Convenient legal fictions were extremely common in medieval England and I can’t help but wonder whether what follows is another instance of a ‘conventional’ and pro forma excuse for official misfeasance that everyone - petitioners, clerks, lawyers and even the king - connived at.

Under Edward IV (1461-83) a gaoler petioned the king to be absolved of a fine for allowing the escape of several prisoners. The gaoler pleaded that he had taken all reasonable care to secure his charges, but a woman visited the gaol carrying ‘a certain pastry’ in which was concealed a file that was used to make the escape. As far as I know, this is the earliest known account of the old ‘file in the cake’ prison-break trope.