Early Modern

• Early Modern Period 



  1500 - 1700

  The population grew and more towns were made as trade kept growing

  • This led to people without jobs to commit crimes like theft
  • In busy towns - theft was less likely to get caught

  More enclousures were used for farms to make sure all the land was being used

  The poor was impacted by this as they couldn't afford the land - more petty crimes

  1671 - Game Act - illegal to take food from private enclosures

  • The landowners felt like the poor was a threat
• Early Modern Period - Religion

  1534 - Henry VIII left Catholicism and made a protestant Church - Church of England

  This left England conflicted as the country switched from Protestantism to Catholicism depending on the monarch - Heresy was seen as a more serious crime - punishment - Burnt at the stake
• Early Modern Period - New Crime


  Heresy was increasing because the monarch were either Catholics or Protestants

  Vagabonds/Vagrants - homeless/beggars - due to increasing population and wage decreasing

  • People were scared of them as they would often commit crimes from theft to Murder and were seen as sinful
  • Punishment - Slavery for 2 years or Execution

  Smuggling - bringing items into the country illegally to avoid paying taxes - Social Crime
• Witchcraft 


  due to the different religions, changing economies and bad harvests, people became superstitous and blamed Witches

  • 1542 - Witchcraft Act made witchcraft a crime that can be punishable by death
  • It was dismissed 5 years later but brought back in 1563 by Elizabeth I
  • Witchcraft changed from a Religious crime to Crime against the King

  1597 - James I made a book called Demonologie which told us how to hunt witches

  1642 - Civil Wars took place which increased the accusations of Witchcraft
• Development Prisons

  1556 - Bridewell Prison was an early version of modern prisons

  • Unsanitary - many died of diseases
  • Had to pay for food and beds
• Early Modern - Law enforcement 


  Still relied on collective responsibilites

  Introduced Town Constables and Night Watchmen

  • Town Constables - employed by town authorities to keep the peace in the town, arrest and bring criminals to court, take payments for the authorities
  • Night Watchmen - householders who patrolled the town at 10 pm to dawn, held lamps and were expected to notify constables to catch a criminal and to tell people to go in their houses or risk being seen as a criminal - these people were not paid for this
• Law enforcement continued

  Habeas Corpus 1679 - prevented keeping criminals in prisons forever, had to be charged with a crime and trialed in a certain time frame
• Jonathan Wild


  Most popular watchmen

  1718 - called Thief-Taker General

  1725 - found out to be a criminal was executed
• Early Modern Punishments


  Many punishments were still being used from the Medieval Period

  Late 1500's - House of Correction first edition of modern prisons

  • Punish criminals with hard labour and whipping
  • First used in Bridewell Palace - 1556
  • Conditions were dirty and food/beds had to be payed for

  1603-25 - Transportation - transporting criminals to North America for hard labour for 7-14 years(50,000 - 80,000 people) - popular as England wanted to build colonies

  Bloody Code 1688 - increased the number of capital crimes(50) as it was used a stonger deterrent

  • included Petty crimes
• Gunpowder Plot - 1605



  A plot made by Catholics to kill James I(protestant)

  A group(13) led by Robert Catesby wanted to blow up the houses of Parliament to replace the monarch with a Catholic

  • Guy Fawkes - job was to fill the vault below with gunpowder
  • Robert Cecil recieved a letter informing him of the plot
  • Guy Fawkes was caught and tortured in the Tower of London until he confessed the people involved
  • Some escaped but were killed by Government Soldiers after they were found
• Gunpowder Plot - Consequences



  Punishment

  • The plotters were found guilty of Treason and were Hung, Drawn and Quatered
  • Their heads were put on stakes to deter other Catholics

  Laws

  • 1605 - Thanksgiving Act - November 5 will be celebrated
  • 1606 - Popish Recusants Act - Catholics had take an Oath of Allegiance and take part in Church service or be fined

  James I blamed this on Witches - increase in Witchcraft accusations
• Witchhunts - 1645-47


  1642-51 - Civil War in England - Between Parliament(Government) and Royalists(Monarch)

  • Parliament won and the King(Charles I) was executed
  • Led to increase of distrust in society

  1645-46 - 250 accusations of witches, 100 people executed

  From 1542-1736 - 1000 executed
• Matthew Hopkins


  A lawyer and self-proclaimed Witchfinder General

  He accused 300 women of being witches, mainly old women

  His evidence was scars as it was the 'Devil's Mark' or a confession after keeping them awake and starving them

  • Old women had scars due to manual labour

  Women found guilty were hanged/drowned

  • Fear spread to other towns
  • Matthew Hopkins and his assisstant kept doing 'Witch hunts' and were being paid for it(if they were guilty)

  1645-47 - 112 were executed

  • 1647 - Hopkins disappeared from any records
• Causes for Increase in Witchcraft

  • Hopkins - willing to find evidence to prove accusations
  • James I - wrote Demonologie which gave people a reason to fear witches and influenced society to find them, belief that it was a crime against God/Monarch
  • Social tensions - after Civil War, the rich and poor had distrust , especially the rich due to economic problems - blamed the elderly women when something went wrong(superstition)
• Causes for increase in Witchcraft

  • Law - 1542(Witchcraft Act) Witchcraft became a crime
  • Religion changes - Protestants feared the Catholics and tried to remove them from society by accusing them of being witches
• Decrease of Witchcraft

  By late 17th Century, scientific knowledge improved, theories and beliefs based on evidence no longer using religion or the supernatural

  Due to increase in Science - decline in accusations of Witchcraft

  • Last Execution - 1716