Crimes against the person:

• murder
• assault
• public disorder
• rape

Crimes against property:

• Arson
• Theft, such as stealing crops or poaching
• Counterfeiting coins

William I's Forest Laws:

• About 30% of England became "Royal Forest" which William I and Norman Nobility used for hunting
• Village communities and farms were evicted from this land, which caused resentment.
• The Royal Forests were protected by the Forest Laws
• Only those people who paid for hunting rights were allowed to hunt in the Royal Forests
• In the Royal Forests it became illegal to graze animals, kill wild animals or take wood without licence
• The Forest Laws were seen as unfair by ordinary people so those who broke Forest Law were not seen criminals by most people in society

Rebellions:

• The Norman Invasion was not welcomed by the Anglo Saxons and there was much resistance in the first few years, including large rebellions in York and East Anglia.
  
  • Betraying your lord and inciting rebellion against a King had been a crime in Anglo-Saxon times, but William I punished these crimes far more harshly to try to assert his authority.
  • As would have been done in Anglo-Saxon times, William ordered the death penalty for the rebel themselves.
• What was different was that William also punished those who were not directly involved in the rebellions - estimates suggest that 100 000 people starved to death due to destruction of farmland and animals on William's orders in the areas that had seen rebellions

Tithings:

• Shires were split into areas called hundreds and each hundred was divided into ten tithings.
• All men in a tithing were responsible for each other.
• If one was accused of a crime, the others made sure he went to court or they would have to pay a fine for him.
• A shire reeve (later the sheriff) was a local man appointed by the community to take criminals to courts and make sure any punishment was carried out.
• He also met regularly with one man from each tithing.

Hue and Cry:

• The victim or witness of a crime raise a hue and cry by shouting to alert others.
• Anyone who heard the hue and cry was expected to chase and help catch the suspected criminal

Courts:

• If the suspect did not admit to the crime, or was not caught in the act, their guilt or innocence had to be decided by a court
• There are different courts depending on the type of crime committed and the person who committed it - royal courts were national courts that dealt with the most serious of crimes; lesser crimes were dealt with shire courts, and petty crimes were dealt with in hundred courts.
• Court hearings, in which the punishment that convicted criminals would received was decided, took place in public

Oaths:

• Swearing oaths "before God" was a major part of Anglo-Saxon justice.
• The accused could swear their innocence under oath and others could support them as "oath helper"

Norman Law Enforcement:

• Continuity: - the anglo-saxon system of tithings, the hue and cry and the court system continued. Law enforcement in most cases remained the responsibility of the community
  
  • Change: - the Normans introduced (showing the more military nature of Norman society) as another way of settling disputes. The two people involved would fight until was killed or surrendered (and he would then be put to death anyway). Another change was the use of "foresters" to police the Royal Forest and enforce Forest laws. They dealt with suspects very harshly and were often feared and hated by local communities

Parish Constables:

• These were local people nominated by the community
• It was an unpaid position. Constables did their usual jobs as well.
• They held the post for a year

Role of Local communities:

• Continuity: The hue and cry system continued as did tithings
• Continuity: if juries were unable to reach a verdict, trial by ordeal and by combat continued to be used by communities as informal methods of law enforcement.
• Change: from the 1250s, parish constables led the chase for the criminal after the hue and cry was given and tried to keep peace. They arrested suspects.
• Change: some towns also had a night watch, in which volunteers patrolled the streets. Any suspected criminals they caught were handed over to the constable.
• Change: trial by ordeal and by combat were abolished in 1215.

Types of punishment:

• Fines
• Stocks (humiliation)
• Maiming (corporal)
• Flogging (corporal)
• Hanging (capital)
• Beheading (capital)

Changes in the types of medieval punishments:

• Anglo-saxon: - fines and compensations were most common. The system of paying compensation to victims of crime was used for many crimes, including murder. This was called the Saxon Wergild. Corporal punishments were also fairly common but capital punishment was rarely used.
• Norman: use of capital and corporal punishments rose dramatically (more offences became capital crimes). Breaking Forest Laws was punished very harshly, including castration, blinding and hanging. The Wergild system was ended and fines were paid to the king. Very minor crimes were still punished by fines, whipping or time in the stocks.

