the dead man was obviously wealthy from the condition of his clothes and the accessories his body however was another matter entirely left out in the elements for months it had been subjected to animal activity and was in a high state of decomposition

however when D curtain turned the body over he was able to determine that the victim had been stabbed many many times he was easily identified as the 30-year-old Knight Sir William cantaloop who had been missing from his home since Easter the question now was how had he been set upon by Highwaymen robbed and murdered or was there something more Sinister going on the night the dantal loopes were an important family based at scotton in Lincolnshire in the northeast of the county the family held a good deal of and Estates in the Midlands they were loyal

to the crown with important roles in local and central government according to the historian Frederick peton this made them quote one of the most influential families in 14th century England William was the great great nephew of St Thomas de cantaloop the onetime Lord Chancellor and Bishop of Herford was canonized in 1320 and is said to be the last medieval Saint in England having a holy man as an ancestor meant that the family considered themselves under his special protection William had become head of the family after the death of his older brother Nicholas in 1370 William

came into the employee of John of gun and served with him overseas between 1370 and 1373 gun was the Duke of Lancaster and an English Royal Prince making William a knight of some stature according to the historian JG Bellamy it was at some point during this time that Sir William married M the daughter of Sir Ralph Neville it's unknown what sort of a relation ship Sir William and mud had whether the marriage was arranged if any courtship took place or even on what date they were married the murder William was getting ready to go to

bed one night on an unknown date sometime between the 13th of February and the 11th of April 1375 he had locked his chamber door as was his custom only Sir William and his wife had a key for the door suddenly his Squire Richard ja and his cook the happly named Roger cook rushed into the chamber and stabed Sir William several times as the record States quote until he was dead a Jerry later stated that Sir William was at peace with God and the Lord King when he died so we can assume that he had prayed

before getting into bed next the men cleaned his body with heated up water so that they not be discredited by the affusion of the blood of his wounds this hot water was carried up to sir Williams room and his body was washed was to stop the bleeding then his naked body was placed in a sack holed through the manor and carried on Horseback for 4 miles to the edge of gringham Village then the Assassins redressed the body in some of his clean clothes to make it look as though he had been attacked by Highwaymen and

threw him in a ditch the arrests after deciding that the highway robbery Theory could be ruled out as a motive for the young Knight's demise Sheriff kaidel turned his attention to those closer to Sir William to try and find his culprit William had been staying at his wife's Manor in Scotland when he disappeared and the manor had been closed down and all of the staff dispersed stra after so William's wife lady mud was a Neville and despite the nearest Neville estate only being 8 miles away from scotton and Sir William himself having several manners across

Three Counties as well as greasley Castle in Nottinghamshire lady mod went to korp Manor some 40 m away korp was owned by Sir Ralph payel who had at one time been the sheriff of Yorkshire curtain and kaidel discovered Lady M there at kop Manor along with her chambermaid Agatha Lovel and Sir William Squire and his cook Witnesses swore that she had just up and left Scott and Mana along with her four companions without so much as an explanation all four were suspects in the murder and all four were arrested sir Ralph payel was also indicted

for aiding and ab betting murders after the fact if Sir William had been killed at scotton then it was highly unlikely that the murders could have Tak taken place without everyone else in the Mana being in cahoots so arrest warrants were issued for all of the servants who had been working at the Mana the brother but what was the connection between the panels and Lady M why had she gone straight to K Thor Mana to seek protection well Ralph payel had a daughter named Katherine who was the wife of Sir William's older brother Nicholas their

story began around 7 years earlier in 1368 when Nicholas and his wife cther found themselves in the consist Court in York that was when Catherine sued for divorce before the Archbishop Catherine wanted to dissolve her marriage the problem she said was that Nicholas was incapable of having intercourse with her because he had quote insufficient natural instruments Catherine said she even tried to find William's penis while he was asleep but found that quote it was as flat as the back of her hand down there just after their marriage Catherine went back home to her parents house

crying and eventually told them about her problems with Nicholas in the marital bed although her father supposedly called her a stupid girl and blamed it on her inexperience as a 17-year-old Catherine was able to convince the family that she was telling the truth when Nicholas realized that Catherine was going to take her grievance to court he abducted her and took her back to his ancestral home at grizzley Castle he accused her of lying and said that she had already known him carnally and knew that he was more than capable of having sex with her Nicholas

then threatened to have her kept at his castle in irons so 9 years before the murder of Sir William in 1366 Katherine's father sir Ralph payel the man who owned Kor Mana arrived with his Entourage Jack greasley and attacked the castle with bows and sticks and took away about 2,000 worth of silver plate and jewelry which we can only assume was Catherine's dowy now normally what would happen in those circumstances is that Nicholas would be given a physical examination to prove his wife's story as false but he repeatedly refused refused to do this he was

even excommunicated by the church because he didn't turn up in front of the court eventually sentence was passed disolve the marriage because of the circumstantial evidence Nicholas was so incensed by this that he went off to aanon to seek an appeal with the Pope but died while he was abroad to add even more fuel to the feudal fire after the death of Nicholas Catherine had argued that the couple had infed three castles and she now had the rights to them and their lands but Sir William won the case again against her and was granted legal

possession of the estate could it be that sir Ralph panel was so angered by the analment of his daughter Catherine's marriage to Nicholas and the subsequent loss of her three castles to his brother that he had helped to arrange the murder of Sir William the trial the treason act of 1351 stated that the killing of a man by either his wife or servants was deemed to be Petty treason this meant that if either lady Lord or the chambermaid Agatha were found guilty of the crime then they would be burned to death and the male servants

would be drawn to the place of execution hanged and then courted so the stakes were kind of high 15 members of staff from the house at scotton were indicted along with Lady mud and Sir Ralph payel the king's bench was held in Lincoln and presided over by Sheriff Thomas kaidale in the early proceedings there was a little uncertainty as to what part lady ma played in the murder of her husband some thought she was The Mastermind behind the plot others believe her just to be an accessory she was quick to point the finger at The

Squire and the cook it wasn't long before the jury convicted them of murder and they were sentenced to be hang drawn and courted it's no surprise the men were poor and without connections Lady M however was granted manies by the sheriff and released from custody on his guarantee of her reappearance before the court at a later date she was later acquitted along with the steward Robert ketum not just of the murder but also of having any participation in it Agatha Lovel the chambermaid avoided her trial by bribing the baliffs at Lincoln jail into letting her

Escape as for sir Ralph payel he was tried 6 months later and acquitted of Sheltering the suspects and of knowing them to be guilty of William cantal Loop's [Music] murder The Twist within just 2 years of Williams murder the sheriff of Lincoln said Thomas kaidel got himself into a little bit of bother with the King of England Richard II wasn't happy when he found out that kaidel had gone and married a widow without asking for Royal permission the Widow in question was none other than Lady M herself so it's not much of a stretch to

think that this affair had been going on for a while and the sheriff had been helping to cover up things for the murderers and then there sir Ralph payel could sir Williams murder have been a conspiracy between payel a man with a grudge who hated the cantaloop family and Lady mud and Thomas kaidel Whatever the reason death of Sir William to cantaloop marked the end of his family line thank you so much for watching this episode of Medieval Madness please do subscribe if you're enjoying this video and I'll see you next week for another one

until then hope everyone has an awesome week cheers