“Albemare causeth Pedro and Leonardo to murther Baretano, and he after marrieth Clara, whom Baretano first sought to marry: Hee causeth his man Valerio to poyson Pedro in prison, and by a letter which Leonardo sent him, Clara perceives that her husband Albemare had hired and caused Pedro and Leonardo to murther her first love Baretano: which letter she reveales to the Iudge; so he is hanged; and likewise Valerio and Leonardo for these their bloody crimes.”
Featured on PDR in the collection John Reynolds’ Book of Murder Tales (1621–1635)
We don’t know the year of John Reynolds’ birth or death, but according to the Dictionary of National Biography, he “flourished” between 1620 and 1640, at which time he must have been in his thirties and forties (give or take a few years). Born in Exeter — and known to his contemporaries as “John Reynolds, merchant of Exeter”, to distinguish him from other writers of the same name — he traveled on business to France, Spain, and probably Italy, where he collected the stories that make up his six-volume Triumphs of Gods Revenge and the Crying and Execrable Sin of (Wilful and Premeditated) Murther — one of the earliest examples of “true crime” writing in English.
Also appearing in the collection…
“Albemare causeth Pedro and Leonardo to murther Baretano, and he after marrieth Clara,...”
Artist
Date
1621–1635
From
Triumphs of Gods Revenge and the Crying and Execrable Sin of (Wilful and Premeditated) Murther
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