In these circumstances, what was he to do? To judge from the testimony
of the ballads and poems before mentioned, his best and usual course was
to wend his way to the greenwood and join himself to a band of jovial
companions who found themselves in a similar plight to his own. That
this course was sometimes adopted is a fair inference from the very
existence of these compositions, and is rendered probable by the vast
extent of the forests and the sparseness of the population, which these
desperadoes might conciliate with a share of the ransom extorted from
rich wayfarers. But a homicide who flew to this remedy was not very
safe. As an enemy of the established order, he had to perform prodigies
of valour, and, once captured, his fate was sealed. Outlaws of this
description can hardly have been common, even in the days of Hereward
the Wake. The majority of those who came under this denomination were
not heroes, and acted quite differently. They threw themselves on the
protection of the Church.
"Holy Mother Church, as a kind mother, gathers all into her bosom; and
thus each and all, good and bad, who take refuge with her, are protected
unhurt under her mantle."
Such was the language of the Synod of Exeter in 1287; and the statutes
go on to quote from the provisions of the Legatine Council held under
Cardinal Othobon at St. Paul's, London, twenty-one years before, which
were the basis of the constitutions adopted in the various dioceses: "If
anyone shall drag out from the church or cemetery or cloister the person
that has taken refuge there, or prevent his being supplied with
necessary food; or shall in a hostile or violent manner carry off
property deposited in the aforesaid places, or cause or approve of such
carrying off by their followers, or lend their assistance, openly or
secretly, to such things being done by those presuming on their aid,
counsel, or consent--we bind them _ipso facto_ by the bond of
excommunication, from which they shall not be absolved until they have
made full compensation to the Church for the wrong suffered.
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