2-324-875 - Guildhall Art Gallery (City of London)/Heritage Images

'Sir Matthew Hale, Kt, Chief Justice of the King's Bench', 1670. It was Hale's (1609-1676) opinion that The husband cannot be guilty of a rape committed by himself upon his lawful wife, for by their mutual matrimonial consent and contract, the wife hath given herself in kind unto the husband which she cannot retract. His statement was partly responsible for the fact that, until recently, spousal rape was not recognized as a crime in most common law jurisdictions. Hale also sentenced to death two women tried before him for witchcraft, and hastened the execution of a soldier whom he had reason to believe was about to be pardoned.