Adam the Leper
The 14th century was a bonanza time for outlaw gangs in England. Plague, famine, and depopulation led to widespread social unrest, with the peasant revolt and the rise of the heretic Lollards just two of the signs of the upheaval. Desperate times also produce desperate men and Adam the leper and his gang were amongst the most ruthless and daring of the fourteenth-century gangs.
All that is known of Adam are his crimes. His gang was active in the south east of England sometime in 1330s and 1340s. The gang did not bother hiding in the forest to waylaying passing travelers. Instead, they were an urban gang who took bolder measures
One of the gang’s favorite methods was to wait for towns to have fairs-then they would descend. While householders were at the fair, the gang plundered their unguarded homes, setting them on fire afterward. The distraught householders were generally too busy trying to save their houses and remaining possessions to give chase.
Like Robin Hood and his merry men, Adam and his gang would also hold the wealthy to ransom. However, unlike Robin, who did not harm his victims, he was not a particularly gentle ‘host’. “men and women were captured” said Luke Owen Pike in his “History of Crime in England“. “Ransom was extracted on the pain of death and even those who paid it might think themselves fortunate if they escaped some horrible mutilation.”
But like Robin Hood, Adam’s gang was bold-so bold that they were audacious enough to target royalty. In 1347, the gang descended upon Bristol and robbed several ships in the harbor belonging to King Edward III. But their greatest coupe was in London. Here, the gang targeted a jeweler who held some pieces belonging to Queen Philippa. Adam and his men laid siege to his house, demanding the jewels. When the jeweler refused, they set the building on fire and seized the jewels by force. But this time, the victims gave chase, when the King sending Thomas, Lord Berkley after the gang.
Adam was caught and brought to justice in Winchester. But his outlaws staked out the courtroom, attacking everyone who came out. They caused such trouble that the authorities had to let the outlaw leader go., free to continue his life or crime.