Crown and Community: The Coroner in Early Modern England, 1580-1630

Abstract

The role coroners played in English state formation between 1580 and 1630 is examined by looking at their relationship in the peripheries with other officials and by looking at their interactions with the state through the central court systems. Coroners were liminal figures who answered directly to the crown while maintaining loyalties to the local communities where they were elected and lived. Their role as a key interlocutor for both the crown and the community meant that they often had to deal with conflicting interests. Other government officials and courts oversaw their duties in order to bring the uniformity of operation to the office that was necessary for state formation and required coroners to alter their duties in accordance with particular needs of the state. This control of their office by the state complicated the performance of their duties in cases where the state or its officials had divergent interests.