Criminal Proceedings in Medieval Leicestershire: Gaol Delivery 1292-1380 by Dave Fogg Postles (2026)

Dave has recently edited the gaol delivery rolls for Leicester from 1292-1380 and this is available as a download from: http://davelinux.info/BOOKS/bookindex.html

‘Gaol delivery’ was the process by which the itinerant justices visited the royal gaols to try those indicted of felonies and committed to prison to await trial. The numbers in Leicester gaol were small. The justices required the indicted persons to plead how they would answer the accusation. Normally, they would reply that they were not guilty and put themselves on the ‘country’, which meant empanelling a jury
from the neighbourhood. This jury responded to the facts of the case whether the accused was guilty but also invoked an interpretation of how and why the action was committed.