Adam of Loughor
¶ Post hoc in crastinum Adam de Loghorne testis supra iuratus. Respondit requisitus se esse liberum .xxx. annorum vel circa, et quod vivit de ministerio suo sub temporali dominio Willelmi de Brewes, et quod non dominiAdded in the same neater hand. fuitWritten above 'erat' which has been erased. de parentela vel familia dicti domini Thome nec scit predictum dominum Willelmum fuisse.
¶ Item requisitas si habuerat noticiam dicti Willelmi Cragh, et miraculi quod in eo dicitur contigisse, dixit se Added in the same neater hand. eum nouisse per biennium prius quam suspenderetur Willelmus predictus, et esse ilium
'ilium' has been added above 'eundem' which has been crossed out. Willelmum qui supra iurauit .cxlviii. nescit tamen aquibus parentibus nec in Written above 'ex' which has been crossed out. quia parochia fuerit ortus.
¶ Item dixit quod in die lune post instans festum Added in darker ink. Sancti Martini29th September. erunt .xvi. anni quod predictus Willelmus circa horam meridiei existente ipso teste super murum ville de Swyneseye, et vidente fuit ductus per gentes dicti domini Willelmi de Brewes ad quasdam furcas suas existentes propre locum in quo ipse testis stabat in muro ad duos tractus baliste utHand becomes smaller at this point. estimat, et vidit eum suspendi, nescit per quos, et eum vidit pendere in furcis per tantum tempus, quod ipse testis potuisset iuisse ut estimat per unum miliare in via plan, postquam scala fuit subtracta eidem Willelmo, et postmodum cum illi qui duxerant ad suspendium dictum Willelmum uellent cum quadam corda trahendo a terra sursum suspendere Trahern ap HowelSecond 'r' in Trahern added in much darker ink above the word. in trabe transuersali in qua erat suspensus dictus Willelmus fracta trabe predicta ambo ceciderunt ad terram, et postmodum fuerunt ambo iterum suspensi, unus inAdded in darker ink above 'et' which has been crossed out. una tibia furcarum, et alter in alia, et uidit eos post secundam postmodum suspensionem tanto tempore pendere in tibiis dictarum furcarum quo ipseWritten in darker ink on an erasure. testis potuisset iuisse ut estimat, per unum miliare, et postmodum vidit eundem Willelum in una scala, vel inter duas trabes portari ad domum Thome Mathei prope ecclesiam, et in dicta domo vidit dictum Willelmum iacentem super terram suppinum et mortuum cooperrtum excepta facie mantello suo et oculi ipsius Willelmi pendebant extra concauitates suas, et pars lingue eius erat extra os dentibus vehementer compressa vulnerata, et erat nigra, et non uidit in eo motam, nec alitum. Set ex timore non fuit ausus multum appropinquare eum etiam omnis qui adherant dicebant eum esse mortuum et quod fuerat mortuus ante secundam suspensionem, et hec que vidit in domo dixit fuisse circa horam vesperarum, et audiuit publice, et communiter referri in dicta villa eadem die, quod in eadem domoFinal 'o' added at the end in darker ink. fuerat de precepto domine castri mensuratus ad deum et Sanctum Thomam de Cantelupo, et post octo vel .xv. dies vidit eum, et fuit valde miratus quod vivebat. Si autem visionem dictus Willelmus habuerit, dixit se nescire.
¶ Item requisitus Clumsier hand made this addition. super sex ultimis interrogatoriis factis dicto Willelmo testi .C. et .xlviii. respondit idem in effectum sicut ipse, et deposuit in Anglico, quia nesciebat loqui litteraliter nec Gallicum sicut dixit.
¶ After this on the next day, Adam of Loughor, the witness sworn in above [was brought forward]. He replied when questioned that he was free, 30 years old or around that, and that he lived by the his own labour under the temporal lordship of William de Briouze, and that he was not related to or from the household of the said lord Thomas, nor knew if he was of [the household of] the aforesaid lord William.
¶ Further they asked if he had the acquaintance of the said William Cragh, and of the miracle that was said to have taken place in his person. He said they knew each other for two years before the said William was hanged, and it was this William who was sworn in above [as witness] 148; yet he did not know from what parentage he was, nor in which parish he had been born.
¶ Further, he said that on the Monday immediately after the feast of St Martin11 November. sixteen years ago at around midday, the witness himself being on the wall of the town of Swansea, saw the said William being led by lord William de Briouzes’ men to a certain gibbet of his, in his estimate about two crossbow shots from the place where the witness himself was standing on the wall,Gallows were usually placed in prominent positions outside the main town walls to serve as a visual reminder and warning to others. For further discussion of this see McCall (1979: 75), Lucy et al. (2002: 16 and 21),
Reynolds (2003: 187),
and Daniell, 2003: 243, and 245). and he saw him hanged, he knew not by whom, and he saw him hanging on the gibbet for such a long time that the witness himself would have been able to walk (in his estimate) for one mile on a flat road. After a while the ladder was taken away from the same William, and after a while when those who had led the said William to be hanged wanted to hang up high Trahaearn ap Hywel on the cross-beam on which the said William had been hanged, they hauled him off the ground; the aforesaid beam breaking, both fell to the ground. And after a while both were hanged again, one on one leg and the other on the other, and he saw him hanging after the second hanging on the leg of the said gallows for such a time that the witness himself would have been able to walk (in his estimate) for one mile. And after a while [he saw] the same William being carried to the house of Thomas MathewsThe structure of society in many Welsh towns was such that the majority of burgesses tended to be English, hence the apparently English name of this particular burgess. For a discussion of commonly found names, see Beverley-Smith (2007: 142-3). near the church, on one ladder or between two beams; and in the said house he saw the said William lying prostrate on the ground, head downwards and dead, covered except for the face by his cloak; and the eyes of William himself were hanging down outside of their sockets, and part of his tongue was outside [his] mouth, the teeth firmly pressed together wounding it, and it was black. And he did not see in him movement nor breath, but out of fear he did not dare to approach him like many [people did]. And also all those who were in attendance were saying he was dead, and that he was dead before the second hanging.It is a typical sign of death by hanging for the corpse to have a protruding tongue, with blood exuding from the mouth (Sharma, 2008: 56). The face also swells, with open and protruding eyes, while the tongue is often thrust out and damaged by ‘the convulsive action of the jaws’. The longer it takes to die, the more swollen the face neck, lips eyes and tongue become, because the heart and lungs only slowly shut down, meaning that blood continues to be pumped to the head, but cannot return to the heart due to the effect of the rope on the jugular vein, resulting in a build-up of blood in the face and features (Forbes et al., 1833: 175). And he saw these things in the house it was around the hour of vespers he said, and he heard publically and commonly reported in the said town on the same day that in the same house he was measured to God and St Thomas of Cantilupe according to the command of the lady of the castle.This as a popular English custom in the Middle Ages. The idea was that a thread was used to measure the body, and that in the event of a miraculous cure the thread would be made into a votive candle for the saint responsible for the miracle. It was particularly common as a long-range device intended to attract the attention of the saint. For more on this practice, see Webb (2000: 74); Finucane (1977);
Bartlett (2006: 8-9).
