In medieval England, the church was more than a place of worship. It was a fortress of last resort, a space where the law could not follow. This is the story of sanctuary: the explosive right that allowed fugitives to claim protection within holy walls, forcing kings and sheriffs to negotiate with God Himself. William Andrews traces this extraordinary institution from its earliest origins in the laws of King Ina and Alfred the Great, through centuries of evolution, to its eventual decline. He uncovers the remarkable cases of figures who fled to the altar, examines how the Church balanced its spiritual mission with its unexpected role as legal arbiter, and illuminates a world where the boundary between secular and sacred authority was constantly contested. Bishops clashed with monarchs over the rights of fugitives; the stakes of crossing a church threshold could mean life or death. For readers drawn to the hidden machinery of history, the strange byways of English law, and the medieval world where the church door was literally a line no bailiff could cross.
