c1000–c1500: Crime and punishment in medieval England

Question 1

Name 4 crimes in the Anglo-Saxon period

Answer 1

1. Crimes against the person
2. Crimes against the property
3. Crimes against authority
4. Moral crimes

Question 2

Name the 2 trial types in Norman England

Answer 2

Trial by ordeal, trial by combat

Question 3

What was trial by ordeal

Answer 3

A religious way to see if someone was guilty. Innocence or guilt would be determined by a certain factor. E.g. trial by cold water (someone would be chucked into a pond or lake. The water represented purity; the innocent would be accepted and drown, whilst the guilty would float)

Question 4

What was trial by combat

Answer 4

The accuser and the accused would fight. Either to death or until one could no longer continue. The loser would be guilty and the winner is innocent.

Question 5

How where criminals caught

Answer 5

1. Constable
2. Hue and Cry
3. Tithing

Question 6

What crimes got introduced (c. 1066-1154)

Answer 6

1. “Killing a Norman”
2. The Forest Laws
3. ‘Social’ crimes, such as poaching