A piece of parchment wrapped around a 16th century volume of property records has turned out to be a treasure beyond archivists' wildest dreams.

No proper police force existed before the 16th century. It was the responsibility ... of the others to catch the culprit and take him to court. During the medieval period, there had been some ...

Dealing with crime within a local community had been simple in the medieval era, as crime was less common than it became in the 16th century. Communities had been so small, by modern comparisons ...