By Rich. II. St. Martin’s was exempted from tenths, fifteenths, tallages, aids, and all contributions or quotas by the King. St. Martin’s was by far the largest, the safest, and the best-protected of all the English sanctuaries. The meaning and the development of the theory of sanctuary have been considered already (p. 201). At first it meant little more than a temporary asylum, where criminals could find shelter while they sought for means to redeem their offence by paying the penalty attached by Saxon Law. Every Monastic House, every church, the King’s Palace, were all sanctuaries. But a sanctuary within the walls of the City, which was not a place of temporary refuge, not a place, such as a church, in which the fugitive could be starved into surrender, but a place in which every kind of criminal might find an asylum and safe retreat for life, a place which practically defied the arm of the Law and the hand of Justice, was certain to become an intolerable burden to a law-abiding city. And so St. Martin’s actually did become. Again and again the City of London revolted in vain against its powers; again and again cases were vainly laid in the courts against the Dean and Chapter. The Precinct is almost exactly occupied by the present Post Office and Telegraph Offices of St. Martin’s-le-Grand. About the year 1285 it was judged expedient to close a lane leading from St. Vedast, Foster Lane, to St. Nicholas Shambles through the Precinct of St. Martin’s because it had become the safe haunt for thieves and rogues. In 1381, during Wat Tyler’s rebellion, Roger Legat, “quest monger” or collector, was torn from the High Altar of St. Martin’s and beheaded in Cheapside. In 1405 the citizens petitioned Henry the Fourth for the abolition of St. Martin’s privileges as to sanctuary, on the ground that it sheltered murderers, thieves, and fraudulent debtors. It was, however, impossible to hope that Henry, who owed his crown largely to the support of the Church, could do anything so contrary to ecclesiastical privilege. It is perhaps astonishing that so simple a plan as the removal of the College bodily to some place in the country, or, at least, without the walls of the City, should not have been suggested. In 1416 one Henry Kneve, who had taken sanctuary, fled for some reason, leaving behind him a quantity of valuables which he had stolen. These were seized by the Dean’s officers as waif. One would have thought that they would have been restored to their owners. We have seen (p. 205) the case of the year 1422, when the City fought with all its powers, and by means of its most learned men. In 1430 the Mayor and Sheriffs withdrew by force from sanctuary a certain Canon. They were, however, compelled to restore him.