The Law on Suicide in Medieval England

Abstract

This article considers medieval English secular law on suicide. Using information in treatises and in court and inquest records of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, we examine the reasons why suicide was regarded as an offence, the definition of felonious suicide in terms of conduct and intention and the mechanism for detection and reporting of suicide. The picture of the law which emerges from court and inquest records has some important differences from that in medieval legal treatises. In terms of enforcement of the law, we question assumptions that juries and communities were reluctant to co-operate with what was regarded as a harsh regime driven by unforgiving religious precepts or royal revenue raising.