Forest Law and the Four Ways to Get Arrested
The medieval forest law had little to do with the woods in the way we understand them today. By “forest” we must understand a special hunting ground, which was either a royal village or a stretch of land specially reserved for the king’s huntsmen. Such land had its own jurisdiction and imposed a set of strict rules on the villagers living within its borders.
The best example of a forest is, perhaps, the New Forest in Hampshire, created by William the Conqueror in 1079. It was designated to provide “venison and vert,” that is, to supply the royal huntsmen with game and vegetation. The villagers living within the forest borders were not allowed to “take a single rabbit or pigeon without the king’s permission,” while their dogs received a special “paw plug” to prevent them from ambushing the game. Still, the forest wardens could only arrest the offenders they caught “in stable stand,” that is, “in an ambush with bow or crossbow,” “dog draw,” which means “the pursuit of a wounded animal by a dog,” or “back bear,” when the offender was found “carrying the animal killed.” A less personal but equally unpleasant way of finding out about a villager’s trespassing was “bloody hand,” that is, the presence of blood on the offender’s skin.
The punishment for the trespassing varied depending on the forest’s jurisdiction’s level and could be of three types. The next level up, the Swainmote, which had the power to actually convict, heard the offenders thrice a year. The next in line, the Court of Justice Eyre, which could impose exceptionally long terms of imprisonment, only met once every three years, if not more rarely. This is why, during the reign of Richard III, the bail system was introduced so that the offenders could go on bail until the Court of Justice Eyre met again. It is hard to overestimate the severity of these measures and the jurisdiction’s impact on the lives of the villagers living within the forest borders. All in all, the king’s passion for sport hunting made for a surprisingly vicious set of restrictions for those living within the New Forest’s borders.
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