In the spring of 1330 Alice Coterel and Maud Darley were widowed. Their husbands, Laurence Coterel and John Darley (brother-in-law), had been murdered by Roger Wensley, Walter Perton, and their men.
Seeking redress, the women turned to an appeal of felony — a private prosecution permitted to widows only if their husbands had been “killed in their arms”, a legal fiction meaning they claimed to have witnessed the mortal blow and were thus “injured” by it.
Both made the plea. Both were ordered to appear before the king’s court. Failure meant collapse of the suit and a fine. Agency existed, but it was fragile, conditional, and expensive.
Alice did appear — at her own cost. Roger did not. His absence forced adjournment, pushing Alice into further expense and increasing the chance she would default. It was a deliberate tactic, and it worked: Alice eventually made fine, and the appeal ceased.
Maud fared no better. She failed to appear at her first hearing, and the sheriff was ordered to bring her in for neglecting prosecution. She never secured compensation either.
And Roger, Walter and their men? They had made enemies of the Coterels. The notorious Coterel gang would have their day.