Anglo-Saxon CP Flashcards
anglo-saxon crimes
ploughing other's land murder theft insulting inciting fights getting drunk trespassing
continuity of anglo-saxon crimes after 1066
theft
poaching
anglo-saxon law enforcement
tithing -> every man over 12 joined a group of 10 men who kept each other out of trouble
hue + cry -> someone screams out if there’s been a crime, people join a group to catch criminal, if you don’t join you get fined
anglo-saxon justice
trial by ordeal -> god decides
trial by jury -> local villagers swear an oath (men)
anglo-saxon punishments
mutilation + stocks/pillory + whipping -> corporal
hanging -> capital
wergild
blood feud
explain trial by hot water (ordeal)
look for object in hot water
burn heals -> not guilty
explain trial by cold water (ordeal)
person lowered into river
sank -> not guilty
explain trial by hot iron (ordeal)
taken by women
hold hot iron and walk 3 metres/paces
after 3 days if wound heals -> not guilty
explain trial by blessed bread (ordeal)
taken by priests
eat dry bread with no water
don’t cough -> not guilty
what was trial by ordeal designed for?
to decide if someone was innocent or guilty of courts couldn’t decide
what was the jury oath called?
compurgation
describe shire courts
met twice a year
dealt with serious crimes e.g. murder
all landowners had to attend
nobles acted as judges
describe hundred courts
dealt with less serious crimes e.g. fights
occurred every month
all freemen had to attend -> they would join a tithing
describe private courts
held in local villages
landowners acted as judges
dealt with local crimes e.g. people not doing enough work
what’s an outlaw?
anyone who didn’t attend court
could be killed by anyone without the offender getting punished
what was the blood feud?
someone kills someone
so the victim’s family kills the criminal
it was a constant cycle of murders and got out of control
was abolished
what replaced the blood feud?
wergild
each body part had a monetary value
criminal paid victim/their family compensation
continuity in anglo-saxon law enforcement
hue + cry
effective as villages were small
everyone knew everyone
continuity in anglo-saxon justice
most laws made by their kings were kept
continuity in anglo-saxon punishments
capital and corporal kept
changes in crime after 1066
forest laws
murdrum
social crime -> pretending you don’t see a crime against the french
changes in law enforcement after 1066
people turned a blind-eye when forest laws were broken
they disliked the king
changes in justice after 1066
norman-french used to write laws
court records kept in latin
women used to be treated equally -> normans made laws tougher on women
