Medieval Glossary

Hue and Cry

The Hue and Cry was the general alarm that a witness to a crime was duty-bound to raise in order for the perpetrator to be apprehended. In a statute of 1275, failure to raise or to assist in the Hue and Cry became a punishable offense. The custom survives today in the obligation of a citizen to assist the police in apprehending a suspected criminal.

Related term(s): None
Category: Government and Law
Added: 11.07.05
Contributor(s): Alan Chanter
Source information: Kenyon, J.P. Wordsworth Dictionary of British History. Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions, 1994.

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