Tresilian, Sir Robert

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Tresilian, Sir Robert (d. 1388). From Cornwall, Tresilian practised law in Oxford, where he advised Exeter College, served in Parliament, and was appointed a justice of King's Bench in 1377. Political feeling ran high in the early years of Richard II's reign. In 1381 Tresilian was chief justice, trying, with severity, many of the participants in the Peasants' Revolt, including John Ball. He was associated with the royalist group in its struggle against the appellants. In 1388, along with Suffolk ( Michael de la Pole) and Oxford, he was indicted for treason by the Merciless Parliament. Condemned in his absence, he was captured in February, probably in violation of sanctuary, and immediately hanged at Tyburn.

J. A. Cannon