Crime and Punishment Unit

• Crimes in Saxon England included drinking too much, insulting your neighbor, stealing, murder, and plowing someone else's land
• Punishments in Saxon England included fines
• Tithing


  A group of 10 men who were each responsible for everyone else's behavior, if one of them broke the law the other members had to bring him to court or pay a fine
• Hue and cry


  If a crime was committed, the victim was expected to raise hue and cry, and the entire village had to stop whatever they were doing and join in the hunt to catch the criminal
• Parish constable


  A local man given the duty of making sure that law and order was followed in the village, this job was unpaid
• Trial by local jury


  The first form of trial, the accused person would be judged by 10 men from the local community who would have known both the accused person and the victim
• Trial by local jury


  The accused and the victim would each give their version of what happened, if the jury could not tell who was telling the truth or if there was not enough evidence then they would decide based on their knowledge of the people concerned, if they decided the victim was more trustworthy than the accused they would find the accused guilty and swear an oath of compurgation
• Trial by ordeal


  A different type of trial used by Saxons, where they believed God could be asked to tell them whether a person was guilty or innocent
• Types of trial by ordeal


  • Trial by hot iron
  • Trial by hot water
  • Trial by cold water
  • Trial by blessed bread
• Wergild


  A system of fines for different crimes used by the Saxons, each crime had a specific fine, designed to make further violence less likely unlike the blood feud which was all about retribution
• The wergild system was not a fair one as more powerful members of society were protected by higher fines
• Capital and corporal punishments


  Used only for the most serious crimes in Saxon England, treason or plotting against the king could lead to execution, and people who committed the same crime more often were often punished by having their limbs cut off or other mutilations
• Public humiliation was more practical in Saxon England as executing or imprisoning someone would often mean everyone suffered
• When William the Conqueror took control of England, he brought some new ideas about crime and punishment, he was tough on criminals and believed any crime was going against the king's peace rather than just the individual victim
• The Normans introduced a new type of trial called trial by combat, where the accused fought with the accuser until one was killed or unable to fight on, the loser was then hanged as God had judged him to be guilty
• The Normans ended the wergild system, all fines for crimes were paid to the king and no longer the victim's family
• Norman law was much harsher on women, giving them much less rights than men
• Church courts


  Separate courts introduced by the Normans which were used for churchmen and tended to be more lenient since there was no capital punishments
• The Norman king Henry II made further changes to crime and punishment laws so that he could increase his personal power, including the introduction of incarceration as a form of punishment and the ending of trial by ordeal
• Justices of the Peace


  People given power by the King to hear court cases on his behalf and pass sentence on people found guilty
• The church claimed the right to try and judge men accused of a crime in its own courts, often dealing with moral offenses such as failing to go to church, drunkenness, adultery, and playing football on a Sunday
• Benefit of the clergy


  If a person was accused of a crime they were allowed to claim the right to be tried in a church court where punishments were less severe, they had to prove they worked for the church by reading a passage from the Bible
• Sanctuary


  If a criminal on the run from the law could reach a church, they could claim sanctuary and be under the judge's protection for up to 40 days before deciding to either leave and be arrested or leave the country
• The church ended trial by ordeal in 1215 as it was seen as unreliable
• Between 1500 and 1700, factors that changed the nature of crime and criminals included population growth, economic changes, the destruction of the monasteries, religious turmoil, political turmoil, and changing attitudes of landowners towards vagabonds
• The government used a variety of different measures to try and deal with vagabonds, including whipping, slavery, branding, execution, and houses of correction
• Petty crimes such as selling underweight goods or cheating at cards still existed, as did more serious crimes such as owing money, theft, murder, and assault
• Hue and cry


  Was still relied upon between 1500-1700, as was the Posse Comitatus
• Parish constables


  Remained the main defense against crime, it was a part-time job and they had no weapons or uniform, they did not go out on patrol and spent most of their time dealing with minor issues
• Watchmen and sergeants


  Were employed in large towns and cities to patrol the streets during the day and night, they were poorly paid and not very effective
• Justices of the Peace


  Became a major part of law enforcement between 1500-1700, they were important local people who judged local or minor court cases, they were allowed to fine people, put them in the stocks, or order them to be whipped
• There were a variety of different courts, including manor courts, quarter sessions, and county assizes, which all relied on a local jury
• t warrant from a magistrate and to arrest the criminal responsible rewards these were offered to anyone who successfully captured a criminal responsible for more serious crimes
• Justices of the Peace


  Set up in the medieval period, became a major part of law enforcement between 1500 and 1700, important local people landowners who judged local or minor court cases
• Justices of the Peace


  • Allowed to find people, put people in the stocks or order them to be whipped
• Courts


  • Manor courts handled local and minor crimes
  • Justices of the Peace handled minor crimes on their own and met with other JPS in the same County four times a year for quarter sessions
  • Royal judges visited each County twice a year to handle the most serious offenses, known as County Assizes
• By the 1600s many people could read and were able to cheat the benefit of clergy rules so it was gotten rid of
• Habeas corpus


  Act passed in 1679, prevented the authorities from locking up a person indefinitely without evidence that they were guilty
• Laws concerning punishment for crimes got a lot stricter, known as the bloody court
• Punishments


  • Capital punishment for major crimes such as murder, treason and arson, as well as stealing expensive items
  • Execution by hanging, burning at the stake or beheading, carried out publicly to deter others
  • Pillory to humiliate the criminal
  • Fines
  • Whipping
  • Houses of Correction for hard labor
  • Gaols to hold people before trial
  • Carting to shame the criminal
  • Dunking stool for women who argued or disobeyed their husbands
  • Transportation to the American colonies and later Australia