Anglo Saxon Crime and Punishment Flashcards
What was anglo saxon society like?
(population, problems, religion, knowledge, transport, crime rate)
population; 90% lived & worked in countryside, size of 2 million
problems; disease and poor harvests
religion; church was key influence on beliefs about crime.
knowledge; little contact with outside world
transport; on foot, horse and cart or sail ships.
crime rate; low
Anglo saxon kings
What was their duty to keep?
Who would influence the king?
It was the king’s duty to keep ‘king’s peace.’ (he protected people and justice)
Nobles owned a lot of land and would influence the king to create laws which benefitted their wealth and ownership of land. They made poaching a big crime, and trespassing peasants on noble land.
Any action that threatened the ones above peasants was deemed as a serious crime.
4 Categories of crime
Crimes against authority ; any crime that threatened monarch (e.g treason, rebellion)?
Crime against property; crimes which involved theft or damage to someone’s property or belongings.
e.g theft, arson
Crimes against the person; any action which causes serious emotional or physical harm to another person. e.g murder, assault.
Social crimes; any action that breaks the law but will often go unreported as people believe it shouldn’t be a crime. e.g poaching often went unreported as it was the only way poor could get food.
Why was there little crime in the countryside?
Size ; communities were small and isolated, everyone knew eachother. so easy to get caught and identified which would be humiliating.
Collective Responsibility; community’s used this to catch criminals - whole community was responsible for law and order.
Religion - people were very religious and believed if they were committing a crime it would be a sin. They were taught they would go to hell if they committed a crime.
Deterrent - punishments such as branding, whipping and even hanging, which acted as deterrent for criminals.
Crime rates in towns - why was it higher than in countryside?
Towns such as york and london grew due to increasing trade with europe. with more people there we more opportunities for crime which as pickpocketing or theft.
It was also easier to get away with a crime in a busier crime as people were less likely to know eachother. Towns also had more valuable items for sale, which gave bigger incentives to steal.
What was anglo saxon law enforcement?
Law enforcement is how the authorities make sure people follow the laws.
Includes fair ways to make sure people are correctly found innocent or guilty or a crime, often using some sort of trial.
In english saxon england, it was often local community who had collective responsibility for law enforcements
Role of the community;
What was collective responsibility?
Was strict duty for the whole community to play a part in catching criminals as there were few other official law enforcement roles.
Role of the community; what were all the roles?
Tithings
Hue and cry
Collective responsibility
The shire reeve
courts
Role of the community; what is a tithing?
Each shire (region) was divided into small groups called a hundred, Each hundred was then divided into tithings.
The men in the tithings were responsible for the behavior of others in the tithing. Helped prevent crimes and catch criminals.
Role of the community;
What was hue and cry?
Any victim or witness to a crime was responsible for shouting for help.
It was the duty of anyone who heard the hue and cry to help catch the criminal.
Role of the community;
What were courts?
people accused of less serious crimes were taking to a local shire court.
These were often held outdoors and in public.
People accused of serious crimes such as murder were sent to royal courts which were held away from shire.
Role of the community;
What was the shire reeve?
A shire reeve (later called sheriff) was closed by village community to take accused criminals to court and help decide their punishment.
The role of religion and church.
Throughout the whole medieval period, religion played a huge role in law enforcement.
Swearing an oath;
at trial, the accused could swear an oath to god that they were innocent. This was usually enough to prove a persons innocence as telling a lie was a sin, and could send someone to hell.
The accused could also call on others known as oath helpers to prove innocence.
The role of religion and church
What was trial by ordeal?
If a court was unable to decide upon a persons innocence or guilt, the accused would as handed over to the church so god could decide.
This was done by using ordeals, which was fully accepted by medieval society as they believed in gods will.
Trial by ordeal
What were the three trials?
Trial by hot iron
Trial by cold water
Trial by hot water
Trial by ordeal;
What was trial by hot iron?
Someone had to hold a hot iron for a few seconds
Hand would be bandaged.
After a few days, if hand healed well, it was believed god deemed them as innocent.
If didn’t heal, it was a sign the accused is guilty.
Trial by ordeal;
What was trial by cold water?
Accused thrown into cold water such as river or stream
water had been blessed by a priest.
If they float, god has rejected them - guilty.
If they sink, god has accepted them as innocent.
Trial by ordeal;
What is trial by hot water
Accused is made to briefly hold hand in boiling water.
After a few days, if hand has started to heal, signal they’re innocent.
If infected and not healed, sign from god theyre guilty.
Trial by ordeal
What was trial by blessed bread?
Who was it only for?
Only for priests
piece of bread blessed by another priest
accused priest is asked to eat the bread, if they swallow bread easily they’re innocent.
if they choke or cough, they’re guilty.
Ordeal was easier for priest to pass, as they were men of god and it would be shameful for them to be guilty.
Continuity and change;
What happened to ordeals in 1215?
The pope ordered priests to stop using ordeals and more secular trials became the norm.
Punishments
What were punishments given often based on?
Social status
Punishments
What was the most common capital punishment?
public hanging
Punishments
What were capital punishments used for??
Most serious crimes such as treason, murder, arson.
Punishments
What was the wergild fine, and what was it a punishment for?
Punishment for murder.
Means man price, and was compensation given to victims family by murderers family.
Punishments;
What was wergilds used to prevent?
Used to prevent blood feuds developing between families who were known to take the law into their own hands and seek revenge by killing murderer themselves.
Punishments;
What were prices of wergild fine based off of?
Heavily depended on status.
Someone of higher status was ‘worth more’ than someone of lower status.
Victim - Noble - 1500 shillings
Victim - Serf - 40 shillings
Punishments ;
What were corporal punishments, and what type of crimes were they given to?
What did it often result with?
Lesser crimes would get this.
These punishments would result in severe physical harm and pain.
Form of retribution and deterrent and were carried out in public.
More common than hanging.
Often resulted in permanent disfigurement.
Punishments ;
What were the main corporal punishments?
What did they involve?
(4 things)
Beatings - carried out by shire reeve, tithing men or local courts.
Mutilation - eye gouging, cutting, whipping
Branding - heat poker burned into skin leaving a scar.
Maiming - removal if a body part - e.g tongue hand or earS
Punishments ;
Public humiliation
What was it punishment for?
Punishment for minor crimes
Both stocks and pillory
Both would involve a certain level of physical discomfort as well as public humiliation as often the stocks and pillory were placed in a busy market square.
They were often thrown stuff at and verbally abused.
Punishments ;
What was public humiliations commonly a punishment for?
Drunken behavior such as fights and public disorder.
Women might also be placed in stocks or pillory for arguing with their husband or showing poor behavior.
Punishments ;
Public humiliation
What was the difference between pillory and stocks?
pillory secured someone by arms as they were stood up
stocks secured them by the feet as they were sat.
