PIMSPontifical Institute
of
Mediaeval Studies

This paper will discuss the use and abuse of sanctuary in thirteenth-century England, with a particular focus on the cities of London and Lincoln. It will also discuss how those who lived in cities might have felt that policing sanctuaries was more difficult in urban centres than it was in rural England. In doing so, this paper will demonstrate how those who lived in cities expected justices to be more lenient when it came to collective penalties levied against them for failures in peacekeeping duties that related to criminal cases involving fugitives who fled to sanctuary.