Crime & Punishment

• Medieval


  c. 1000 - 1500
• Crime in Early 


  • Petty theft
  • Treason for threatening authority
• Law enforcement


  1. Policing methods

  2. Tithings - a group of 10 men responsible for each other's behaviour

  3. If one broke the law, the others had to bring him to court or pay a fine

  4. If a crime was committed, the entire village had to search for the criminal or face a fine
• Trials


  1. Trial by local jury - a group of local men who knew the accuser and accused

  2. Trial by ordeal - if the jury could not agree, trial by ordeal would let God decide
• All trials took place in the church with a priest present
• Punishments


  • Fines
  • Wergild - compensation paid to the victims of crime or their families
  • Capital and corporal punishments
  • Execution for treason
  • Mutilation for re-offenders
• 1000 1500


  Time period
• Battle of Hastings


  1066
• Normans defeated Anglo-Saxon army
• William the Conqueror became king of England
• Continuities


  • Hue on a cag
  • Tithings
  • Punishment
• Changes


  • Ended wergild
  • Trial by combat
  • Accused fight the accuser until one was killed
  • The loser was judged guilty
  • Separate lenient courts for the church
  • Execution for serious crimes
• Normans were highly religious and believed God called them to judge cases
• New laws included Forest Laws where trees could no longer be cut down for buildings/fuel and anyone caught hunting had a finger chopped off
• Murdrum Fine - whole community had to pay a fine if a Norman was killed to deter rebellion as William had to control 2 million Anglo-Saxons with 7000 Norman soldiers