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Crime and Punishment c.1000-c.1500 (law enforcement (King chosen by God to…
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
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
most common crime was
theft
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