The period involving the reigns of three Edwards (1272-1377) was a time marked by unparalleled violence and crime. Continuous wars and recurring truces left bands of unemployed mercenaries that moved about the kingdom preying upon helpless villages. The problem became so prevalent that the "Statute of Winchester", in 1285, dedicated much of its language to the growing crime problem. This document specifically directed sheriffs to take up hue and cry against this scourge. If the sheriff were organizing a posse to pursue a particularly violent person or if a crime inspired passion, he could add to the cry to "let him bear the wolf's head"³⁹. This meant that the outlaw could be hunted down and killed in the same manner that a wolf who was a predator of their livestock could be hunted down and slain. The "Statute of Winchester" required sheriffs to keep arms and horses at the ready for this purpose. Also, by this law, sheriffs were required to interrogate any strangers in their shires and to arrest persons that failed to join the call of the hue and cry.⁴⁰

By 1377, when Richard II became king, the office of sheriff had settled down to a standard performance of civil service. Absent were the personal relationships between the king and the sheriff that was formally a very important issue about the office. Loyalty to the Crown was still a concern and because kings made and withdrew appointments at will, loyalty could be demanded. By the second half of the fifteenth century there was yet another decline in standards of the sheriff's duty performance. Because much of the obedience to kings had eroded, great barons began to gain power and the sheriff's ability to serve began to be restricted by this new political dimension. By the time of Henry VII (1457-1509), the office of sheriff had little political or governmental importance. The once undisputed administrator of the shire on behalf of powerful kings, had deteriorated into a much weaker and ineffective public servant.⁴¹

By the mid sixteenth century, the creation of the Lord's Lieutenant was yet another blow to the authority and power of the sheriff. This newly formed position superseded the military authority of the sheriff within the shire. Though the position was not specifically created to overthrow the sheriff from power, it did bring realization during times of serious domestic crisis that the sheriff was incapable of recruiting the local gentry to support the king's military causes. As time went on the Lord's Lieutenant generated duties other than military. He became vested with the power to enforce domestic laws, thereby further cutting into the sheriff's authority.⁴²

42. Gladwin, I., The Sheriff: The Man and his Office, (London: Victor Gollancz Ltd., 1974), pp. 271 and 275