Walking free

 

In February 1272 Roger Godberd, the notorious bandit chief, was hunted down and captured by Reynold Grey, High Sheriff of Nottingham. He was held in various prisons for four years and finally stood trial at Newgate in April 1276. 

At his trial, Godberd produced charters of Henry III, which pardoned him of all offences. However, these documents only applied to his first period of outlawry before October 1266, and the Dictum of Kenilworth. They did not cover his second term as an outlaw between 1269-72. Hence, he should have been executed. His lieutenant, Walter Devyas, was beheaded in 1272, and by rights Godberd should have gone the same way. 

Instead, astonishingly, he walked free. Godberd was still alive and kicking in 1287, when he was briefly imprisoned again for poaching in Sherwood Forest. Ironically, one of his fellow poachers was Reynold Grey, the former sheriff. They and several others were bailed by one Henry le Lou. 

There is no reason to suppose that Godberd died anywhere except in his bed, probably in the 1290s. His son, Roger junior, was allowed to inherit the tenancy of Swannington manor, now in the possession of Edmund of Lancaster. The king, Edward I, had an interesting relationship with these outlaws. Back in 1269, before going on crusade, he had arranged a pardon for Godberd's ill-fated lieutenant, Walter Devyas. This proved most unwise, as Devyas immediately resumed a life of violent crime. When he was recaptured, in 1272, there was no mercy. 

Godberd can only have owed his unlikely salvation to the king. At the start of his reign, Edward I wished to settle England as soon as possible, and knew that could not be achieved with a round of bloody executions. One of his first parliaments issued a general pardon to all of Simon de Montfort's surviving followers, which probably explains Godberd's survival.