c1500 - c1700: early modern england

• The late 15th and 16th centuries saw a large increase in the amount of vagrants due to the increasing population, falling wages, and no system to help those in need.
• 1494: Vagabonds and Beggars Act

  • vagabonds put in stocks for three days and nights, then sent back to where they were from
• 1547: Vagrancy Act

  • the able-bodied without work for more than three days were branded and sold as slaves
• 1597: Act for the Relief if the Poor

  • split vagrants into two categories - deserving (the elderly or sick) and undeserving (those fit for work)
• 1601: Poor Laws

  • the deserving poor were given poor relief by the local parish
  • undeserving could be branded, whipped or sent to a correction house
• When import tax was introduced in the 17th century, smuggling increased dramatically. It is considered a social crime, as it was not enforced very well.
• In the early modern period, new laws against witchcraft were introduced, making it a very serious offence.
• 1542: Henry VIII made witchcraft punishable by death

  1563: Elizabeth I changed the law so charges of witchcraft had to be tried in a common court

  1604: James I instructed the death penalty to be given to people 'summoning evil spirits'
• In 1623, James I abolished sanctuary.
• Watchmen:

  • carried a lamp
  • rang a bell to alert people
  • all male householders were expected to volunteer
  • role was unpaid
  • patrolled between 10pm and dawn
  • overseen by town constables
• Town Constables:

  • employed by authorities in towns
  • respected members of the community
  • had the power to arrest suspects and take them to JP's
  • in charge of watchmen
  • helped with town administration
• In the 17th century, the number of crimes punishable by death increased. This meant minor crimes were now punishable by death. This is known as the Bloody Code, and it was intended to deter people from commiting crimes.
• A form of punishment was transportation, where criminals would be taken to colonies in North America to do manual work. It reflected the new idea that punishment should be about rehabilitation.
• The Gunpowder Plotters, 1605

  • a group of catholics, led by Robert Catesby, plotted to kill James I and other protestants in parliament
  • the plotters rented a house next to parliament, and filled the cellar with barrels of gunpowder
  • Lord Monteagle gave a letter, telling him not to come to parliament, to Robert Cecil (James' spymaster)
  • Cecil ordered the house to be searched
  • Guy Fawkes was discovered and arrested
  • after being tortured, he gave up the names of his fellow plotters
  • the plotters were found guilty of treason and were publically executed
• The witchhunts between 1645-47 occured during the english civil war, a period of great uncertainty.
• These witchhunts mainly happened in the east of England. Those convicted would be executed.
• Reasons for the 1645-47 witchhunts:

  • economic problems
  • poor harvests and the civil war
  • social change
  • war left many women widowed, more 'strangers' around due to them travelling for work or the army
  • lack of authority
  • civil war weakened control of local authorities
  • influence of individuals
  • james I had prompted witch-hunting, matthew hopkins stirred up fear of witches
• Matthew Hopkins:

  • employed by a JP to find witches in Essex and East Anglia
  • he received money for each person prosecuted
  • he used torture to extract confessions
  • helped stirr up mass panic and fear of witches through his prosecutions and pamphlets
• Evidence of witchcraft:

  • unusual marks on the body
  • witness accounts
  • when pricked with a needle, they don't bleed
  • when thrown in water, they float
  • confessions from them