The main type of crime remained petty theft as it had been during the Middle Ages.

Increase in population and the decline of feudalism led to higher unemployment, which meant more people moved to urban areas in search of work, so towns and cities grew. This led to an increase in crimes against the person as petty theft remained a problem.

There was more laws which is how the government 'created' more crime by criminalising acts.

There was a growth in robbery on the street and on the roads, also smuggling and poaching.

The end of feudalism and new farming methods led to enclosure of the land which led to an increase in crimes against property for example, poaching, as more landowners restricted those who could hunt on their land, more poaching occurred.

The change in people's religious beliefs and the religion of the monarch led to an increase in crimes against authority as more people committed heresy and high treason.

Heresy first became a crime in 1382 and it later became interlinked with treason because of religious turmoil in the early modern years because of the many religious changes of the Tudors, Stuarts and then the period of the Protectorate with the Cromwells. As the monarch became head of the church (apart from Mary I because she left that to the pope), treason and heresy became interlinked. During this period, both heresy and treason charges increased.

• Under Henry VIII, 81 people in total were executed for heresy.
• Edward executed leaders of rebellions for treason and only 2 catholics for heresy.
• Mary I was the most harsh on heretics with around 300 murdered for it-hence her name 'Bloody Mary' but the other Tudors were far more relaxed.
• Elizabeth turned a blind eye to recusants till she was excommunicated in 1570 and decided that she would have to take a harsher stance on those defying the religious settlement.
• James I executed many catholics for treason after the 1605 Gunpowder plot as, previously, he had been tolerant towards them. He began to implement harsh anti-catholic laws such as the 1605 Popish Recusants Act which forced catholics to swear loyalty to the KIng and pay heavy fines for not attending church.
  

Highway robberies became more common in the 16th and 17th century as more people travelled. Highway men had a good chance of getting away with their crimes. In the early 18th century, more roads were built and travel increased because of greater use of coaches.

Poaching and other rural crimes:

• Wealthy land owners and the aristocracy saw poaching as an attack on their property rights.
• The first law against poaching was passed in 1389, and more followed over the centuries.
• Most important was the Game Act of 1671.
• Many gangs of poachers also operated for profit like smugglers.
• In 1707, a law made buying, selling or possessing game an offence as well as hunting or trapping it. Even the fines and/or prison sentences did not stop people poaching.
• Poaching was considered to be a 'social crime' so the law was not hugely enforced in the early years of criminalising it since it was not considered to be of utmost importance.
  

In the 17th century, smuggling was mainly about avoiding the high import duties on things such as tea, brandy and silks and lace. It had high import duties to protect British agriculture and industry from foreign competition.

This was also considered to be a 'social' crime which meant the laws on it were not widely enforced since lots of people were involved.

A particularly notorious gang was the Hawkhurst Gang in London who were mainly involved in the smuggling activities and were an example of how organised crime increased with population.

Smuggling was mainly carried out at night on the coast eg. Devon and Cornwall. Many smugglers worked in violent gangs of around 50-100 or even more. They were often prepared to kill customs officials.

Smuggling of things such as tea and alcohol generally declined in the 19th century as import tax was reduced in order to stop the rampant crime that was smuggling. However, smuggling did not stop- only the nature of the crime did as smuggled items today include people and mainly drugs.

Smuggling was rampant during the Protectorate with Oliver Cromwell who criminalised things called 'moral' crimes which included drinking alcohol and even some sports.

Witchcraft was called for action against by all leaders: protestant or catholic.
Previously in the medieval period, witchcraft had been a minor crime that was dealt with by the Church courts almost exclusively. However, during the early modern period, new laws against witchcraft were passed, making it a very serious offence in response to the negative public view of it and frankly the fear of it.

Fear of Witchcraft was perpetuated by many things: superstition, the invention of the printing press, the monarchs themselves and the Witch Finder General, Matthew Hopkins. England has always been a very superstitious society; much of it tied to religion and this was no different. Witches were thought to work for the devil who had 'familiars' which were pets but thought to be a method for counsel from the Devil himself. The invention of the printing press meant that pamphlets (used by Matthew Hopkins) and other 'informational' leaflets could be passed around that simply increased the fear in Witchcraft as a whole. The changing monarchs in the Early Modern period and therefore the changing religion meant that more people and more things were likely to be accused of being symbols of or workers for the devil. James I and his book 'daemonologie' outlined his beliefs on witches and what to do about them which simply perpetuated the belief in them and therefore the fear. He was thought to be influenced in writing it by his own experiences in the North Berwick trials in 1590.

