Anglo-Saxon and Norman Times

• William Duke of Normandy beat Harold Godwinson in the Battle of Hastings and became the new king of England


  14th of October 1066
• Castles


  • Built by the Normans to control the land and people
  • Had never been built in England before
  • Showed the local population they had to follow the Normans' laws and respect their way of doing things
• The Normans kept the majority of Anglo-Saxon laws
• Reasons the Normans kept Anglo-Saxon laws


  • It was too much trouble to replace them
  • The laws actually worked well, e.g. tithings and hue and cry
• The Normans kept trial by ordeal until 1215 when it was outlawed
• Trial by combat


  The accused and accuser would fight until the death or until one couldn't continue, with the idea that God would be on the side of the innocent
• Church courts


  • Specifically for people claiming benefit of clergy or involved in the church
  • More lenient than royal courts, with far easier punishments
• Forest laws


  • Trees in royal forests couldn't be cut down
  • People living near woods/forests deemed the king's land were forbidden from having bows, arrows, or dogs
  • Hunting of deer in royal forests was banned
  • Serious punishments for breaking these laws, e.g. losing fingers needed to fire a bow
• The Normans kept corporal and capital punishments for serious crimes, like the Anglo-Saxons
• Language changes


  • Normans spoke Norman French, which was used in courts and records were kept in Latin
  • Neither language would make sense to normal Anglo-Saxons, another form of control
• Fines


  Kept by the Normans but made payable to the king instead of the system of wergild
• Murdering fine


  A significant fine payable to the king if you murdered a Norman
• The Normans took away women's rights, subjecting them to the rule of men, unlike the more forward-thinking Anglo-Saxons
• Sanctuary


  • If you were on the run, you could claim 40 days of sanctuary in a cathedral or church
• Benefits of clergy


  • If you could read a passage from the Bible in Latin, you could be tried by the more lenient church courts instead of royal courts
• Parish constables


  • Unpaid volunteers whose job was to lead a hue and cry
• Sheriffs


  • Royal officials whose job was to go after serious criminals like murderers and rapists, and bring them before the royal courts
• Crime and Punishment is a change in continuity study, where you think about what has changed and what has stayed the same
• The period of the Anglo-Saxons is 410 AD to 1066 AD, with 1066 being the date of the Norman Invasion
• After the Romans left in 400 AD


  • Anglo-Saxons and Jutes invaded Britain
  • Period of relative lawlessness and blood feuds were the main way of settling grudges or gaining justice
• Blood feuds


  1. If somebody hurts or murders someone in your family, you have the right to go back and murder someone in their family

  2. This leads to retribution, revenge and very little justice
• Tithing


  Groups of men over 12 who are put into a group together, and if one of them commits a crime, the rest have to pay a fine
• Human cry


  If you see a crime, you raise the alarm, and everyone in the village or town is expected to join the chase
• Trial by jury


  If you're accused of a crime, you will be taken to a folk moot or hundred court and tried by a jury of your peers
• Oath helpers


  People who can swear your innocence if you have a good standing in the local community
• Trial by ordeal


  If the jury cannot decide your guilt, you will undergo an ordeal like plunging your hand into boiling water to appeal to God
• Wergild


  Fines paid to the people who have been harmed by a crime, with the amount depending on the victim's status
• There are no police or prisons, only temporary imprisonment until trial
• Punishments


  • Fines
  • Corporal punishment (mutilation, whipping, stocks)
  • Capital punishment (hanging, beheading)
• Punishments are about deterrence, and there is a focus on loyalty and oaths
• Court system


  • Folk moots/hundred courts (monthly)
  • Shire courts (twice a year)
  • Royal courts (for serious criminals)