Early Modern England

• Large increase in cases of Witchcraft


  1645-47
• The bible taught that 'the devil makes work for idle hands'
• Vagrancy Acts 1531-1598


  Deterred others from committing similar crimes
• By the sixteenth century, a rising population and fewer jobs meant that more people were moving around the country looking for work
• England was still a very religious country and beliefs in demons and spirits were common
• During the reign of King Henry VIII, England broke away from the Catholic Church following the English Reformation
• New Protestant ideas challenged previous authorities
• Those with the wrong beliefs at the wrong time found themselves accused of treason or heresy
• Laws against Witchcraft became stricter

  Under the reigns of Henry VIII and James I
• Petty crimes continued. As did serious crimes such as murder.
• Times of poor harvest

  Beliefs in demons and spirits were made worse
• Rewards would be offered for the arrest of particular criminals accused of serious crimes
• Manor Courts still dealt with minor local crimes
• Quarter Sessions were held four times a year. JPs from across the country would come together to judge more serious cases
• Watchmen were introduced in large towns and would patrol the streets day and night. They were poorly paid and usually of little use.
• JPs even had the power to sentence someone to death
• People no longer feared being seized and locked up without trial
• Those accused of serious crimes could no longer claim benefit of the clergy
• Justices of the Peace (JPS)


  Judged manor court cases, could fine people or order them to be placed in stocks or whipped
• The Habeas Corpus Act of 1679 mean that everyone arrested had to appear in court or be released
• Watchmen were expected to arrest drunks and vagabonds
• Hue and Cry, Constables and Coroners kept their roles in towns - people were still expected to deal with crimes themselves
• Those found guilty of heresy

  Were burnt at the stake
• Under the reigns of Henry VIII and James I


  Laws against Witchcraft became stricter and those found guilty were hanged
• Those found guilty of treason

  Were hanged, drawn and quartered
• Someone was found guilty of Witchcraft in medieval times

  Tried at a Church Court
• Vagabonds


  • Were whipped, mutilated and in certain years even executed if they had been repeatedly out of work or seen to be a threat to the spreading of crime
• Corporal punishments continued


  • Stocks
  • Pillory
  • Whipping
• Hanged, drawn and quartered


  Purposefully brutal and public method of execution that aimed to be a deterrent
• Being burnt at the stake

  'Frees' the trapped souls from the body that had been corrupted
• Laws against Witchcraft became stricter and those found guilty were punishable by death
• Henry VIII 1509-47

  • Established the Protestant Church of England
  • Placing himself and all future English monarchs as Head of the Church
  • Those who’ve refused the split was executed
• Edward VI 1547-53

  • Stricter Protestant
  • Furthered split with the Catholic Church
  • Introduced tighter laws regarding religious worship
• Mary I 1553-58

  • Bloody Mary
  • Established Catholicism as the religion in England
  • Ordered the burning of 300 Protestants
• Elizabeth I 1558-1603

  • Established Protestantism as the religion
  • Was initially lenient on Catholics
  • But after threats and plots on her life became much stricter
  • Around 250 Catholics were executed for treason
• Matthew Hopkins

  • Witchfinder General
• The Gunpowder Plot

  1605
• The English Reformation

  1534
• The English Civil War

  1642-49
• Punishments in the period 1500-1700

  • Fines
  • Corporal punishment (e.g. stocks, whipping)
  • Capital punishment (e.g. beheading, hanging)