early modern

• In 1534 Henry VIII passed the first Act of Supremacy that made him the head of the English Church - this meant that the reigning monarch had complete religious authority
• Edward VI - protestant rule

  • 1549 - Book of common prayer - book of protestant church services in English
  • 1549 - Act of Uniformity passed - made the Book of Common Prayer compulsory - punishment was fines or imprisonment
  • punishment for heresy was moderate - Henry's heresy laws were reappealed and only 2 people were executed under Ed's reign
• Elizabeth's protestant rule

  • 1559 - new act of supremacy - made her the supreme Governor
  • 1559 - new act of uniformity - made Protestantism the official religion - fines for refusal to attend protestant church services
• Elizabeth Tudor was excommunicated by the Pope in 1570
• Elizabeth executed few Catholics for heresy but 250 for treason
• 2 million people lived in England in 1485 but this doubled by 1603
• rising population + poor harvests = increasing food prices in 1500 - 1560
• 1536 - dissolution of the monasteries - Henry VIII closed them for land and money - this cut off support for the poor - uprising called Pilgrimage of Grace but this failed and 200 rebels were executed
• • 1531 - beggars with no licence punished to whipping or the stocks
  • 1547 - Vagrancy Act - forced idle beggars to be slaves for 2 years but this was repealed in 1549
  • 1572 - vagabonds should have hole burned into ear so repeat offenders could be caught - punishments stayed until 1593
  • 1597 - Act for Relief for the Poor - Overseers of the poor had to organise reliefs - vagabonds were still punished by whipping
• 'Unclergyable'

  • 1512 - any non-clergyman who committed certain crimes could not claim benefit of the clergy
  • 1536 - clergymen were no longer protected by unclergyable offences
  • during 16th century, the list of unclergyable offences grew
• Sanctuary was removed for certain crimes in 1540 but in 1623 James I officially abolished it
• in 1607, colonies began to form in North America - this created transportation but it was popular as a punishment until the 18th century
• • at the end of 17th century the list of capital crimes grew - this was the bloody code
  • 1688 - 50 offences punishable by death
• recusancy - refusal to attend protestant church services
• Gunpowder Plot

  • 1604 - group of Catholics led by Robert Catesby started to plan a rebellion
  • wanted to kill James by blowing up Parliament on 5th November 1605
  • A catholic Lord, Lord Monteagle, was warned not to attend and informed his King
  • One of the plotters, Guy Fawkes, was found with barrels of gunpowder in the cellar and the rest were captured and some - including Catesby - were killed in a gunfight
• punishment for Gunpowder Plot

  • remaining plotters were imprisoned and interrogated in Tower of London - James gave special permission for Fawkes to be tortured until he confessed
  • one prisoner died whilst imprisoned but the rest were put on trial for high treason in January 1606 and found guilty
  • all sentenced too be hung drawn and quartered and pieces of their body were displayed around London
• Matthew Hopkins

  • 1645-47 - involved in around 250 witch trials
  • In 1645, accused 36 women of witchcraft in Manningtree Essex and 19 were hung as witches
  • estimated that 100 people were executed because of him
  • 1547 - created a pamphlet called the discovery of witches which outlined his beliefs and justified his methods
• witchcraft

  • before 1540s - witchcraft was dealt with in church courts and did not carry death penalty
  • 1542 - first witchcraft act - made it a crime against the king so death penalty could be used
  • 1547 - witchcraft act was repealed under Edward
  • 1563 - similar act to the first but execution could only be used is witchcraft had caused someone's death
• James and witchcraft

  • 1597 - James published demonology in scotland
  • 1603 - published demonology in England
  • 1604 - witchcraft act passed that reflected personal intolerance