On the 19th February 1388, one of the most dramatic events of medieval parliamentary history took place. Simon Payling from our Commons 1461-1504 project reflects on the capture and execution of Sir Robert Tresilian and the unusual circumstances surrounding it…
The appropriately and contemporaneously named ‘Merciless’ Parliament of 1388 was among the most dramatic of medieval Parliaments, and the capture and execution of Sir Robert Tresilian, chief justice of the King’s bench, on 19 February was, arguably, its most dramatic event. He, like others, was a victim of the orgy of political violence unleashed by the breakdown of relations between the young King and a powerful group of leading nobles, headed by his uncle, Thomas of Woodstock, duke of Gloucester, and Richard Fitzalan, earl of Arundel.That violence claimed more distinguished and worthy victims than Tresilian, but his execution claims a special interest not only as the first in the series…
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Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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