<<Can anyone tell me what the medieval 'right of gallows' involved? Does it mean that whoever held this right had it within their power to pass a death sentence on wrongdoers under their jurisdiction?>> Hello Leigh, yes, a lord who had the right of gallows had the right to hang criminals convicted by his court. However it wasn't just any criminals - the right extended only to people convicted of theft, and then only if they had been caught red-handed, with the goods on their person. And most lords only had the right to hang thieves who had been caught within their jurisdiction - only a few had the additional right to hang those caught outside their jurisdiction. The right is usually referred to by its contemporary names, 'infangenetheof' (the right to hang thieves caught within the jurisdiction) and 'utfangenetheof' (the right to hang thieves caught outside the jurisdiction) - sometimes spelled infangthief and utfangthief. Not all lords had the right, it had to have been granted by the crown at some point in the past. Those who had it tended to be the big ones - earls, barons, abbots, priors, boroughs etc (yes, quite a few monastic lords had the right, and exercised it). It was quite a valued right, partly because it gave prestige and power to a lord who could exercise it, but mostly because the lord had the right to confiscate all the property of the convicted thief. Matt Tompkins Blaston, Leics