Norman England

• New crimes in Norman England -William 1’s forest laws

  • 30% of England became “royal forest”
  • village communities were evicted from this land
  • royal forests were protected by forest laws
  • only those who paid hunting rights were allowed to hunt
  • illegal to kill/graze wild animals without a licence
• Rebellions

  • Betraying your lord and inciting rebellion against a king were punished harshly, to assert William’s authority
  • therefore death penalties were ordered for the rebels
  • as well as those who where not directly involved
  • suggesting that 100,000 people starved to death due to destruction of farmland and animals
• Murdrum Fine

  • If an Anglo-Saxon murdered a Norman and no culprit was found a large sum of money had to be paid
  • of which was payed by the hundred where the body was found
• Shire reeve

  • A local man appointed within a community to take criminals to court