Strange Inhuman Deaths

In 1573 there occurred a murder which would leave today''s tabloid editors salivating. George Saunders a respected merchant tailor was killed by his wife''s lover. Involved in the conspiracy were Saunders'' wife her best friend and a servant. All were found guilty and hanged but not before a suspended clergyman fell in love with Mrs. Saunders and sought to have her pardoned. Murder was relatively rare in Tudor times. When it did occur especially if it involved a female perpetrator and a love affair it generated widespread interest. The rise of Protestantism and its accompanying rise in literacy had provided a strong impetus to read about crime and to ponder the spiritual consequences of breaking both the civil and the divine law. The English system of criminal justice was open and popular and familiar elementsdetection investigation the laying of charges the trial verdict sentencewere all well understood and closely followed in the 16th century. Today people are riveted by crime and violence. But the obsession is not new as this book shows in vivid and exciting detail.John Bellamy''s new book provides a fascinating view of life in Tudor England and offers a new angle on our love affair with murder as a literary form. It was in the Tudor period he argues that popular attention was focused on the crime of murder for edification as well as entertainment. A 16th-century murder inquiry was in many ways a community affair capable of arousing the interest of a substantial local audience with the members of the inquest often collecting evidence and statements for twenty or thirty days. Detection investigation the laying of charges the trial verdict sentenceall of these familiar elements were established in the 16th century. Strange Inhuman Deaths describes four well-documented cases that occurred between 1538 and 1573. Each of them is deeply rooted in source material whether legal records or pamphlets plays or ballads giving a rich background and a wealth of local colour. The human stories they contain are powerful and lively and the motivations and personalities that are revealed speak to us directly across the centuries. Murder most foul murder most Englishthe tradition begins.