Robert Tresilian was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 lawyer, and Chief Justice of the King's Bench between 1381 and 1387. He was born in Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

, and held land in Tresillian

Tresillian

Tresillian is a small village in central Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated three miles east of Truro on the A390 road.Tresillian was the home of Robert Tresilian, Chief Justice of the King's Bench between 1381 and 1387. A famous event of the English Civil War took place here in 1645...

, near Truro

Truro

Truro is a city and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The city is the centre for administration, leisure and retail in Cornwall, with a population recorded in the 2001 census of 17,431. Truro urban statistical area, which includes parts of surrounding parishes, has a 2001 census...

. Tresilian was deeply involved in the struggles between King Richard II

Richard II of England

Richard II was King of England, a member of the House of Plantagenet and the last of its main-line kings. He ruled from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard was a son of Edward, the Black Prince, and was born during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III...

 and the Lords Appellant

Lords Appellant

The Lords Appellant were a group of nobles in the reign of King Richard II who sought to impeach some five of the King's favourites in order to restrain what was seen as tyrannical and capricious rule. The word appellant simply means '[one who is] appealing [in a legal sense]'...

, and was eventually executed for his loyalty to the king.

Early career and the Peasants' Revolt

Tresilian appears in the records for the first time in 1354. His early career took place in Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....

 and Berkshire

Berkshire

Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

; in 1367 he was a Justice of the Peace

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

 (JP) in Berkshire and in 1368 in Oxfordshire. He also worked in his home county, and in 1370 was a JP for Cornwall. In the 1370s he began working in royal administration, and in 1378 he was made a Justice of the King's Bench

Justice of the King's Bench

Justice of the King's Bench, or Justice of the Queen's Bench during the reign of a female monarch, was a puisne judicial position within the Court of King's Bench, under the Chief Justice. The King's Bench was a court of common law which modern academics argue was founded independently in 1234,...

. Shortly after he was also knighted. When Chief Justice Sir John Cavendish was killed in the Peasants' Revolt

Peasants' Revolt

The Peasants' Revolt, Wat Tyler's Rebellion, or the Great Rising of 1381 was one of a number of popular revolts in late medieval Europe and is a major event in the history of England. Tyler's Rebellion was not only the most extreme and widespread insurrection in English history but also the...

 in 1381, Tresilian was appointed to take over the position.

After the rebellion was over, Tresilian was put in charge of punishing the rebels, and did so extremely harshly. He followed King Richard II

Richard II of England

Richard II was King of England, a member of the House of Plantagenet and the last of its main-line kings. He ruled from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard was a son of Edward, the Black Prince, and was born during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III...

 into Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

, where he led what was described as a 'bloody assize' against the rebels. He pressured jurors into giving up names of suspects, and to maximise sentences, contrived to have charges presented as felonies

Felony

A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...

 rather than trespass

Trespass

Trespass is an area of tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person, trespass to chattels and trespass to land.Trespass to the person, historically involved six separate trespasses: threats, assault, battery, wounding, mayhem, and maiming...

es. All in all nineteen men were hanged, while another twelve were hanged and drawn

Hanged, drawn and quartered

To be hanged, drawn and quartered was from 1351 a penalty in England for men convicted of high treason, although the ritual was first recorded during the reigns of King Henry III and his successor, Edward I...

. There was a widespread belief in the localities that royal retribution had gone too far, and that reform of government was necessary as well as punishing the rebels, to prevent further uprisings.

Political involvement and death

In the following years Tresilian became increasingly involved in politics, as a loyal follower of the king. In November 1386 parliament appointed a commission to review and control royal finances. The king resented this infringement of his royal prerogative

Royal Prerogative

The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege, and immunity, recognized in common law and, sometimes, in civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy as belonging to the sovereign alone. It is the means by which some of the executive powers of government, possessed by and...

, and in the so-called 'questions to the judges', he received legal backing for the position that the commission was unlawful. It is largely assumed that it was Tresilian who drafted the 'questions', and thereby turned a political controversy into a legal dispute. The king's opponents went on the counterattack, and on 17 November 1387, Tresilian was among a number of loyalists who were charged with treason by the group of noblemen known as the Lords Appellant

Lords Appellant

The Lords Appellant were a group of nobles in the reign of King Richard II who sought to impeach some five of the King's favourites in order to restrain what was seen as tyrannical and capricious rule. The word appellant simply means '[one who is] appealing [in a legal sense]'...

. When Tresilian's case came up for trial, he had gone into hiding and was not to be found, and was sentenced in absentia

In absentia

In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...

. Not long after he was discovered in hiding in sanctuary in Westminster

Westminster

Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...

. He was dragged into court with cries of 'We have him!' from the mob, and as he was already convicted, he was summarily executed. He was hanged naked before his throat was cut.

Reputation and family

The charges against Tresilian had consisted in more than simply treason. He was a highly unpopular judge, and among his crimes was also corruption. Several cases were presented from Cornwall and Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

, where the judge had abused his powers to advance his own fortune. Tresilian and his wife Emmaline (Emma), had a son John, and at least two daughters. Through his marriage, but also through corrupt conduct, he had acquired great parts of land in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....

, Oxfordshire, and Cornwall. His land was forfeited at his death, but, to his son's objections, much of it was regained by John Hawley the elder, a merchant and pirate from Dartmouth

Dartmouth, Devon

Dartmouth is a town and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is a tourist destination set on the banks of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes...

, who married Emma.