Medieval Maps to Murder
Interactive Medieval Murder Maps give unique insight into violence, and justice in late medieval London, York, and Oxford.
Cambridge University’s medieval murder maps are an excellent tool for historical fiction research, especially for mystery & crime writers
Here’s a fun tool for those of us writing of mystery and mahem in medieval England.
From the website: “Discover the murders, sudden deaths, sanctuary churches, and prisons of three thriving medieval cities. Click on a pin to read the story based on the original record written down in the rolls of the coroner.”
The stories provide information about who, what, where and when of individual murders, but also what happened after. The justice system was very different from what we have today, from crimestopping to investigation to adjudication and punishment. The thumbnail stories, taken from the Coroner’s Rolls of York, London, and Oxford, provide a wealth of information for authors who want to write historically accurate fiction.