history crime and punishment c.1000-c.1500

• Crimes in Anglo-Saxon England


  • Crimes against the person
  • Crimes against property
  • Crimes against authority
• Crimes against the person


  • Murder
  • Assault
  • Insulting a neighbour
  • Public disorder
• Crimes against property


  • Petty theft
  • Ploughing someone else's land
  • Poaching
  • Counterfeiting coins
  • Arson
• Poaching


  Illegal hunting or fishing
• Poaching


  Considered a social crime, many villages did not punish people who did it
• Crimes against authority


  • Betraying your lord
  • Treason
• Treason


  To betray or plot against the government or monarchy
• Crime has always been a feature of human society, but the crimes committed in Anglo-Saxon England were different and less numerous than those committed today
• Anglo-Saxon society was structured with the king, nobles, the Church, and peasants
• The king was the most important person, controlling the land and deciding who to give it to. The king's main roles were to defend the country and protect the people with law and order (the King's Peace)
• Anglo-Saxon England was Christian, and the people believed the king had been chosen by God
• Nobles were important people who supported and advised the king. They were given land by the king and were expected to keep law and order in their lands
• The Church had its own courts for clergy and offered a place of sanctuary for people accused of crimes
• Most people were peasants who lived in villages and farmed the land, spending some time working for the local lord and the rest on their own land. The villagers knew each other well and were expected to look out for one another
• Tithing


  A group of ten male adults. If one member of the ten broke the law, it was the responsibility of the others to catch the culprit and take him to court.
• Hue and cry


  A method of raising the alarm to the rest of the village after a crime had been committed, usually by shouting loudly.
• Collective responsibility


  • When the community was held responsible for an action.
• Trial by local jury


  The jury was made up of men from the village tithing who knew the accuser and the accused. The jury would listen to accounts from both, and possibly witnesses, before deciding who was telling the truth.
• Trial by ordeal


  If a local jury could not decide the outcome of a crime, then the villagers would turn to God to decide. This was known as judicium dei (by the judgement of God) or trial by ordeal.
• Methods of trial by ordeal


  • Trial by hot iron
  • Trial by hot water
  • Trial by blessed bread
  • Trial by cold water
• Capital punishment


  Punishment resulting in death, in particular death by hanging, used for treason to deter others.
• Corporal punishment


  A punishment involving physical harm, such as mutilation, used for repeat offenders.
• Pillory


  A wooden frame with holes to hold the head and hands of someone convicted of a crime.
• Stocks


  A wooden frame with holes to hold the feet of someone convicted of a crime.
• Wergild


  A system of fines used in Anglo-Saxon England that was paid as compensation to the victims of crime or their families.
• The fine for killing a prince was 1,500 shillings while the fine for killing a peasant was 40 shillings
• The fine for killing a Welsh person was even lower because Anglo-Saxon England was often at war with Wales
• Murdrum


  A law introduced by William I that said if a Norman was killed and the murderer was not captured and executed, then the people of that region had to collectively pay a fine
• Forest laws


  • The cutting down of trees was forbidden
  • People in the forest were not allowed to own dogs or a bow and arrow
  • People were also not allowed to hunt deer and were punished by having their first two fingers cut off so that they could no longer use a bow and arrow
  • Repeat offenders were blinded
• The forest laws were not popular because activities that were allowed on common land in Anglo-Saxon England were made illegal
• Some people still broke the forest laws because they felt they were unfair and they saw them as more of a social crime
• Local communities often didn't report people who hunted or collected firewood from the forest
• Women


  Norman laws were harsher on women than the laws of the past. Women had been treated equally to men in Anglo-Saxon England.
• A Norman legal text: '"Women's authority nil. Let her in all things be subject to the rule of men."'
• Law enforcement in Norman England


  • William I continued the methods of law enforcement that were used effectively in Anglo-Saxon England
  • Collective responsibility within the community continued to be used to prevent crime and hold criminals to account
  • Tithings
  • Hue and cry
  • Trial by ordeal
  • Role of sheriff and posse were introduced by William I after 1066
  • Manor courts were established to discuss and punish crimes that took place on the land of the lord of the manor
  • Trial by combat was introduced to settle disagreements over money or land
  • Church courts were introduced for members of the Church accused of a crime
• Law enforcement in medieval England


  1. New positions were added that increased the role played by the king and local government

  2. Posse - A group of men, organised by the sheriff, to catch a criminal

  3. Royal courts - Introduced by Henry II in 1163, the most serious cases of crime were heard by a royal court

  4. Coroners - Introduced by Richard I in 1194 to investigate unnatural deaths

  5. Justices of the Peace (JPs) - Appointed by the king from 1195 to keep the King's Peace and enforce the law

  6. Parish constables - Introduced by Edward I in 1285, responsible for keeping the peace in their parish
• There was a move away from law enforcement being the responsibility of just the local community
• Retribution


  A punishment inflicted on someone for a crime or wrong doing, revenge, or 'paying the criminal back' for their crimes
• Deterrence


  The action of discouraging someone from doing something or preventing something from happening - often by creating a fear of the consequences
• Punishment in Norman England


  • William I kept some punishments used in Anglo-Saxon England
  • He increased the use of capital punishment for serious crimes and repeat offenders
  • Corporal punishment continued to be used
  • Fines were used for less serious crimes
  • William I also made changes to some punishments used in Anglo-Saxon England