We tend to think of investigations into suspicious deaths as
being a fairly modern science, but this isn’t the case. The Coroner (originally
Crowner) was established during the reign of Richard the Lionheart in 1149.
This
is a great article showing how the office evolved to the one we know today
as the final say on whether or not a death was suspicious.
As for the earliest written treatise on forensics, believed
to be published in 1248, it is amazingly still in print! The
Washing away of Wrongs: Forensic Medicine in Thirteenth-Century China
covers the responsibilities of the official, outlines the procedures to be
followed for a medical examination and gives advice on how to question suspects
(warning investigators about false accusations), and how to interview family
members. The next section shows how to begin an investigation of suspicious
deaths, examining the body, including orifices, looking at ways of determining
whether the corpse was moved and clues to possible causes of death.
I doubt there are many books published today that will still
be in print nearly 800 years in the future!
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