crime and punishment

• what kind of crimes were commited in 1000

  crimes against the person, property and authority
• what was the vast majority of crimes commited in 1000 (type of crime)

  crimes against property
• social crime?

  crimes which are socially accepted. examples: poaching: people believed they had the right to hunt animals. rich owned the land, poor hunted on them: clash between rich and poor.
• there was 300 saxons for every 1 norman- normans were rich and saxons were poor. norman laws were widely disliked and unpopular- social crimes were rarely reported to norman authorities.
• norman forest laws

  designed to protect land known as 'royal forests' : there was animals there that the normans wanted to hunt. the forest laws banned all forms of poaching.
• laws of the forest laws

  illegal to own a bow and arrow if u lived in royal forests, illegal to collect food which might be eaten by animals of the forest, illegal to own dogs with sharp claws in royal forests, illegal to cut down trees, illegal to hunt deer and boar
• punishment for breaking forest law

  fines of money, first two fingers chopped off, blinded (2nd offence), death(multiple offences)
• law enforcement of forest laws

  forest law officials- appointed by king to enforce forest laws in local area. usually rich men who were rewarded land by king. they would also appoint other men to police the forest on their behalf.
• what other crimes did the Normans introduce?

  -killing a norman: treated more seriously than the death of an ordianary saxon- if a dead norman was found in a saxon village, the whole village had to pay a murdrum fine -moral crimes against religion/ God: normans were religious, - adultery, - sex before marriage, - failing to follow the church
• Why did the Normans create so much new crimes?

  Money: new laws increased William's source of income, forest laws gave the king new taxation rights, allowed him to increase his army, forest laws gave him tax revenue
• Why did the Normans create so much new crimes?

  Authority: allowed William to impose authority in England, Saxons didn't like Normans - laws asserted their dominance, reinforced that Normans were higher than Saxons on the hierarchy
• Why did the Normans create so much new crimes?

  Religion: allowed to push their beliefs onto Saxons
• Why did the Normans create so much new crimes?

  Greed: wanted to hunt animals so imposed forest laws to prevent Saxons from hunting
• Anglo-Saxon law enforcement

  community law enforcement : the local community was responsible for enforcing the law. Tithings: every man over 12 joined a tithing, group responsible for each other, if someone committed crime then the group had to bring them in- if not they all had to pay a fine. Hue and cry: everyone had to chase the offender and catch them. shire courts: each shire had their own sheriff- in charge of organising 2 court sessions per year to deal with serious crimes. trials : trial by jury and oath of compurgation
• Travelling judges

  1. Henry 2nd introduced them

  2. They would visit each town twice a year

  3. Increased king's control

  4. More efficient

  5. Everyone had to follow 'common law'
• Royal officials

  Henry would issue instructions(writs) to sheriffs on how to enforce law
• Richard 1 introduced 'coroner'- investigate sudden or unusual deaths


  1194
• Richard 1 introduced the 'keepers of the peace'- rich men who were in charge of local areas- paid by the king/ got land


  1195
• 'Justices of the peace- they were same as keeper of peace but they were everywhere


  1361
• parish constables- 1285

  kind edward 1 set them up- example of community law enforcement, voluntary position, often lead local tithings
• posse comitatus- 1285

  king Edward 1 set up- all local me to join a posse to chase after suspected criminals- improved the system of tithings. the criminal would then be locked up until the travelling judges came.
• church courts- normans

  deal with moral crimes, deal with crimes commited by churchmen. 'benefit of the clergy' had to read the 'neck verse' from bible to plead innocent
• trial by combat

  accuser vs accused: whoever lost was lying. reflected Gods judgment. if someone was unable to fight they had to appoint someone to fight for them.
• anglo saxon punishments

  capitol punishments- death penalty- deterrent. corporal punishment- punishment to the body- mutilations, public beating, public whipping, sticks/pillary. compensation- wergeld- deaths, botgeld- injuries
• trial by ordeal

  leaves to Gods judgement e.g: poured hot water on hand, if got fixed in 3 days God found them innocent
• how did the Normans change punishments? and why

  fines instead of wergeld: fines paid to king, why? wanted to deter crimes, raise money for king, impose authority. harsher punishments in royal courts: mutilation, fines, death penalty. why? deter saxons from commiting crimes. more lenient punishments in church courts: no death penalty in church, less likely to use mutilation, fines or humiliation. why? they were very religious, if they were servents of God they didnt deserve to be punished as much.
• how did the church influence crime in the middle ages?

  church courts- never gave death penalty, not controlled by king- conflict sanctuary- criminals could claim sanctuary in church if they wanted to escape punishment- then after a while they had the choice to go to trial or leave the counrt
• why did trial by ordeal end in 1215

  attitudes in society- unfairness. individuals- pope innocent ll: said we cant expect god to preform a miracle every time. king john- magna carta- 'lawful judgment oh his peers'
• change in the types of crimes between 1000-1500 & 1500-1700

  at certain points there were sudden increases in the level of homicides, petty theft and new crimes were created
• what were the new crimes created between 1000-1500 & 1500-1700

  vagabondage, heresy, witchcraft, treason
• new laws created to deal with vagabonds

  1494- vagabonds and beggers act- all put in stocks for 3 days, vagabonds sent back to home town

  1531- vagabonds act- all whipped until body was bloody

  1547- vagrancy act- 1st offence= 2 yrs slavery, 2nd= slavery for life

  1572- vagabonds act- 1st offence= branded with hot iron, 2nd= executions

  1576= act for setting the poor on work- houses of correction built to punish beggars
• why were there many accusations of witchcraft?

  attitudes- extremely superstitious, religious

  individuals- james 1- daemonologie 1597, Mathew hopkins-witch finder general, malleus malificarum

  lack of science and discovery
• what were some continuity in law enforcement between 1000-1500 and 1500-1700


  travelling judges

  justices of the peace

  the army

  tithings & hue and cry

  parish constables

  community law enforcement
• what were some change in law enforcement between 1000-1500 and 1500-1700


  town watchmen- large towns and cities- paid by local taxes.

  sergeants- patrolling marketplaces

  no longer allowed to use torture- last torture was in 1640

  rewards were offered to find criminals/information

  authorities introduced harsher punishments
• what were some continuity in punishment between 1000-1500 and 1500-1700

  death penalty was still a key deterrent

  stocks and pillary
• what were some change in punishment between 1000-1500 and 1500-1700

  hung, drawn and quartered

  death penalty became more common- bloody code 1765

  whipping, branding, ducking stool, scolds bridle

  transportation, carting
• transportation 1600s- 1868

  taking criminals to another country to become slaves for a period of time. sent to america then later on australia when america gained independence. convicts had to wait aboard ships called hulks, for a long time to wait for more passengers. after sentence was over, you had to pay to come back home so many people just stayed abroad.
• Australian gold rush?

  1851
• bloody code?


  1688-1823. over 200 crimes carried the death penalty. deterrent and retribution
• new laws from 1600-1700s punishable by death

  shoplifting act- 1699

  larceny from a dwelling house act- 1713

  riot act- 1714= rioting that caused serious damages

  black act-1723= intention of poaching in woodlands