New Delhi, June 17 -- During a recent study, a nearly 700-year-old murder case was reopened. And, researchers found shocking details.

In 1337, a priest named John Forde was stabbed to death near a church by a group of men in London. Only one attacker was jailed. A powerful woman named Ela Fitzpayne, who may have planned the murder, was never punished.

Medieval England was violent. In Oxford, murder rates reached 60-75 deaths per 1 lakh, nearly 50 times today's average. Records show students fighting with swords and slings while tavern brawls turned into street battles.

New research shows Forde was once her lover and possibly part of her gang that robbed a French priory. After Forde betrayed her, the Archbishop of Canterbury accused Fit...