1436 Debt Outlawry Richard Virle of St Martins v. John Bollyng of St Martins by

[David Boulding]

1436 Debt Outlawry Richard Virle of St Martins v. John Bollyng of St Martins

These documents are too long to request a transcript but can anyone read or elaborate on what's going on here in a precis? Any familial relationships or places mentioned?

http://aalt.law.uh.edu/H6/KB27no699/aKB27no699fronts/IMG_0051.htm
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/H6/KB27no699/aKB27no699fronts/IMG_0052.htm

[Bookbox]

The entry is mostly retrospective narrative, explaining what has already happened.

Richard Virle of St Martin’s, Canterbury, had entered a plea of debt for £10 against John Bollyng, fuller, also of St Martin’s, Canterbury.

Bollyng repeatedly failed to turn up to answer the summons. When he did finally appear, he was released (with named pledges) to return at a later date. But he again failed to show in court, and after the requisite number of summons he was outlawed for contempt.

Bollyng then appealed the outlawry on a technicality, and won a reversal of it by royal writ. He has now brought this writ into court and is entering a counter-claim against Virle for damages. (As an outlaw Bollyng would have been unable to access the legal system to sue Virle.)

Virle has been duly forewarned of the hearing but has failed to show, so another date is fixed for a later hearing.

There are no relationships stated. The only place-names are the parishes of residence of Bollyng’s pledges, named on two separate occasions:

(1) John Gouderich, gentleman; John Dyer, yeoman; Richard Barbour, yeoman; John Phelipp, yeoman: all of Bermondsey, Surrey

(2) John Goderich, gentleman, of Bermondsey, Surrey; Thomas Burgeyn, gentleman, of Lamberhurst, Kent; John Derby, yeoman, of Bermondsey, Surrey; and Nigel Spyney, smith, of Southwark, Surrey.

If you’re interested, there’s a good explanation here of the legal processes relating to medieval outlawry …

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/outlaws-outlawry-medieval-early-modern-england/

[David Boulding]

What a really excellent precis for which I thank you. Your help went far beyond what I'd dared hope for. Thank you also for the link to the explanation for what outlawry meant at the time which was also very helpful indeed.

[David Boulding]

I'm interested to understand  what these "pledges" were? Are these financial pledges - some kind of bond - to say Bollyng is reliable and that he's not going to disappear or some such?

They seems to be people all over the place (ie only one is local to Kent). Bollyng seems a well connected fellow.

[Bookbox]

They were tasked with ensuring that the defendant returned to court when summoned. They had to be of sufficient means for the court to accept them as pledges. If Bollyng failed to turn up on the appointed day, his pledges would be fined, as they were here.

[David Boulding]

Ah, a costly mistake I'd imagine. So maybe the costs of these pledges were the "damages" he was after?

[Bookbox]

Without going through the whole of the text again, it’s hard to say. But Bollyng’s good name would have been tarnished by his having been wrongly outlawed: he’d have been imprisoned and stripped of his goods, which he might not have retrieved in full after the outlawry was reversed.