• In 1542, Henry VIII made witchcraft punishable by death- the Witchcraft Act.
• In 1563, Elizabeth I changed the law so that charges of witchcraft could no longer be tried in the more lenient church courts but had to be tried in common courts
• In 1604, James I instructed the death penalty to be given to people 'summoning evil spirits'.
  

In the first half of the 16th century, arable fields were enclosed, especially in the north of England, and turned to pasture for sheep. Thus, labourers were forced off the land and had to turn to elsewhere for work.

In the 1530s, Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries (and debased the coinage), the poor had reduced places to turn to and they had previously cared for the poor in times of need.

The breaking down of the feudal system meant that people were released from the bonds that held society together- although social mobility improved, it wasn't easy and due to other factors, this was generally bad since the poor would get poorer.

Vagabonds were feared because there was no police force to check on strangers, anyone new to an area was immediately suspicious.

Beggars were seen as a threat to law and order because they moved freely from place to place.

The late 15th and 16th century saw a very large increase in vagrants due to increasing population, falling wages and rising wages and also no system to look after the poor (after Henry VIII closed the monasteries in 1536).

• 1494, Vagabonds and Beggars Act which meant that vagabonds were put in the stocks for 3 days and nights then sent back to the place where they were most well known or where they were born
• 1547- Vagabondage Act introduced by Edward VI which meant that the able bodied poor without work for more than 3 days would be branded with a 'V' and sold into slavery for 2 years.
• 1597- Act for the Relief of the Poor- split vagrants into two categories: elderly, deserving or impotent poor and then the able bodied or undeserving poor.
• 1601- The Poor Laws- the 'deserving' poor were given poor relief by the local parish and the 'undeserving' poor would be sent to correctional houses or whipped and punished.

From about 1650, the rate of population growth began to slow down which helped deal with poverty.

In Early Modern period, there were things that were continued from the medieval period such as the hue and cry system. You were still expected to raise the hue and cry and to join the chase to find criminals.
Since there was no police force till 1829, the levels of effectiveness across the country varied with community techniques.

Watchmen were new and they worked at night from 10 pm to dawn.The position was unpaid and every male householder was expected to volunteer at some point- similar to the role of the Parish Constable from years earlier. They were overseen by the Town constable and carried a lamp to light their way and rang a bell to alert people.

A Town Constable was a newish post that was appointed by the authorities in towns. He was a respected member of the community and had the power to arrest suspects and take them to Justices of the Peace. He also helped with town administration.

In the 17th century, JPs had an increasingly important role in law enforcement. The main forms of punishment administered by JPs were fines, pillory, stocks and whipping but in the Quarter Sessions, they could still issue capital punishment. They had to deal with things like wages, prices, road and bridge repairs as well as enforcing laws to do with vagrancy.

Punishments:

• The main purpose of punishment continued to be deterrence so they were made as unpleasant as possible. For example, the execution of the Duke of Northumberland in 1553- he was hung publicly so that as many people as possible could see.
• Often common criminals would be hung, drawn, disemboweled and quartered.
• Fines, pillory, stocks, flogging, maiming, hanging and burning (only for heresy) were still the most common types of punishment.
• The authorities saw highwaymen as the most serious criminal threat- hence large rewards were given for information.
• Smuggling was also dealt with harshly and if an official was killed, hanging was inevitable.
• In 1723, the Black Act made the poaching of deer, rabbits and hares a capital punishment.
• This period saw 2 new punishments called transportation and imprisonment. Transportation began in the mid-17th century, when criminals were increasingly sent to English colonies in North America and Australia.
• In 1718 a Transportation Act was passed and in the next 50 years, over 70% of all those convicted at the Old Bailey Court in London were transported.
• It was introduced because it reflected the new ideas on the aims of punishment, transportation was still a serious punishment but gave criminals a chance at rehabilitation while still acting as a deterrent.

The Bloody Code was the name given by the English legal system that lasted from 1688 to the 1825. The number of capital crimes rose to over 200 crimes by 1820. The Waltham Black Act in 1723 alone added 50 new capital offences. This was to deter people from committing crimes and usually dealt with more minor crimes.