In 1329 the itinerant court known as the general eyre was temporarily revived having been suspended at the close of the previous century.
The justices’ commission was to reestablish law and order to the counties.
On the courts agenda was the determination to clamp down on the bands of men who were disturbing the king’s peace by appearing in court with force and arms as a means of intimidation.
Isabella Klynton came to that court to sue for the unlawful killing of her husband William, allegedly committed by James Coterel, the leader of the notorious Coterel gang.
James was not alone, he was accompanied by at least forty armed men along with the right hand man of Roger Mortimer the de facto ruler of the realm.
James was ultimately acquitted – by men of ‘his alliance and his affinity’
The eyre vowed to end armed coercion, yet Coterel’s connections made plain that authority could mean little when affinity ruled the room.