1000-1500 Medieval England - Crime In Medieval England

Question 1

What is a crime

Answer 1

An activity that breaks the law

Question 2

Who makes laws

Answer 2

People who govern the country

Question 3

Who made laws in Anglo-Saxon times

Answer 3

People with power and wealth

Question 4

What were the crimes against a person

Answer 4

• Murder
• Assault
• public disorder
• rape

Question 5

What did crimes against a person vary from

Answer 5

Fairly serious (eg = assault) to serious (eg = rape & murder)

Question 6

What were the crimes against property

Answer 6

• arson
• theft (eg = stealing crops/poaching)
• counterfeiting coins

Question 7

What did crimes against property vary from

Answer 7

Not serious (eg = petty theft/selling poor quality goods) to very serious (eg = theft)

Question 8

What were the crimes against authority

Answer 8

• treason
• rebellion

Question 9

What were crimes against authority seen as

Answer 9

Extremely serious

Question 10

What were many laws in anglo-Saxon times based on

Answer 10

Local customs + they weren’t written down

Question 11

By 1000 what were Anglo-Saxon kings doing and what did this mean

Answer 11

• Issuing codes of law that made certain actions crimes
• illustrating the growing power of the monarch
  This meant laws were becoming more unified across the country

Question 12

What became more important after 1066

Answer 12

The king making laws because his authority increased

Question 13

What did William I add

Answer 13

added new laws that created crimes - illustrated how a powerful king can lead to a change

Question 14

What happened in the later medieval period

Answer 14

The monarch continued to play a vital role in defining what a crime was

Question 15

When did Henry II become king

Answer 15

1154

Question 16

What happened after Henry II became king

Answer 16

Standard laws were written down - meant that for the 1st time there was a uniform legal system across the whole country

Question 17

What’s poaching

Answer 17

• Hunting wild animals on other peoples land without paying ‘hunting rights’.
• a form of theft

Question 18

When did poaching increase

Answer 18

Dramatic increase after the forest laws because peasants used what was previously common land to catch animals for food

Question 19

What is poaching seen as

Answer 19

A social crime - considered to be acceptable to many people since catching animals for food on common land was allowed/helped people survive

Question 20

What did reducing common land mean for people

Answer 20

They had to choose between breaking the law or going hungry

Question 21

Who was the other huge authority in defining criminal activity across the medieval period apart from the king

Answer 21

The church

Question 22

What did the church do

Answer 22

• Created laws that criminalised some actions
• influenced the types of punishments given in response
• played a direct role in deciding guilt or innocence