More on the Right of Sanctuary

From the Luminarium Encyclopedia:


...The right of sanctuary (Lat. sanctuarium, holy place), was the right of a person to protection or asylum within consecrated ground, founded on an ancient belief that one entering assumes part of the holiness of a place. It would be committing sacrilege to remove the person from the sacred place, so the right of sanctuary was considered inviolable.1 Those who dared violate the right of sanctuary by forcibly removing people, or by committing violence upon those within, were excommunicated by the Church. The right of sanctuary had been "designed by the Church for the protection of the weak, and the prevention of a revenge, wild justice, violence, and oppression."2 Sanctuary could be sought for many reasons: to postpone legal proceedings if one had commmitted a crime; to escape one's creditors or to delay going to prison for debt; or, to escape from the hostility of those in power, especially if one had displeased a bishop or a king. The only people denied sanctuary were those who were traitors, non-Christians, and those who had committed the crime of sacrilege...

From: http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/westminstersanctuary.htm