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Crime & Punishment in Anglo Saxon Times 410 to 1066CE - Coggle…
Crime & Punishment in
Anglo Saxon Times
410 to 1066CE
Life at that time
Number of people lived in villages is more than people lived in town
Brilliant neighbourhood culture in villages
Self serving capabilities of farming to grow their own food
Young children aged 10 were considered adults
Stage 1 Punishment System:
Self governing system
No Police force as such those days
Keeping law and order was the responsibility of everyone in the village
When someone publicly commiting a crime , then the witness can shout for help. No obligations for anyone to help chase and capture the suspects.
Stage 3 Punishment System:
Leadership/Church ruling
The leader of the village decides punishment based on the laws documented by the King
The church and local lords also has the power to decide punishments, but the church had its own courts and a different system of punishment
No prisons. It's fine system for all those feel guilty of their crime. However, those who repeat the crime will get their hands cut-off
Death penalties were issued for the people who go against king or betraying their lord
Stage 5 Punishments System:
Weregild
'Blood price', was a system
if you injured someone,
the victim gets money from you
Fine structure
Kind decides fine structure
12 shillings for a broken thigh
20 shillings for the loss of a thumb
50 shillings the loss of an eye
If a person killed someone, they pay the fine to the dead person's relatives
Stage 6 Punishment System:
Trail by ordeal
This process is followed when a jury can't decide the person was innocent or guilty
Punishment examples
Walking at least nine feet on hot coals
Putting your handing boiling water to retrieve a stone
Picking up a red hot iron
Belief
If your wounds healed cleanly after 3 days, then you were considered to be innocent in the eyes of God
Stage 4 Punishment System:
Victims punishing criminals
Early Saxon Kings allowed victims of crimes to punish criminals themselves in a ruthless way
So, if someone was murdered, the family had the right to track down and kill the murderer
This obviously led to more violence and hence a ruling system was enforced 'Weregild'
Stage 2 Punishment system:
Tithing
Group of ten men were made responsible for each other’s behaviour
If one in 10 has broke the law, the other members of the tithing had to bring them to court. If they didn't, they would have to pay a fine.
Every male over the age of 12 was expected to join a tithing