Englishry or, in Old French,, is a legal name given, in medieval England, for the status of a person as an Englishman (i.e., as a commoner of native Anglo-Saxon stock rather than a member of the Anglo-Norman elite).
Specifically, presentment of Englishry refers to the establishment that a person slain was an Englishman rather than a Norman. If an unknown man was found slain, he was presumed to be a Norman, and the administrative district known as the hundred was fined accordingly, unless it could be proved that he was English. Englishry, if established, excused the hundred.[1]
It is thought that Danish invaders first introduced the practice in England and that the Norman conquerors preserved and revived it.[2] W. Stubbs (Constitutional History, I p. 196) suggests such measures may have been taken by King Canute. It is not, however, mentioned in Glanvill's treatise, which is the earliest known treatise of medieval English law. There is no direct evidence of an earlier date than Bracton's 13th century legal treatise De Legibus.[3] Attempts to prove that a murdered Norman was English were understandably frequent.[4]
| Short Title: | Engleschrie Act 1340 |
| Type: | Act |
| Parliament: | Parliament of England |
| Long Title: | Presentment of Engleschrie shall be clearly extirpate. |
| Year: | 1340 |
| Citation: | 14 Edw. 3 Stat. 1. c. 4 |
| Commencement: | 21 February 1340 |
| Original Text: | https://archive.org/details/statutesatlarge30britgoog/page/472/mode/2up |
The practice was abolished with the Engleschrie Act 1340 (14 Edw. 3 Stat. 1. c. 4), passed by the Parliament of England (itself repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1863 and the Statute Law (Ireland) Revision Act 1872).
Though for some 200 years prior to abolition, it had no longer been possible reliably to distinguish Normans from Englishmen,[5] the practice had continued because it was so profitable to the Crown, as only a small amount of the fine was allotted to the relatives of the murdered man.[6]
"In cases of death by violence, and in Somersetshire amongst other counties, also in cases of death by misadventure, it was further the duty of the coroner, as the King's officer, not to lose an opportunity of recovering the murdrum, or murder fine which the district could only escape by a proper presentment of Englishry. This was a fruitful source of revenue. How common these fines were in the rough days of the 13th century a glance through the pleas of the crown in the assize rolls suffices to show. It is usual to describe the "murdrum" as a fine imposed upon a district for the secret killing of a person. Glanvill speaks of secret killing, and Bracton states that the fine was not imposed where the killer was known. Sir J. Fitzjames Stephen has also clearly expressed the same view. Even if this were so in very early days, it certainly would be inaccurate as a full statement of the practice during the 13th century. There are many recorded cases of the infliction of the fine where the slayer was known." Sir J. Fitzjames Stephen, History of the Criminal Law Vol. III., p. 77. fo. 135. Somersetshire Pleas Vol. 11 p. lix (1897) Somerset Record Society from the Rolls of the Itinerant Justices (close of the 12th century – Henry III)