c and p medieval england (1000-1500) Flashcards
Crimes against person
Theft - against the person, people normally either forced the person to give it them or sneakily did it. Murder - some poeple murdered other people in desperation to mainly get away from stealing something and they are in the way of the criminal.
Crimes against property
Theft - people normally stole clothes off the rack and then sold it. Robbery - People robbed other people in desperation for money or other needs.
Crimes against authority
Poaching - people would cut the trees down and royal forrest property. Arson - people would sometimes use arson to burn wood down to get some wood, this would be bad as the fire would sometimes spread.
Social crimes
Rebellion and treason - both these factors has similar reasons for being illegal: they both are looking to overthrow a powerful comittee such as the government or something else that is also big.
Changes after the norman conquest
Theft was more common as people became more desperate and cared less about other people. The murdrum fine - this was a fine for anyone who broke the law to a pay a fine to the king and the worse the crime, the more it costed.
Law enforcement by the local community
Tithings - a group of men who kept a watch over each other to see if they were committing a crime. If one of them did commit a crime, the man who saw would snitch on them. Hue and cry - if someone stole something, the victim would shout “Theif!” and everyone would try and find the criminal and if someone didnt join the hue and cry, they would have had to pay a fine.
Law enforcement made by the authorities
The county sheriff - each village would be appointed a sheriff who would volunteer to look out and look after the village. The sheriff would’t get paid. If someone cried thief then he it would be his job to hunt down the criminal.
Punishments for retribution
Some were quite violent like cutting off people’s noses, hands or ears.
Punishments to deter
Imprisonment - this was used to teach the criminal a lesson and for them hopefully not do again as they were isolated from society. Fines - the criminal had to pay money for the murdram fine or a wergild or just a normal fine which would hopefully teach them not to commit another crime otherwise they will lose a lot more money.
The wergild
The wergild was a fine that was used to pay for whatever happened to the victim. If the victim died, the wergild was paid to the family or a memeber of the family
The role of the church
If someone banged on the church doors, they had to be let in. This meant they were a theif and they had reached santuary. This meant that they stayed in the church for 40 days while thought about a decicion after those 40 days. The choices were to either go to the nearest port barefoot and carrying a cross where you will go to another country or face trial.
How were petty and grave crimes punished
They were both punished severly as this time period was very strict on crime
Trial by ordeal
There were 4: 1. Trial by the hot iron-mostly taken by women. They held it whilst walking 3 paces. If the wound hadn’t healed in a week then they were guilty. 2. Trial by hot water-Usually taken by men. They put their hand in boiling water to pick up an object. If their hand was burned then they were guilty. 3. Trial by cold water-Usually taken by men. They had a rope tied around them. They were then lowered into water. If they sank, they were innocent, if they floated, they were guilty. 4. Trial by the blessed bread. Taken by priests. They ate a piece of bread. If they choked on the bread, they were guilty.
What caused crimes to happen
Crime happened as people were desperate as they were living in poverty. Poverty came about becuase of disease and the loss of food from harvests and food prices increased.
