Crime and Punishment

• The beat was

  where a constable would patrol a set route of streets to deter the committing of crime, see suspicious individuals, break up fights and arrest suspects
• A crime is


  an activity which breaks the law
• Crimes against the person include

  murder, assault, public disorder and rape
• Crimes against property include

  arson, theft, poaching and counterfeiting
• Crimes against authority include

  treason and rebellion
• By 1000, Anglo-Saxon kings where issuing codes of law that made certain actions crimes. This


  Illustrated the growing power of the monarch, and meant laws were becoming more unified
• After Henry II became king in 1154, laws were


  written down meaning the whole country had a unified legal system
• Poaching is


  hunting on other peoples land without paying hunting rights
• The forest laws


  reduced the amount of common land, so peasants had to choose between starvation or breaking the law
• William I made 30% of England

  Royal forest, meaning only himself and nobility could hunt there
• The forest laws made it illegal to

  graze animals, kill animals or collect wood in royal forests without a license
• breaking forest laws was a social crime because

  they were seen as unfair by ordinary people as people were evicted from the land, and were starving
• If an anglo-saxon murdered a Norman and the culprit was not caught

  A large sum of money had to be paid by the area of land where the body was found. This was called the murdrum fine
• To prevent rebellions William I


  ordered the death penalty upon rebels, and punished those indirectly involved by destroying crops or farmland (etc)
• Around the year 1000, most people lived in

  small hamlets, farms, villages or burhs. These all had a strong sense of community
• Around the year 1000, community was an important way of law enforcement, as things like

  tithings, the hue and cry and courts relied upon it to catch and try criminals
• Tithings are


  small groups of 10 men over the age of 12 who are responsible for each others behaviour
• If one member of a tithing was accused of a crime,

  the other members had to make sure he went to court or would have to pay a fine for him
• the hue and cry was where

  if someone witnessed a crime, they would shout to alert others. All who heard the cry was expected to chase and catch the accused
• Royal courts were


  national courts which dealt with the most serious of crimes
• shire courts were


  courts of a shire that dealt with lesser crimes
• court hearings were


  where the punishment the accused would be given was decided
• In anglo-saxon crimes the accused could swear

  an oath of innocence to God
• In anglo-saxon times, if the outcome of a trial couldn't be decided by a jury

  it was left to God to decide through a trial by ordeal
• The Normans introduced a new trial by ordeal

  Trial by combat, which where the two people involved would fight to the death or until one would surrender (the one who surrendered was still put to death)
• The Normans introduced 'foresters' who

  policed royal forests and enforced forest laws, dealing with suspects
• Trials by ordeal were abolished in

  1215 when the pope ordered a stop to their administration
• From 1285, the sheriff was expected to

  track down criminals if the hue and cry failed, being able to form a small posse of men to do so
• In anglo-saxon times the most common punishments were


  paying fines or compensation
• Saxon wergild is


  where money would be paid to a victims family which depended on what had been inflicted
• Breaking forest laws was punished harshly with things like

  castration, blinding and hanging
• capital punishment mainly consisted of

  hanging and beaheading
• common punishments mainly consisted of

  fines, compensation and being put in the stocks
• The Norman Invasion was not welcomed, so

  harsh punishments were carried out in public to make people more submissive
• capital punishment is


  killing the criminal
• corporal punishment is


  physically hurting the criminal
• retribution is


  making a criminal suffer for the crime commited
• deterrence is


  trying to prevent others or the criminal from carrying out a crime
• Sanctuary was


  protection from the law offered by some churches meaning the accused couldn't be arrested
• When a criminal claimed sanctuary

  they could then agree to either go to court or agree to leave the country within 40 days