36 Forensic dentistryIt was customary at that time to seize the property of felons, and because
suicide was considered a crime against God, the property of those taking
their own lives was also forfeited to the Crown. Furthermore, villages were
penalized with a fine, or amercement, whenever a murder or other legal
infraction occurred in their jurisdictions, a punishment for allowing civil
disturbances to occur or for not properly following the complex system of
laws in the realm. Sometimes the victims of these murders were members of
the conquering Norman class who were unfortunate enough to find them-
selves in the midst of local Saxons bent on revenge. To prevent having large
numbers of its Norman noblemen dispatched by the indigenous population,
the Crown levied a fine known as the lex murdrorum on the lord of any village
or territory in which a Norman was killed. And naturally this fine was passed
on to the populace in the form of a tax. Even the object actually causing a
death (referred to as a deodand) was subject to presentation to the Eyre, and
it could be confiscated in the name of the Crown because of its culpability in
the death or injury of a person. So if a person were injured or killed by a cart,
animal, or farm implement, this item would likely be appropriated by the
court, possibly depriving a farmer of the means of his livelihood.
It is obvious that the king had a vested interest in making certain that all
of these types of cases were properly investigated and documented to ensure
that all potential revenues were discovered. The law enforcement officers in
each English county (shire) were the sheriffs (from shire reeve), but many of
these officers were Saxons. Not only were they less than enthusiastic about
supporting the Norman king, but they also had a well-earned reputation for
embezzlement, to the detriment of the Crown’s accounts, so another inves-
tigative authority was needed to counter their authority in favor of the king.
To this end, the twentieth Article of Eyre established the office of Custos
Placitorum Coronae, or “keepers of the pleas of the Crown,” to represent the
king’s interests in locales throughout the country. The title coroner was a
derivation of the Latin coronae for “crown,” or perhaps of the term crowner,
one who represented the interests of the king. Originally these men were
knights, men of some wealth and means (presumably to lessen their pro-
pensity to embezzle funds), and their concern with death investigation was
based entirely on the king’s financial interests. In addition to death investi-
gation, they were responsible for investigating almost any aspect of life that
could conceivably yield revenue for the king, including confiscation of buried
treasure and shipwrecks (“treasure troves”). In their pursuit of funds for the
king (and themselves) coroners developed a reputation for greed and cor-
ruption that approached that of the sheriffs,^17 so needless to say, they were
not particularly popular with their local constituents. In later years, other
officials, such as justices of the peace, took over much of the original investi-
gative functions, while the coroners’ duties became focused exclusively on
death investigation. They were empowered to hold public trials or “inquests,”