Key topic 2 crime and punishment

• The population of England in 1500 was around two and a half million; by 1700 it was around five and a half million. London's population increased to 50,000
• Crimes in towns and cities


  • Theft and fraud were more common due to anonymity and obvious wealth on display
  • More people without steady jobs
  • More opportunities for crimes like pickpocketing
• Heresy


  A crime against the Church and an offence to God
• Treason


  A challenge to the authority of the ruler
• During the Reformation, heresy and treason became connected as monarchs were head of the Church of England
• During Henry VIII's reign, Protestants were executed for heresy and Catholics were executed for treason
• During Edward VI's reign, it became heresy to not be a Protestant
• During Mary I's reign, the 1553 Heresy Laws made it illegal to not be a Catholic
• Elizabeth I's religious settlement


  • The 1559 Act of Uniformity said everyone had to go to church on Sundays and holy days
  • The Act of Supremacy reintroduced the Oath of Supremacy that everyone had to swear
• James I introduced strict anti-Catholic laws after the Gunpowder Plot, including the 1605 Popish Recusants Act
• Vagabonds/vagrants


  Unemployed, homeless people
• After 1500, the growing population, falling wages and rising food prices ('inflation') meant that the numbers of vagabonds rose
• Attitudes towards vagabonds


  • They were assumed to not be in genuine need
  • Slang terms included 'priggers of prancers' (horse thieves) and 'drunken tinkers' (thieves using trade as a cover story)
• The Vagrancy Act of 1547 said that able-bodied vagabonds who were without work for more than three days were to be branded with the letter V and sold as a slave for two years
• The 1549 Act for the Relief of the Poor included harsh punishments for vagrants including whipping and burning the ear using a hot iron
• The 1601 Poor Laws said that all local parishes were supposed to provide poor relief for the 'deserving poor'. The 'undeserving poor' could be branded or whipped, or sent to a house of correction
• Areas of land which had previously been used by poor people to gather foods and firewood began to be enclosed
• The 1671 Game Act made hunting or fishing on enclosed land illegal. Those breaking this law were called poachers
• In the 17th century, the government introduced import duties on some alcohol and tea, leading to smuggling to avoid these new taxes
• Puritanism


  The belief that people should focus on religion and have 'pure souls'
• During the rule of Oliver Cromwell, new laws were introduced such as banning drinking alcohol and requiring people to spend Christmas day in quiet reflection
• Recusancy was decriminalised during the Puritan rule
• Town constables


  • They were expected to stop suspected criminals and round up 'sturdy beggars'
  • They helped with local administrative issues like collecting payments for road cleaning
  • They were appointed by local people with good standing in the community, including merchants whose business benefited from better law enforcement
• Night watchmen


  • All householders were expected to serve as night watchmen
  • They took turn to patrol the local area between 10pm and dawn
  • They rang a bell to warn people to go home
  • They were unpaid volunteers
• Thief takers


  They were paid a reward for catching a criminal and delivering them to the law
• The most infamous thief taker was Jonathan Wild, who led a gang of thieves who claimed rewards when they handed in stolen goods. He was discovered and executed in 1725
• Heretics were punished by being 'burned at the stake'
• During the reign of Mary I, there were 283 executions for heresy (compared to 2 under Edward VI and 5 under Elizabeth I)
• Prisons in this period


  • They were not considered a punishment in their own right, but rather a 'holding area' where people waited for trials
  • Conditions were very poor, with no proper sanitation and people often dying of diseases like typhus
  • Inmates had to pay prison wardens for food and other basics
• In 1556, a new type of prison, or 'house of correction' was opened, called Bridewell prison. It was used to punish people who had broken the law, and house poor children. Inmates were made to do 'hard labour'
• During the 17th century, further similar prisons were opened around the country
• The 'Bloody Code'


  The harsh attitude to law-making during the 17th century, where by 1688 there were 50 crimes that could be punished with the death penalty
• These capital crimes included relatively minor crimes like poaching rabbits or fish
• Pregnant women were able to 'plead for belly', which meant escaping punishment until after the baby was born
• Transportation to North America


  • Prisoners would be used on the east coast of America for tough manual labour like clearing trees or doing farm work
  • If you were transported instead of being executed, you would serve 14 years. Lesser offences would typically be given a 7 year term
• An estimated 50,000-80,000 people were transported to America in the period up to c1770. This included some vagrant children, who were called 'duty boys' (although about a quarter of them were girls)
• Reasons for introducing transportation as a punishment


  • It was seen as an effective deterrent
  • It was seen as a potential route to rehabilitation
  • England did not have an effective prison system
  • Convicts could be used to provide manpower for the permanent colonies the government wanted to establish in North America
• In 1570, Elizabeth I was excommunicated, and the Pope called on all loyal Catholics to get rid of Elizabeth. This led Elizabeth to more actively prevent Catholics from practising their faith, and punished them if they continued to do so
• When James I became King of England, Catholics hoped that he would allow more religious freedom than Elizabeth I – partly because he had a Catholic wife. However, James I also introduced strict anti-Catholic measures
• The leader of the Gunpowder Plotters was Robert Catesby, whose father had been imprisoned for hiding a Catholic priest. Catesby himself had refused to take a Protestant oath, which meant he could not finish his university degree