Early modern England c1500-c1700

• Crimes

  • Many types of crime continued from medieval England including muder,petty theft,assault and treason
  • heresy increased due to the introduction of the Protestant Church and the change in official religion
  • witchcraft became a crime from 1542
  • Vagrancy increased as the population grew
  • luxury items like tea and alcohol began to be smuggled
• Heresy

  • To disagree with or refuse to follow the religious views of the monarch or the state
• Vagrant

  • homeless, unemployed person who wandered the streets
• Change in law

  • The change in law prevented anyone from using the benefit of the clergy for serious crimes
• 1547 Vagrancy Acts

  • Those who were able-bodied and were without work for more than three days
  • were branded with the letter ”V” and sold as a slave
• 1494-vagabonds and beggars act

  • Vagabonds were put in stocks for three days and nights
  • then sent back to where they were born
• 1597-Act for the relief of the poor

  • Split vagrants into 2 categories
  • the deserving(the elderly)
  • and the undeserving(those fit for work)
• 1601-Poor Laws

  • The “deserving poor“ were given poor relief by the local parish
  • and the “undeserving poor” could be whipped or sent to a correction house
• Smuggling

  • When import tax was introduced in the 17th century
  • the crime of smuggling increased dramatically
  • like poaching it is an example of a social crime many people did not view as a serious crime or threat
• Witchcraft

  • Now seen as a serious crime compared to medieval times
  • in 1542 Henry VIII made witchcraft punishable by death
  • in 1563 Elizabeth I changed law to make witchcraft be tried in a common court
  • in 1604 James I instructed the death penalty to be given to people “summoning evil spirits”
• Watchmen

  1. Carried a lamp to light their way
  2. rang a bell to alert people
  3. all male households were expected to volunteer and role was unpaid
  4. patrolled the street between 10pm and dawn
  5. overseen by town constable
• Town constables

  1. Employed by authorities in town
  2. respected members of the community
  3. had the power to arrest suspects and take them to the Justice of the Peace
  4. in charge of the watchmen in their area
  5. helped with town administration
• Punishments

  • Fines: continued to be used to punish minor crimes
  • Pillory or stocks ,flogging or maiming : these forms of corporal punishments continued to be used for crimes of begging, drunkenness and vagrancy
  • Hanging: capital punishments were still commonly used for crimes, such as theft, murder and poaching and also witchcraft and smuggling
  • Burning: only used for punishments for heresy