Overview

• John Forde was ambushed in Cheapside in May 1337 by four assailants who slit his throat and stabbed his belly in a public spectacle.
• A letter from Archbishop Simon Mepham accuses FitzPayne of consorting with clerics and names Forde among her alleged partners.
• Inquest records identify FitzPayne’s brother and two former household members among the attackers, pointing to a planned assassination.
• Despite convening 33 jurors to gather evidence, authorities never pursued charges against FitzPayne, likely thwarted by her family’s ties to King Edward III.
• The case is part of Cambridge’s Medieval Murder Maps project, which catalogues 14th-century English unnatural deaths and underpins Eisner’s published findings.