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Crime and punishment c.1000 - present, The Tolpuddle Martyrs, 1530s -…

- - - - 1100 - Later Medieval Period
        
        1066
        
        Norman invasion - William the Conqueror and the Battle of Hastings.
        
        changes
        
        trial by ordeal remained, however a new trial called trial by combat was introduced where the accuser and the accused fought to the death or until one could fight no more. again, God would have given his power to the innocent and they would supposedly win.
        
        forest laws
        
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        women had more 'equal rights' in terms of punishments. previously they had been more lenient but women were now punished at the same severity as men.
        
        new Murdrum fines were introduced - this was a fine paid by the English fir the killing of a Norman.
        
        King William wanted to improve Englands defences so wanted to build new castles. this sometimes meant demolishing and building over existing Anglo - Saxon settlements and villages, so many English wanted to take matters into their own hands by killing Normans who angered them.
        
        these fines were paid to the king.
        
        wergild stayed, however all fines now had to be paid to the King, instead of the victim or their families.
        
        laws were written in either French or Latin, neither of which the English could understand
        
        church courts were introduced were introduced - these were used to try priests and clergymen
        
        c.1000
        
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        Anglo - Saxon before 1066
        
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        Continuities
        
        trial by ordeal, however, trial by combat was introduced
        
        sheriffs were still used to police communities and villages.
        
        due to the introduction of church courts, the accused were able to claim the Benefit of the Clergy - this was originally meant for priests when they had to recite a bible verse to prove they were a priest. however, many people simply learned this verse off by heart. this coined the term 'neck verse' because if you could not recite it you were hanged by the neck.
        
        under the reign of King Henry II
        
        increased the role of government and had a more centralised legal system.
        
        introduced the Assize of Clarendon.
        
        this was a reorganisation of courts and the set up of prisons to hold the accused where they awaited trial.
        
        assizes (trial sessions ran by the king's Justices in Eyre which travelled to hear cases) could intervene periodically in towns to hear cases.
        
        more substantial written instruction to sheriffs and parish constables who were in charge of policing communities on how the law worked.
        
        key roles in law enforcement in the later medieval period
        
        parish constables: the main person who volunteered to police communities. someone who was well respected and was expected to raise the hue & cry.
        
        sheriffs: the person who arrested and took in criminals if villagers failed to do so during the hue & cry
        
        watchmen: helped the parish constable by keeping watch at night to catch criminals
        
        coroners: someone who enquired into unnatural deaths
        
        Justices of the Peace: local magistrates who heard cases in order to keep the peace.
        
        royal courts: the court which heard the most serious cases and visited each town twice a year
        
        the changes made were necessary due to the growth in population - local community policing had rendered ineffective.
      - trial by ordeal is abolished by Pope Innocent III
    - - growth in population
        
        i.e therefore people were more vulnerable to unemployment because there were not enough jobs to go around.
      - religious instability - following the Protestant Reformation of the 1530s
        
        this led to hostility especially between catholics and protestants - each believed that the other was in association with the devil and evil
        
        this increased public belief in the devil and all things supernatural i.e witchcraft
      - economic changes - England was becoming wealthier.
        
        hence, the price of things was increasing.
        
        wider gap between the rich and poor
        
        a primary source of trade was from agriculture and the land. the prevalence of bad harvests resulted in lack of trade and therefore unemployment + lack of food (i.e no crops like wheat to make things like bread and also no feed for animals to survive and be used for meat
      - improvements in technology
        
        printing was invented in the 15th century allowing information to be consumed by the masses - this allowed for the creation of exaggeration and hysteria surrounding witchcraft and vagabondage
      - political changes
        
        1640s - the civil war occurred, resulting in the execution of King Charles I. this shocked the population of England and created insecurity and fear surrounding the government and stability of the monarchy for decades to come.
        
