A HISTORY OF RUTLAND assaulted at Whissendine.'^ In 1341 the men of Rutland, Northamptonshire, and Leicestershire joined in complaints of armed men who formed con- federacies against those whom they thought to be rich, in order to extort ransoms, imprisoning or even killing those who refused to obey.'- The case of Geoffrey Cokerel, who was hanged on the acquittal of some men whom he had accused of stealing cows, was perhaps discouraging to informers against malefactors. His fate was, however, a remarkable one ; after his body had been taken down from the gallows and removed to the cemetery of Oakham Church for burial he miraculously revived, and was finally pardoned by the king.'^ With so much disorder the keeper of the prison at Oakham was kept busy. But it does not appear to have been a very satisfactory place of detention, for escapes frequently took place.'* Hence it is not surprising that in 1380 the sheriff, Sir John Basing, was directed to survey and report on the defects of the walls, doors, and windows of the prison ; '* and two years later William Sharp, ' tyler,' was superintending the repair of Rockingham and Oakham Castles with tiles and slates, receiving as wages d. a day." Not- withstanding, criminals continued to escape with great frequency.'^ The most serious outbreak of disorder in the 14th century was the Peasants' Rising of 1381, with regard to which Reville says, ' The little county of Rutland, surrounded on all sides by districts more or less upset by the revolt, could not have escaped the general shock.'" This is no doubt true, but the only recorded connexion of the county with the rising is the fact that Henry Despenser, the 'fighting bishop' of Norwich, was at his manor of Burley on the Hill when he learned of outbreak in his diocese. He at once set out with eight lancers and a small body of archers, and collecting forces on the way moved into Norfolk, where he defeated the insurgents at North Walsham." Of disturbance in Rutland itself there is no record. The repairs rendered necessary at Oakham Castle by its use as a prison have been mentioned above. But the castle was a house ^"^ as well as a prison, and about this time it was considerably improved by the building of a ' noon resting-place,' the repair of the kitchen, and the making of a chimney for the king's chamber.^"^ Had Oakham been retained in the king's hands it might have become a more frequent residence, and there may have been some intention of this in improving the castle. Rutland, however, continued to receive royal visits only on rare occasions, and it owed them to the fact that two main roads to the north traversed the county — Ermine Street in the east, running from Stamford through Casterton, Tickencote, and Stretton, and so on to Grantham and Lincoln, and a road in the west from Rocking- ham, passing near Liddington, and then through Uppingham and Oakham to Melton Mowbray and Nottingham. Edward I was at Liddington in September, 1275 ; at the end of February he was again there, and on 4 March was at Overton. In August 1 279 he passed through Liddington " Ca/. Pat. 1 334.-8, pp. 209, 353, 511. " Ibid. 1340-3, p. 322. " Ibid. 1348-50, p. 270. »* Ibid. 1377-81, p. 397. " Ibid. 568.
- Ibid. 1381-5, p. 177. " Ibid. 1385-9, p. 292, &c.
" Soufevement da Ouvriires, Introd. p. ci. " T. Walsingham, Hist. Angl. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 6. Mr. Walter Rye {Hist. Norf. 53 n.) conjectures that Despenser had gone to Rutland from Norwich in order to gather his retainers and take the rebels in the rear. See also F.C.H. Nor/, ii, 244, 484. "" For a description of the castle in 1340 see p. 218. "" Mins. Accts. bdle. 964, no. 7. 176
