Trial by jury feels like one of those things that has always existed, part of the natural furniture of English justice.
But it had to start somewhere.
And one of its most important starting points was Northamptonshire.
Northampton, 1176: The Turning Point
In 1176, during the reign of Henry II, a major royal council met at Northampton. The decisions taken there became known as the Assize of Northampton.
This wasn’t a tidy statute book or a single policy announcement. It was something far more powerful: a reset of how justice worked in everyday life.
Putting Ordinary People at the Centre
One reform stands out above all others. Across England:
- Twelve local men in each area were sworn in;
- They were required to identify and report suspected criminals to travelling Royal Judges, who enforced the King’s laws as they circuited England;
- Serious crimes were no longer just private disputes, they became offences against the Crown.
This group was called a Jury of Presentment.
They didn’t decide guilt. They didn’t hear lawyers argue.
But they did something important: They made local people responsible for initiating justice.
Ordeals
Before juries, serious cases were often decided by ordeals, where guilt or innocence was believed to be revealed by God’s judgement, shown through physical tests such as carrying hot iron or being thrown into water.
The post-1176 system didn’t abolish ordeals overnight, but it shifted justice away from divine signs and towards sworn human testimony.
In 1215, the Church banned clergy from blessing ordeals. Without religious backing, ordeals collapsed, and juries were ready to replace them.
From Accusation to Judgement
The system introduced at Northampton did not create modern jury trials overnight; but it created the mechanism they would grow from.
Over time:
- Presentment Juries evolved into Trial Juries.
- Decisions moved away from ordeal, violence, and arbitrary power.
What began as a way to report crime became a way to judge it.
Why Northampton Matters
Before 1176:
- Justice varied wildly from place to place.
- Outcomes depended on status, strength, or luck.
After Northampton:
- The law became national.
- The process became systematic.
- Communities became part of enforcement, not just subjects of it.
This was a crucial step in the development of English Common Law, later carried across Britain and far beyond.
Jack Preston 