Although this is a railway poster from the 1930s, it shows the punishment of Isabella, Countess of Buchan, in the 1300s. She was sentenced by Edward I (“The Hammer of the Scots”) to be imprisoned at Berwick Castle for her part in the coronation of Robert Bruce as King of Scotland in 1306.

According to tradition, the Scottish king had to have the head of the Macduff family (or clan) at his coronation. The actual head of the clan, the Duke of Fife, was in England and unable to attend; Isabella was his sister and therefore the next best thing. Although she arrived the day after the coronation, the role of a Macduff was so important that the ceremony was re-staged so that she could take part.

Edward I captured Isabella later that year and was so enraged that she had helped to crown his enemy that he sentenced her to imprisonment in a cage at Berwick Castle. There are many stories about the cage; some say that it was in the shape of a cross and some in the shape of a crown. It is most likely that the “cage” was a construction in the castle wall so that Isabella’s prison cell was open to view. Edward I intended that she was to be a spectacle to be looked at and a warning to anyone else who might consider helping the king’s enemies. (See links below for more about Isabella.)

There are only a few records from the Middle Ages (before 1500) in county archives. The oldest record at Northumberland Archives dates from 1156: https://northumberlandarchives.com/exhibitions/treasures/14.html. Like the other medieval documents at Northumberland Archives, it is a charter. Charters recorded the sale and exchange of land or other types of property. They don’t tend to contain evidence about crime and punishment. 

The National Archives hold the official archives of the English and Welsh governments. They preserve records from the Domesday Book (1086) https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/domesday/ to the present day.

One of the types of records that they hold from the Middle Ages are “Ancient Petitions”. The petitions were documents that were sent to the king asking for his help. They might be from individual people or from a group, even a whole county.  The petitions fall into two categories: asking the king for a favour or asking the king for justice. In this second category, people or groups looked to the king as the highest judge in the country. If they weren’t happy with the decision of local courts or if local law officers (such as sheriffs) were not doing their job properly, they appealed to the king. The petitions are described in a lot of detail and can be searched by keyword – why not try a place in Northumberland or even a family name? The National Archives catalogue website, page for Ancient Petitions: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C13526