Medieval Period

• Crimes against person


  • Murder
  • Assault
  • Public disorder
  • Rape
• Crimes against property


  • Arson
  • Theft, such as stealing crops or poaching
  • Counterfeiting coins
• Crimes against authority

  • Treason
  • Rebellion
• Crimes in Norman England - Forest Laws

  • 30% of England became ‘ Royal Forest’
  • people in villages and farmers evicted from their land
  • Royal Forest protected by Forest Laws
  • only paying member could hunt in Royal Forests
  • illegal to graze animals, hunt or take wood with a license
• Crimes in Norman England - rebellions

  • Resistance from Anglo Saxons after the invasion
  • rebellions punished harshly by William to assert authority
  • death penalty given to rebels
  • William caused starvation for villages indirectly involved with invasions
• Crimes in Norman England - Murdrum Fine 


  • if Anglo Saxon murdered Norman and culprit wasn't caught people in the area of land ( hundred) where body was found paid a fine
• Anglo Saxon law enforcement - Tithings

  • Shires spilt into areas (hundreds) and divided into 10 tithings. All were responsible for each other. If one committed a crime and didnt go court, they would all pay a fine.
  • Shire Reeves = local person appointed by monarch who ensured punishments were carried out
• Anglo Saxon law enforcement - Hue and Cry 


  • victims or witness raised a hue and cry by shouting to alert others, people who heard expected to take part
• Anglo Saxon law enforcement - Courts

  • suspects taken to court. Different courts for different crimes
  • Royal Courts - serious crimes
  • Shire Courts - lesser crimes
  • Hundred Courts - petty crimes
  • (Court hearings were public)
• Anglo Saxon law enforcement - Oaths

  • Swearing before God
  • accused swears innocence
  • others could support called ‘ oath helpers’
• Anglo Saxon Law enforcement - Guilty or Innocent 


  • If jury couldn’t decide, it was given to church
  • God decided ( Trial by Ordeal)
• Norman law enforcement 


  Continuity

  • Tithings
  • Hue and cry
  • Court systems
• Norman law enforcement 


  changes

  • Trial by Combat introduced
  • Foresters ( police of Royal Forests)
• Later Medieval law enforcement - Local communities 


  Continuity

  • Hue and Cry
  • Tithings
  • Trial by Ordeal and Combat ( informal methods carried out by villagers)

  Change

  • Parish Constables introduced ( led hue and cry and arrested suspects)
  • Night Watchmen (patrolled streets)
  • Trial by Ordeal and Combat abolished in 1215
• Later Medieval law enforcement - Government

  Change

  • knights introduced by Richard I as Keepers of Peace in 1195
  • Role of Keeper of peace changed to Justice of the Peace following 1361 Justices of the Peace Act
  • JPs heard minor crimes 4 times a year
• Medieval Punishments


  • Fines
  • stocks (humiliation)
  • maiming (corporal)
  • flogging (corporal)
  • hanging (capital)
  • Beheading (capital)
• Anglo-Saxon punishments

  • Fines and compensation were most common.
  • Paying compensation to victims was used for many crimes, including murder.This was called the Saxon Wergild.
  • Corporal punishments were also fairly common but capital punishment was rarely used.
• Norman punishments

  • Use of capital and corporal punishments rose dramatically. More offences became capital crimes.
  • Breaking Forest Laws was punished very harshly, including castration, blinding and hanging.
  • The Wergild system was ended and fines were paid to the king.
  • Very minor crimes were still punished by fines, whipping or stocks
• Later medieval punishments 


  • Use of capital punishment gradually decreased, although crimes against authority were still harshly punished.
  • Corporal punishments were still widely used, although many juries would not convict their neighbours unless they regularly offended.
  • Fines became more common.
• Types of punishments


  • Capital punishment - killing the criminal.
  • Corporal punishment - physically hurting the criminal.
  • Retribution - making a criminal suffer for the crime committed.
  • Deterrence - trying to prevent others or the criminal from carrying out crime.
• Church courts


  • Used to try people accused of moral crimes
  • Punishments given were more lenient than other courts, as the Church wanted to give people the chance to reform
• Benefit of clergy

  • Clergy read passage from the Bible
  • Some commoners memorised the passage so they could recite it in court and claim benefit of clergy
  • The justice system in medieval society was not equal, men of cloth were treated better
• Church - Sanctuary

  • Sanctuary (protection from the law) was offered by churches
  • A person could claim sanctuary by going to one of these churches For 40 days and 40 nights
  • The priest would report the crime but no one was allowed to arrest the accused.
  • The accused could either agree to go to court or swear an oath agreeing to leave the country.
  • If the accused had not left the country within 40 days, they would be outlawed,
• Trial By Ordeal

  • first used in Anglo-Saxon times but was still being used at the start of the 13th century. In cases where a person's guilt or innocence could not be decided by a court, the Church used a trial by ordeal. Various methods were used but the outcome of all these trials was seen as God's judgement on the guilt or innocence of the accused. In 1215, the pope ordered his priests to stop administering these trials and they quickly ended.
• Trial by ordeal 


  • first used in Anglo-Saxon times but was still being used at the start of the 13th century.
  • In cases where a person's guilt or innocence could not be decided by a court, the Church used a trial by ordeal.
  • Various methods were used but the outcome of all these trials was seen as God's judgement
  • In 1215, Pope Innocent III ordered his priests to stop administering these trials and they quickly ended.
• Trial By Ordeal


  1. Trial by hot water or iron (if burn healed person was innocent)
  2. Trial by water (if person sank they were innocent)
  3. Trial by bread (if priests choked on bread whilst reciting the bible they were guilty)