Crime and Punishment/Whitechapel

• The king as law maker

  Anglo-Saxon kings were issuing codes of law that made certain actions crimes, illustrating the growing power of the monarch
• After 1066, the importance of the king in making laws grew as his authority increased
• William I added new laws that created new crimes, illustrating how a powerful king can lead to change
• After Henry II became king in 1154, standard laws were written down, meaning that, for the first time, there was a uniform legal system across the whole country
• The Church created laws that criminalised some actions, influenced the types of punishment given in response and played a direct role in deciding guilt or innocence
• Poaching


  Hunting wild animals on other people's land without paying 'hunting rights'
• Poaching is a 'social' crime because it was considered to be acceptable to many people – catching animals for food on common land was allowed and helped people survive
• Reducing the amount of common land meant many had to choose between breaking the law and going hungry
• Crimes against the person

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


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


  • Treason
  • Rebellion
• Rebellions against the Norman king were punished far more harshly to try to assert his authority
• William I also punished those who were not directly involved in the rebellions - estimates suggest that 100,000 people starved to death due to the destruction of farmland and animals on William's orders
• Murdrum fine


  A new law used to help establish control over the conquered Anglo-Saxon population - if an Anglo-Saxon murdered a Norman and the culprit was not caught, a large sum of money had to be paid by the hundred where the body was found
• William I's Forest Laws

  About 30% of England became 'Royal Forest', which William I and the Norman nobility used for hunting. Village communities and farms were evicted from this land, which caused resentment. Only those who paid for hunting rights were allowed to hunt in the Royal Forest. It became illegal to graze animals, kill wild animals or take wood without a licence
• The Forest Laws were seen as unfair by ordinary people so those who broke these laws were not seen as criminals by most people in society
• Throughout medieval times there was no official 'police force'
• Anglo-Saxon law enforcement


  The community was largely responsible for both preventing crime and catching criminals
• Anglo-Saxon law enforcement methods

  • Tithings
  • Hue and cry
  • Oaths
  • Courts
• If the suspect did not admit to the crime, or was not caught in the act, their guilt or innocence had to be decided by a court
• There were different courts depending on the type of crime committed and the person who committed it
• Court hearings, in which the punishment that convicted criminals would receive was decided, took place in public
• If the jury couldn't decide, the accused was handed over to the Church so God could decide a person's guilt or innocence in a trial by ordeal
• Norman law enforcement changes

  • Trial by combat
  • Use of 'foresters' to police the Royal Forests
• The Normans built castles in every part of England to represent the strong royal authority and help impose law and order
• Later medieval law enforcement changes

  • Parish constables
  • Night watch
  • Abolition of trial by ordeal and combat
  • Appointment of knights as keepers of the peace
  • Justices of the Peace
  • Expanded role of the sheriff
• Anglo-Saxon punishments


  • Fines and compensation
  • Corporal punishments
  • Rarely used capital punishment
• Norman punishments


  • Dramatic rise in use of capital and corporal punishments
  • Harsh punishments for breaking Forest Laws
  • End of Wergild system
• Later medieval punishments


  • Decrease in use of capital punishment
  • Continued use of corporal punishments
  • Increase in fines
• Medieval punishments varied depending on class and gender
• The Church wanted the aim of punishment to involve reforming the criminal
• Types of medieval punishment

  • Beheading
  • Hanging
  • Flogging
  • Stocks
  • Maiming
  • Fines
• Church courts in the 13th century

  • Tried people accused of moral crimes
  • Tried members of the clergy for all crimes (benefit of clergy)
  • Used trial by ordeal
• Benefit of clergy showed how the justice system in medieval society was not equal
• Sanctuary


  Protection from the law offered by some important churches
• Changes in society led to an increase in crimes against the person and property
• The end of feudalism and new farming methods led to higher unemployment, which meant more people moved to urban areas in search of work, so towns and cities grew
• Benefit of clergy


  An alternative justice system operated by the Church outside the control of other authorities
• Sanctuary (protection from the law) was offered by some important churches only
• Sanctuary


  1. A person could claim sanctuary by going to one of these churches

  2. The priest would report the crime but no one was allowed to arrest the accused

  3. The accused could either agree to go to court or swear an oath agreeing to leave the country

  4. If the accused had not left the country within 40 days, they would be outlawed