        this further increased paranoia and suspicion amongst many.
    - - vagrant = a wandering homeless person who begs in order to survive.
      - increases in vagrancy were due to:
        
        increasing population - not enough jobs to go around
        
        failing wages - growth in economy
        
        rise in food prices
        
        no system to help the needy - due to the dissolution of monasteries in the 1530s
      - "The Devil makes work for idle hands"
        
        society in those days was very religiously biased so anything which came outside of the norms of what they deemed morally and religiously correct was greatly feared and shunned.
      - many turned to crime in order to survive. e.g. petty theft of food
        
        fuelled by fear and prejudice, people then thought that vagabonds had organised crime gangs and special languages so they could communicate
        
        this was not strictly true, and although there were some cases of vagabonds using 'canting' language, there was very little evidence for it and was only really seen in London - even then there is very minimal evidence for this. most vagabonds tended to travel alone or in small groups
      - viewed as lazy and responsible for their own problems
      - pamphleteers fuelled fear of vagabonds
      - the better - off were made to pay poor rates to support the genuine poor from their own parish and did not want to pay it to the poor who had come from other areas.
      - vagabondage laws
        
        1494 - vagabonds put in stocks for 3 days and sent back to their birthplace
        
        1547 - able bodied unemployed for 3 days were branded with a 'v' and sent for slavery for 2 years (repealed however)
        
        1601 - 'poor laws': deserving poor were given poor relief by the parish, the undeserving were branded, whipped or sent to a correction house
- - - - 1688
        
        1700s - 1800s
        
        1700s
        
        1749
        
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        highway robbery
        
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        changes and continuities
        
        changes
        
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        continuities
        
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        the 'Bloody Code'
        
        the name given to the English legal system after the changes to the law beginning in 1688 made more laws punishable by death
        
        number of laws punishable by death: -1688: 50, -1765:160, -1815: 225
        
        laws punishable by death
        
        murder
        
        arson
        
        forgery
        
        cutting down trees
        
        stealing cattle
        
        destroying turnpike roads
        
        pickpocketing goods
        
        being out at night with a blackened face
        
        wrecking a fishpond
        
        stealing from a shipwreck
        
        came about because those who were in power and made laws were usually very rich and made laws which protected their interests - anything which threatened their wealth, property or status was criminalised
    - - continuities
        
        hue and cry
        
        local parish constables in small villages
        
        citizens were responsible for policing themselves
        
        still had Justices of the Peace (magistrates who heard cases)
        
        courts became more mainstream, i.e the Royal Judges
        
        church courts continued for churchmen, although benefit of the clergy abolished
      - changes
        
        society
        
        dramatic increase in population and large towns, especially towns and cities like York and London
        
        this made an increase in crime because there were more people, it was easier to hide and due to the larger population it was less noticeable if someone committed a crime, in comparison to small village communities like the medieval times
        
        policing
        
        town watchmen and sergeants - people employed to patrol the streets day and night and make sure no one was breaking the law - expected to arrest drunks and vagabonds
        
        rewards - rewards were now given out for the arrest of criminals
        
        army (forceful policing)
        
        benefit of the clergy was abolished
        
        and early form of human rights - the Habeus Corpus - prevented authorities from locking a person up indefinitely without charging them with an actual crime
  - - - murdered over 200 witches between 1645 -47
      - was a Christian religious fanatic and wanted to rid the world of the Devil and his witches as witches were a medium for the Devil to make bad things occur.
      - accused the most vulnerable people - poor old women - of witch craft
      - usually, poor old women would ask for help with something from others in their village who could help them - usually this was money and when they turned them away, they would mutter some sort of cursing afterwards. the poor old woman would then be accused of witchcraft and that she was casting spells on them when something bad happened
      - called himself "general" insinuating that he was a government official and could charge for his services
      - used methods of psychological torture like sleep deprivation to get his victims to confess that they were witches
    - - this meant that many people were very suspicious and prejudiced towards others
      - a more lawless time e.g. it meant that many authorities like the royal courts couldn't travel to hear cases
      - many were looking for scapegoats to blame for the war - turned to witches
    - - burning at the stake
      - beheading
      - hanging