Early Modern England

• what did increased population lead to?

  higher unemployment led to urbanisation

  increases in petty crimes
• what did new farming methods lead to?

  enclosure of land

  so poaching increased
• what did changes in religious beliefs lead to?

  heresy and treason
• when did heresy become a crime?


  1382
• how was heresy punished?


  burned to death at the stake
• how many Protestants did Mary 1 execute?


  300
• what year was the Vagrancy act?


  1547
• what was the 1547 Vagrancy Act?


  able bodied without work for more than 3 days were branded with "V" and sold as a slave for 2 years
• what was the 1601 Poor Laws?


  the deserving poor were given poor relief from local parish

  undeserving poor could be whipped and branded
• why did smuggling increase?

  import taxes on certain goods like alcohol and tea increased

  was a social crime so people didn't view it as a threat
• when was witchcraft made punishable by death?

  1542 by Henry VIII
• what law enforcement continued?

  hue and cry
• what did Henry VIII change to benefit of the clergy?

  could only happen once and people got branded to show they had received it
• when was sanctuary abolished?

  1623 by James 1
• what are 5 features of watchmen?


  -carried a lamp

  -rang a bell to alert people

  -all male householders had to volunteer and was unpaid

  -patrolled streets from 10pm until dawn

  -overseen by town constable
• what are 5 features of town constables?

  -employed by authorities in towns

  -respected members of community

  -could arrest suspects and take them to justice of the peace

  -in charge of watchmen

  -helped with town administration
• what was continuity in punishments?

  -fines

  -pillory stocks flagging and maiming

  -hanging

  -burning
• how many capital offences were there in 1688?

  50

  this started the Bloody Code
• when did transportation to North America start?

  1610

  sentenced 7 or 14 years
• when did the Gunpowder Plot take place?

  5 November 1605
• who was the leader of the Gunpowder Plot?

  Robert Catesby
• who received a letter telling him to not attend the state opening of parliament?

  Lord Monteagle
• when were the other plotters found?

  January 1606
• how were the plotters punished?

  publicly hanged, drawn and quartered on 30-31 January 1606 for treason
• what are 5 reasons for the witch hunts?

  -economic problems

  -social changes

  -lack of authority

  -influence of James 1 and Matthew Hopkins

  -religious changes
• who was Matthew Hopkins?

  witchfinder general 1645-47 in East Anglia

  led to 300 people being investigated

  led to 112 people hanged

  used torture to extract confessions