History Crime and Punishment

• King's peace


  Anglo-Saxons believed it was the king's duty to take care of law and order, so people could go about their everyday lives knowing that the law would be upheld
• Role of Anglo-Saxon kings

  • Decides new laws and issues codes of law
  • Responsible for keeping the king's peace
• Main groups of Anglo-Saxon society

  • King
  • Nobles
  • Freemen
  • Serfs
• Treason


  Betraying the king - for example, by helping his enemies, or plotting to kill or replace him
• Crimes against the person


  Crimes, like assault or murder, that cause physical harm to another person
• Crimes against property


  Crimes, like theft, robbery and arson, that involve taking or damaging something that belongs to another person
• Collective responsibility


  Being responsible for the actions of other members of your group. In a village community, if somebody broke the law it was up to everyone in the village to take action
• Reeve


  A local official, appointed from the community
• Abbeys


  Communities of monks or nuns
• Moral crimes


  Actions that didn't physically harm anyone, or their property, but didn't match up to society's views on decent behaviour: for example, having sex outside marriage, or not sticking to the rules and customs of the Church
• Anglo-Saxon kings formally issued codes of law. With each new code, new laws could be introduced, existing laws could be altered, and laws that were being ignored could be strengthened
• Extracts from the Doom Book


  • If any one carry off or ravish, from or minister, without the king's or the bishop's leave, let him pay or have a hundred and twenty shillings, half to the king, half to the bishop and to the church who owns the nun
  • If a man commit folk-leasing [making false accusations that harm somebody's reputation] and it be fixed upon him, with no lighter thing let him make, but [compensation] that his tongue be cut out
  • If any one plot against the king's life, of himself or by harbouring of exiles, or of his men; let him be liable with his life and in all that he has; or let him prove himself according to his lord's oath [the monetary value of a man's life]
• The Anglo-Saxons believed the role of the local community in policing the behaviour of others was very important
• Anglo-Saxon justice relied heavily on religion when deciding whether someone was guilty or innocent
• Oath


  A formal declaration of the facts, calling on God to witness that what is said is true. A typical oath could start, "I swear before God..."
• Trial by ordeal


  A way of testing whether the accused was innocent or guilty in the eyes of God. The effect that the ordeal had on the accused was seen as God's judgement on their guilt or innocence
• Trials by ordeal


  • Trial by hot water, trial by hot iron, trial by cold water
• Petty theft


  Stealing small, low-value items
• Maiming


  Causing physical harm. A criminal could be punished by having a hand or ear cut off, or their tongue cut out
• Wergild


  A fine paid to the victim's family as compensation for the loss of life
• Wergild amounts by social rank


  • Prince: 1500 shillings
  • Yeoman farmer: 100 shillings
  • Serf: 40 shillings
• Capital punishment


  The death penalty
• Corporal punishment


  A range of punishments that caused harm or pain to the body- including being beaten or having body parts removed
• Retribution


  A severe punishment, meant to match the severity of the crime
• Deterrent


  A punishment that is frightening or painful, and designed to put other people off committing the same crime
• Rank of people


  • Prince
  • Yeoman farmer
  • Serf
• Wergild


  Payment for loss of life
• Wergild amounts


  • 1500 shillings
  • 100 shillings
  • 40 shillings
• Treason and arson (which was viewed as very serious as it damaged the land and property of the ruling classes) were punished by execution - usually by hanging
• For lesser crimes, corporal punishments, including mutilation, could be used
• Corporal punishment was meant to act as a deterrent, to help stop other people from committing similar crimes
• Punishments like eye gouging, or removing a hand or foot, sound very harsh, but they were seen as a more lenient alternative to the death penalty
• Criminals who survived these disfiguring punishments served an important function by reminding others of the consequence of committing crimes
• Archaeologists discovered 12 skeletons in total, all belonging to adults, and all missing their skulls. The skulls were later found buried nearby and had no jawbones. The archaeologists speculated that they had rotted away while the heads had been on public display
• Although the bodies were found close together, they had been buried on separate occasions. The archaeologists concluded that they had uncovered an Anglo-Saxon execution cemetery
• Crimes against property


  • Theft
  • Counterfeiting coins
  • Arson
• Public punishments, using the stocks or pillory, were a combination of physical pain and discomfort and public humiliation
• The pillory secured the arms and neck (the Anglo-Saxons called the pillory a 'catchneck'). Stocks secured the ankles
• The stocks or pillory were placed outdoors, usually at the centre of a town or village, in full view of the neighbours
• Those receiving the penalty would be exposed to bad weather, sometimes for several days