the church in the middle ages

• c1000-c1500 – the Church was extremely powerful – it controlled peoples’ thoughts and actions

  • Therefore, the Church was an important factor influencing change andcontinuity in crime and punishment
  • The clergy were often the most educated members of a community
• Churches and cathedrals were the largest buildings in most villages, towns and cities

  • Their impressive architecture dominated the landscape and reminded people of God’s power
  • They were a clear reminder that the Church had the power to judge – but also to protect
• The medieval church taught that angels and demons battled for human souls, and that Christian saints were companions who could directly influence everyday life


  These teachings had a strong hold on the minds of almost all people
• The Church was also involved in areas outside religion

  It owned one-fifth of the country’s wealth and collected one-tenth of all earnings in Church taxes
• It even exercised control over members of other faiths

  • Early C13 – the growth of Islam in Asia and Africa made the Christian Church more worried about other religions and less tolerant
  • 1290s – English Jews were forced to convert to Christianity or be banished
  • The Church was also involved in deciding whether people accused of crimes were guilty or innocent, and how they should be punished
• the main factors influencing change in crime and punishment during later middle ages

  • changing attitudes and ideas
  • role of the king
  • role of the church
• The Church’s role in administering the trials by ordeal demonstrates the important role it played in determining the guilt or innocence of ordinary people in the Middle Ages
• 1215 – the Pope ordered that priests should stop helping to organise trials by ordeal

  • Without priests to organise the trials, the system quickly came to an end
  • There was nothing the secular authorities could do about the Pope’s decision
  • An alternative way of deciding someone’s innocence or guilt had to be found
• the solution to the end of trial by ordeal was trial by jury

  • The jury was a group of twelve men who observed the trial and decided whether the accused was guilty
  • This system is still used in many trials today
• Other aspects of the Church’s influence on crime and punishment continued throughout the medieval period and beyond

  • C11 – William I had encouraged the Church to set up courts to deal with ‘moral crimes’
  • Church courts worked on the principle that punishments should offer criminals an opportunity to reform and save their souls
  • They also believed that punishments motivated by retribution alone were wrong
  • Punishments like maiming were seen as better than execution as they offered criminals a chance to reflect on their crimes and feel regret
• Late C12 – Henry II tried to limit the power of the Church

  He was concerned that the separate Church courts challenged his authority as king, and undermined the more standardised crime and punishment system that he wanted to create
• The king and the bishops met at the Council of Clarendon to discuss the problem of church courts

  • Henry wanted them to agree to a clear statement of the relationship between Church laws and the king’s laws, called the Constitutions of Clarendon
  • By the early C13, kings were still looking for ways to increase their authority over crime and punishment
• One aspect of henry II’s dispute with the Church was a power struggle over how far the king’s authority could be imposed on members of the clergy who were being tried for a crime

  • Senior Church officials successfully argued that members of the clergy should only be tried in Church courts - this right was known as ‘benefit of clergy’
• • The Church courts only rarely used the death penalty as a sentence, so they were seen as more lenient
  • Punishments imposed by the Church courts included enforced pilgrimage, confession and apology at mass
  • The system was open to abuse, as it was easy for anyone to claim to be a member of the clergy
• As the clergy tended to be more educated, the test was the accused’s ability to read Psalm 51 in the Bible

  • Criminals could easily memorise the psalm, and recite the words in court to claim benefit of clergy
  • Psalm 51 became known as the ‘neck verse’ because knowing it could ‘save your neck’
  • Reformers criticised these practices, which they believed allowed people to escape punishment
• Some churches offered sanctuary (a safe place) to people accused of crimes

  It was not offered in all churches, just some that were considered particularly important – perhaps because they were on a pilgrimage route, or linked with an important religious event
• A person who claimed sanctuary could go to one of these churches and ask for the help of the clergy

  • The clergy then reported the crime in the usual way, but if the clergy agreed it was fair to do so, the accused person was given the chance to swear an oath agreeing to leave the country within 40 days instead of going to court
  • Anyone who did not leave within the time limit would be outlawed
• Offering sanctuary continued throughout the medieval period and only ended in 1536, during the reign of Henry VIII