Crime and Punishment c.1000-c.1500

trials

trial by local jury

  • jury made up from men from village who knew both the accuser an accused
  • the jury would listen to each side of the story and decide if guilty or not based on knowledge of the people
  • if the accused could find a group of 12 men or convince jury they were innocent they could swear an oath in their defence : compurgation

trial by ordeal

  • all types took place in the church, the accused had to fast for 3 days and hear mass with a priest present
  • god judged if innocent or guilty
  • trial by hot iron, hot water, cold water, cake / bread

Norman changes

  • kept trial by ordeal and added trial by combat
  • French became official language in court and all record were in Latin
  • introduced church courts, royal court dealt with the most serious crimes

punishments

wergild

fines and wergild were very common

wergild was compensation paid to a victim or family

was used to end blood fueds

level of fine set by King and hierarchy of society e.g. noble=300 shillings, freedman=100 shillings

capital punishment - death penalty was used to deter others from serious crimes or repeat offending

corporal punishment - e.g. cutting off a hand, used to deter and humiliate

Norman changes

  • William introduced murdrum fine if a Norman was killed
  • punishments for breaking forest laws were severe
  • Normans altered wergild - fines were paid to the King

crime

most serious crimes were those that threatened the authority of the King

Norman changes

most common crime was theft

  • William made a new law - if a Norman was murdered the whole region had to pay an expensive fine
  • William created forest laws - made previously legal actions illegal e.g. cutting down trees, dog breeding, hunting
  • Norman law was much harsher on women and they became less equal to men

impact of the church

fear of hell was used to deter people

in 1215, Pope Innocent ended trial by ordeal

influence

church courts - claimed the right to try any churchman accused of crime with no death penalty

benefit of clergy - accused required to recite verse from the bible and was originally only for those who worked for the church

right of sanctuary - 40 days to stand trial or leave the country, ended by Henry VII
1170 - Thomas Becket was murdered by Henry's knights as he wasn't happy with the influence of the church

law enforcement

King chosen by God to protect subjects using the law

nobles were expected to keep law and order in their own lands

  • no police force
  • Tithings - group of 10 men responsible for each others behaviour, if 1 broke the law the others ha to see justice was done
  • Hue and Cry - if someone witnessed a crime they would raise the alarm and the rest of the community joined the hunt to catch them
  • Parish Constable introduced - volunteer to keep the peace
  • Sheriff introduced - if the hue and cry failed he had to organise a posse to capture the criminal