And after an octaveA period of time consisting of eight days, usually following a Church festival. or fifteen days he saw him, and he was greatly amazed that he was alive. But if the said William had had a vision he said he did not know.
¶ Further they asked on the last six questions put to the said William (witness 148); he replied the in effect same as him and he testified in English, because he did not know how to speak Latin or French just as he said.
Notes
¶ After this on the next day, Adam of Loughor, the witness sworn in above [was brought forward]. He replied when questioned that he was free, 30 years old or around that, and that he lived by the his own labour under the temporal lordship of William de Briouze, and that he was not related to or from the household of the said lord Thomas, nor knew if he was of [the household of] the aforesaid lord William.
¶ Further they asked if he had the acquaintance of the said William Cragh, and of the miracle that was said to have taken place in his person. He said they knew each other for two years before the said William was hanged, and it was this William who was sworn in above [as witness] 148; yet he did not know from what parentage he was, nor in which parish he had been born.
¶ Further, he said that on the Monday immediately after the feast of St Martin11 November. sixteen years ago at around midday, the witness himself being on the wall of the town of Swansea, saw the said William being led by lord William de Briouzes’ men to a certain gibbet of his, in his estimate about two crossbow shots from the place where the witness himself was standing on the wall,Gallows were usually placed in prominent positions outside the main town walls to serve as a visual reminder and warning to others. For further discussion of this see McCall (1979: 75), Lucy et al. (2002: 16 and 21),
Reynolds (2003: 187),
and Daniell, 2003: 243, and 245). and he saw him hanged, he knew not by whom, and he saw him hanging on the gibbet for such a long time that the witness himself would have been able to walk (in his estimate) for one mile on a flat road. After a while the ladder was taken away from the same William, and after a while when those who had led the said William to be hanged wanted to hang up high Trahaearn ap Hywel on the cross-beam on which the said William had been hanged, they hauled him off the ground; the aforesaid beam breaking, both fell to the ground. And after a while both were hanged again, one on one leg and the other on the other, and he saw him hanging after the second hanging on the leg of the said gallows for such a time that the witness himself would have been able to walk (in his estimate) for one mile. And after a while [he saw] the same William being carried to the house of Thomas MathewsThe structure of society in many Welsh towns was such that the majority of burgesses tended to be English, hence the apparently English name of this particular burgess. For a discussion of commonly found names, see Beverley-Smith (2007: 142-3). near the church, on one ladder or between two beams; and in the said house he saw the said William lying prostrate on the ground, head downwards and dead, covered except for the face by his cloak; and the eyes of William himself were hanging down outside of their sockets, and part of his tongue was outside [his] mouth, the teeth firmly pressed together wounding it, and it was black. And he did not see in him movement nor breath, but out of fear he did not dare to approach him like many [people did]. And also all those who were in attendance were saying he was dead, and that he was dead before the second hanging.It is a typical sign of death by hanging for the corpse to have a protruding tongue, with blood exuding from the mouth (Sharma, 2008: 56). The face also swells, with open and protruding eyes, while the tongue is often thrust out and damaged by ‘the convulsive action of the jaws’. The longer it takes to die, the more swollen the face neck, lips eyes and tongue become, because the heart and lungs only slowly shut down, meaning that blood continues to be pumped to the head, but cannot return to the heart due to the effect of the rope on the jugular vein, resulting in a build-up of blood in the face and features (Forbes et al., 1833: 175). And he saw these things in the house it was around the hour of vespers he said, and he heard publically and commonly reported in the said town on the same day that in the same house he was measured to God and St Thomas of Cantilupe according to the command of the lady of the castle.This as a popular English custom in the Middle Ages. The idea was that a thread was used to measure the body, and that in the event of a miraculous cure the thread would be made into a votive candle for the saint responsible for the miracle. It was particularly common as a long-range device intended to attract the attention of the saint. For more on this practice, see Webb (2000: 74); Finucane (1977);
Bartlett (2006: 8-9).
And after an octaveA period of time consisting of eight days, usually following a Church festival. or fifteen days he saw him, and he was greatly amazed that he was alive. But if the said William had had a vision he said he did not know.
¶ Further they asked on the last six questions put to the said William (witness 148); he replied the in effect same as him and he testified in English, because he did not know how to speak Latin or French just as he said.