Benefit of the Clergy:

• Throughout the 13th century Church courts were used to try people accused of moral crimes, such as sex outside of marriage, and not following Church rites.
• Church courts also tried members of the clergy for all crimes - benefit of the clergy.
• People proved their right to benefit of clergy by reading a passage from the bible - priests were some of the few members of society who could read.
• Many laymen memorised the passage so that they could recite in court and claim benefit of the clergy.
• This was because punishments given by Church courts were generally more lenient than those given by other courts, as the Church wanted to give people the chance to reform.

• The significance of benefit of the clergy is that it illustrates how the justice system in medieval society was unequal - it provided a way for people to be treated differently.
• Benefit of the clergy was not available to women because women could not be priests.

Sanctuary:

• Sanctuary (protection from the law) was offered by some important churches only.
• A person could claim sanctuary by going to one of these churches.
• The priest would report the crime, but no one was allowed to arrest the accused.
• The accused could either agree to go to court or swear to an oath agreeing to leave the country.
• If the accused had not left the country within 40 days, they would be outlawed

• Trial by ordeal was first used in Anglo-Saxon times but was still being used at the start of the 13th century.
• In cases where a person's guilt or innocence could not be decided by a court, the Church used a trial by ordeal.
• Various methods were used but the outcome of all these trials was seen as God's judgement on the guilt or innocence of the accused.
• In 1215, the pope ordered his priests to stop administering these trials and they quickly ended.

Changes in society and what crimes they lead to:

• Increase in population and decline of feudalism led to higher unemployment which meant more people moved to urban areas in search of work, so town and cities grew -> led to an increase in crimes against the person with the increase of street criminals and petty thieves.
• The end of feudalism and new farming methods led to enclosure of land (fencing it off for exclusive use of the landowner) -> led to an increase in crimes against property for example poaching, as more landowners restricted those who could not hunt on their lands.
• Changes 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

Increase in crimes against authority:

• Early modern England was ruled by the Tudors and then the Stuarts.
• It was a time for religious change and many rebellions and plots against the monarch, both of which led to an increase in crimes against authority - heresy and treason.
• Treason charges were more common in this period because there were more disputes over who should rule.
• Heresy charges were more common because the official religion of the country kept changing from Catholic to Protestant to Catholic, then back to Protestant!
• Important members of the clergy (both Catholic and Protestant at different times) played a role in charging people with heresy and also in judging whether they were guilty or not.
• As monarchs (except for Mary I) became the head of the Church, heresy and treason became interlinked.

Vagabondage or vagrancy:

• A vagabond or a vagrant is an unemployed, homeless person.
• The late 15th and 16th century centuries saw a large increase in the number of vagrants due to the increasing population, falling wages, rising food prices and no system to help the needy (especially after the closure of monasteries in 1536)
• They were hated and feared by the population.
• They resorted to begging and / or begging and charity in order to survive, which was resented by the settled population.
• They were viewed as lazy and responsible for their own problems

Smuggling:

• When import tax on certain goods, including brandy and tea, was introduced in the 17th century, the crime of smuggling increased dramatically.
• Smuggling is where people bring goods into the country secretly to avoid paying import tax and then sell it on.
• Like poaching, it is an example of a social crime and many people did not view it as serious or a threat, making it very difficult to enforce.

Witchcraft:

• Witchcraft had been a minor crime in medieval times that was dealt with by Church courts.
• During the early modern period, new laws against against witchcraft were passed, making it a very serious offence because people saw it as harmful and most were very afraid of it.
• In 1542, Henry VIII made witchcraft punishable by death.
• In 1563, Elizabeth I changed the law so charges of witchcraft had to be tried in a common court.
• In 1604, James I instructed the death penalty to be given to people "summoning evil spirits"

Continuity and change in catching criminals and preventing crimes:

• As in medieval times, in early modern England:
• People were expected to raise and join the hue and cry to catch criminals when a crime took place.
• There was no national police force and the methods and effectiveness of preventing crime and catching criminals varied widely across the country.

