c&p: AS eng

• • society was heavily influenced by local systems & king's law
  • emphasis on maintaining social order & paying compensation to victims instead of punishment of the offender by state
  • crimes were categorised by type of harm: against the person, property or authority
• | crimes against the person:

  • direct harm/threat to physical safety
  • murder: unlawfully killing was a serious crime; often required WERGILD (man price)- compensation to victim based on victim's social standing
• | crimes against property

  • theft or destruction of property
• | crimes against authority

  • actions that defied established order, challenged KING'S PEACE or broke laws passed by local or royal courts
  • treason: acts against king
• • roles of king & nobility was crucial in GOVERNMENT & administration of justice
  • king provided legal framework whilst nobles implemented these laws to local circumstances
  • maintained a stable & orderly society in anglo saxon england
• | role of the king

  • ISSUING LAWS: made laws aimed to maintain order and address societal issues
  • KING's PEACE: king responsible for maintaining law & order across the kingdom, breaches against this were deemed as offences
  • figure of JUSTICE: sometimes would preside over major disputes or legal cases involving nobles
• | roles of nobles

  inc earls & thegns

  • advising king: when making new laws, they had a role as advisors in the witan; ensuring laws were practical & effective
  • enforcing laws locally: responsible for maintaining law & order in their own territories; would oversee local courts to ensure laws were upheld
• • anglo saxon CHURCH had a significant influence on crime & punishment
  • church played a key role in DEFINING MORAL BEHAVIOUR through christian teachings; influenced LAWS & integrating christian morals into legal codes inc need for fairness and community
  • offered SANCTUARY to those who fled from arrest, providing temporary safe haven & opportunity for negotiation or penance
• | trial by ordeal

  • one aspect of church's influence on crime and punishment was TRIAL BY ORDEAL- based on the belief that DIVINE INTERVENTION would reveal the truth of someone's guilt or innocence through a physical trial
• | trial by ordeal

  trial by water

  • suspect thrown into water blessed by a a priest; believed that pure, holy water would accept innocent by allowing them to sink & reject the guilty by causing hem to float
• | trial by ordeal

  ordeal by fire

  • inc carrying a red hot iron or walking through fire. if wounds healed cleanly within a set period, the accused was innocent
• | trial by ordeal

  ordeal by holy bread

  • clergy members subject to this where they eat bread blessed by a priest; if they choked or had difficulty swallowing, they were considered guilty
• • law enforcement was deeply embedded in local communities
  • went through tithings & hue and cry
  • highlights the communal and cooperative nature of maintaining law & order; necessary due to small population which limited reach of central government
• | tithings

  • group of 10 households & every adult male required to be a member; responsible for ensuring all members followed the law
  • key resp = COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY- if one member committed a crime, it was duty of other members to ensure the offender was brought to justice otherwise they faced fines
• | hue & cry

  • victims or witnesses expected to shout & call for help; legally required for able-bodied men to join the chase otherwise they faced penalties
  • emphasises collective responsibilty for community safety
• • legal system proved innocence through TRIAL BY JURY and a process called COMPURGATION
  • if these methods failed, then that is when TRIAL BY ORDEAL was used as a last resort
• | trial by jury

  • involved group of local people familiar with parties involved; not jurors but witnesses who SWORN TESTIMONY about the facts of the case as they understood