In February 1327, 84 angry people assaulted Richard de Holebrok of Tattingstone, tied him to a tree and cut off his right hand. Holebrok complained to the English authorities, but what he did to provoke such an attack, if anything, is unknown. It may have been a blood feud between local gentry, of which the Holebrok family were members.
A researcher has identified what he believes is Holebrok's body, exhumed from a medieval burial ground. The right hand is missing and a scientific examination revealed the severed arm had healed, and the person used the arm before he died.
Holebrok's case is recorded in the Patent Rolls, a written record of legal matters affecting English citizens from the time of King John, beginning in 1201.
Scans of a typeset document titled ‘Calendar of the Patent Rolls’ are available online; the section with Holebrok's case is available on PDF here on Google Books. The introduction says “there is scarcely a subject connected with the history or government of this country, or with the most distinguished personages of the thirteenth, fourteenth or fifteenth centuries, which is not illustrated by the Patent Rolls.”
The Patent Rolls record various royal and governmental pardons, grants, office appointments and knightoods, safe conduct letters, pensions, elections of clerics, letters of protection, licenses and other matters. Some of the pardons are for serious matters, including deaths and holding castles against the king.