Changing in the role of the Church:

• Benefit of the clergy: Henry VIII allowed non-clergy "benefit of the clergy" only once people were branded to show they had received the privilege. Edward VI made serious crimes, such as murder, exempt from benefit of the clergy. From 1576 Church courts couldn't try criminal acts (only moral ones) so everyone, including clerics, were tried in secular courts. People could still claim the benefit of the clergy and receive more lenient sentences than others, however.
• Sanctuary: Henry VIII stopped exile abroad for those claiming sanctuary. Instead they had to keep to designated sanctuaries in England. In 1623, James I abolished sanctuary together.

Watchmen:

• Carried a lamp to light their way.
• Rang a bell to alert people
• All male householders were expected to volunteer and the role was unpaid.
• Patrolled the streets between 10pm and dawn.
• Overseen by town constable

Town constables:

• Employed by authorities in towns.
• Respected members of the community
• Had the power to arrest suspects and take them to the Justice of the Peace.
• In charge of the watchmen in their area.
• Helped with town administration

Continuity in aims and types of punishment:

• Fines: these continued to be used to punish minor crimes.
  
  • Pillory or stocks, flogging or maiming: these forms of corporal continued for crimes, such as begging, drunkenness, and vagrancy.
  • Hanging: capital punishment was still commonly used for crimes, such as theft, murder and poaching, and also witchcraft and smuggling. Nobles were beheaded rather than hanged.
  • Burning - this was used only as a punishment for heresy

The Bloody Code:

• Change: in the 17th century the number of crimes punishable by death increased. By 1688 there were 50 capital offences ranging from what today seem like minor crimes, such as stealing a rabbit or a loaf of bread, to murder. Because of the increase in capital offences, the period from 1688 to 1825 became known as the "Bloody Code". The aim was to frighten people so they wouldn't commit crime.

Transportation to North America:

• Change: transporting criminals to colonies in North America, where they did manual work, began under James I (1603-25). Criminals were sentenced to either 7 or 14 years and were then released but most could not afford to return to England. Between 50 000 and 80 000 men, women and children were transported to America during this time.

• Transportation became a punishment because:
• it reflected 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.
• It provided an alternative to execution for petty crime which some began to think was too harsh, especially after the Bloody Code began and prisons were not yet established.
• It provided inhabitants and workers to establish the American colonies while criminals from England

• After 1570, when the Pope called on Catholics to depose Elizabeth I, more laws were imposed that prevented Catholics from practising their faith.
• When the reign of the Tudors ended with Elizabeth's death in 1603, her cousin's son James Stuart inherited the throne. Catholics hoped for more freedom to practise their faith.

• But James I continued with Anti-Catholic laws.
• A group of Catholics led by Robert Catesby, plotted to kill the King and other leading protestants at the state opening of Parliament on 5th November 1605.
• The plotters wanted to make James' daughter, Elizabeth, queen.

• The plotters rented a house next to, and a cellar directly underneath the Houses of Parliament.
• They filled the cellar with barrels of gunpowder.
• Lord Monteagle gave a letter he received on the 30th October 1605, which warned him not to attend the state opening of Parliament, to Robert Cecil (James I's spymaster)

• Cecil ordered a search of the Houses of Parliament.
• The gunpowder and Guy Fawkes were discovered on 5 November.
• Guy Fawkes was arrested and ,after torture, gave up the names of his fellow conspirators.
• Those captured were arrested and also tortured until they confessed.
• The plotters were tried and found guilty of treason in January 1606.
• They were publicly hanged, drawn and quartered on 30-31 January 1606

Reasons for harsh and public punishment for treason:

• As the most serious crime, treason received the most serious punishment.
• Without a police force to help prevent crime, harsh punishment was thought to be the only way of deterring crime.
• The period of political instability, due to disputes over the royal succession, required harsh treatment as a form deterrent.
• A harsh message was thought necessary to deter Catholics from rising up against the Protestant monarchy