In England, at the local level, sheriffs and constables generally held the responsibility to maintain law and order in shires, townships, towns, and cities. According to May McKisack, in The Fourteenth Century, 1307–1399, sheriffs tended to hold authority over a large area, whereas constables tended to hold authority over a particular village or township. But constable is a slippery rank; in some periods, it referred to a high-level military official like an army field commander or a castellan.

The sheriffs, in particular, were royal appointees with additional duties in other areas of administration, such as taxation. They could draw upon the posse comitatus, technically all able-bodied men between the ages of fifteen and sixty, to enforce the law. The vintenary of twenty men was the smallest unit, under the command of a vintener. Due to a series of parliamentary statutes, all men were required to have the arms specified for their social station (knights with heavier armor, yeoman archers with longbows and swords or daggers, peasants with knives and a bow, and so on, apparently) (203–205).

By 1242, at least, and by law, most manorial villages would have four or six armed men (see Ault, 198–199), on watch “all night from sunset to sunrise” and “one or two constables” to ensure that any quota for a military draft was fulfilled (200). (The levied villagers often served as carters.)

But bribery and corruption were common problems. The Robin Hood legends and the records of the recurring peasant revolts give some illustrations of the widespread mistrust of royal authorities.

Judicial corruption also was common among the justices of the peace, or judges. Surviving records of specific cases reveal a justice system that functioned sometimes but also a system often coopted by the wealthy or powerful.

Safety could be difficult to measure. Bands of violent criminals and renegade knights or noble families were hard to deal with, and many people perceived a fair amount of danger, even in relatively prosperous times and peaceful regions. Inhabited villages often were surrounded by miles of uninhabited wildlands or forests, and various types of raids and robberies were common.

On the one hand, every adult male had access to some means of protection. On the other hand, as McKisack points out, the hardened criminals had the weapons, too, and sometimes also actual weapons training. And a lot of hardened criminals could serve during a miliary campaign from time to time to receive a royal pardon for prior crimes, so there are examples of criminals and families of criminals who terrorized the local countryside for years.

So far, I’ve found two relevant books: R. Gorski’s The Fourteen-Century Sheriff: English Local Administration in the Late Middle Ages and Gregory Roberts’ Police Power in the Italian Communes, 1228–1326. Warren O. Ault’s “The Vill in Medieval England” had a short section on the watches required by write and statute from those tenants who owed service, and he says that the main concern, “apparently, was to protect crops and livestock from theft rather than to provide for the security of homes and the safety of the streets” (199). “I’m actively searching for more relevant sources.

How do I use these facts of history in fiction? I let one character’s attempt to reform the judiciary serve as one catalyst for a coup against his rule. I have some leaders creating new permanent watch forces to try to improve public safety and trade in their towns. I have some chapters and stories centered around the efforts of the town watch forces to bring some law and order into chaotic cities or frontier mining towns.