middle ages law enforcement

• continuity - Local collective responsibility for preventing crime and apprehending suspects continued

  As with the Anglo-Saxons, every male over 12 had to belong to a tithing, and if one member of the tithing was accused of a crime, the rest of the group was expected to find that person and take them to the authorities
• The hue and cry was also still in use

  • If a suspect got away, all villagers had to hunt them down and deliver them to justice
  • As most people continued to live in small village communities where everyone knew each other, community-based systems for enforcing the law continued to make sense
• change - Under Norman law, trial by ordeal continued as in Anglo-Saxon England

  The Normans also introduced a new type of ordeal – trial by combat
• trial by combat used to settle disputes over large sums of

  money or land

  • The two people involved in the dispute would fight using swords, or sometimes large sticks
  • This was seen as a more dignified option for wealthier people
• In trial by combat, it’s hard to draw the line between punishment and trial

  • The two combatants fought to the death – or until one gave in
  • Anyone who gave in was later put to death
• The later Middle Ages, 1154 – Henry II became king and introduced some important reforms
• 1166 – henry II reorganised the courts and set up prisons for those who were accused and waiting for trial. These changes were known as the Assize of Clarendon
• Henry II ordered royal judges – Justices in Eyre – to visit each county twice a year to hear the most serious criminal cases

  This increased the role of the king in legal matters, and meant stronger centralised control over the court system
• Standard written instructions were issued to local sheriffs

  This meant that the whole system was becoming more uniform
• C13 and C14 – the growth of towns, like London and York meant more opportunities for crime than in small village communities

  • A more centralised approach was now needed to control crime, and the role of government began to increase
  • There was a shift away from local communities dealing with crimes towards a system where crime was dealt with by government-appointed officials
• Because they were appointed centrally, similar law enforcement methods began to be used across different areas

  However, older approaches remained in use too: townspeople were stillexpected to play their part in apprehending offenders, and towns weredivided into areas called wards for that purpose
• For less serious crimes, elements of old Anglo-Saxon practices

  continued at a local level

  Manor courts had been used since Anglo-Saxon times to deal with disputes between the lord of the manor and local people – e.g. if a person was accused of failing to carry out their duties for the lord – and these continued to be used
• About the same time, the local officials known as ‘tythingmen’ during the Saxon period came to be known as ‘constables’
• Anglo-Saxon community-based policing was gradually changed

  • Some aspects were kept, and adapted to take account of the new situation, and other aspects were newly created e.g. the system of hue and cry was kept with some changes
  • Townspeople were still expected to play their part in apprehending offenders, and towns were subdivided into new areas called wards as part of this system
  • In addition, two new official roles were introduced – the coroner and the Justice of the Peace
• 1194 – King Richard I introduced coroners to deal with situations where there was a suspicious death – i.e. when there was no obvious natural explanation
• • 1195 – Richard I appointed some knights as keepers of the ‘king’s peace’ in areas that were seen as unruly, and where it was difficult for the community alone to maintain law and order
  • 1327 – Edward III extended the system to all areas, and men judged to be ‘good and lawful’ were appointed to the role
  • By 1361, they were known as Justices of the Peace (or JPs) and met four times a year to carry out their magistrate duties and enforce the law
• Rather than being assigned their role by local communities, JPs were appointed by the central authority of the king

  • This was an important shift towards a crime and punishment system imposed by a central government power base
  • They were selected on the basis of their status and wealth, and by the end of the Middle Ages they played an important part in local government and law enforcement
  • They had a reputation for being particularly harsh on poachers – because most of them were local landowners
• 1414 – a law against heresy gave Justices of the Peace powers to arrest suspected heretics

  • This shows government officials and the Church authorities worked together
  • Justices of the Peace were expected to take suspects to the Church courts for trial
  • If the Church courts found them guilty, they were taken back to the secular authorities for the appropriate punishments to be carried out
• Anglo Saxon:Community responsible for enforcing the law

  Norman: Community responsible for enforcing the law, Growing authority of the king and his officials

  Later medieval: Community enforcement continues alongside

  increasingly centralised systems for upholding the law