c1500 - c1700: crime and punishment in 18th and 19th century britain Flashcards
Why did more people move to urban areas?
Becuase unemployment rates were high and it was easier to find jobs.
What type of crimes increased with a higher population in cities?
Crimes against the person: increase of street criminals and petty thieves.
Why was there an increase in crimes against the person?
Population in urban areas was higher.
What did the end of feudalism an dnew farming methods lead to in society?
Enclosed farming areas.
What type of crimes increased with enclosed farming areas?
Crimes against property: poaching.
Why was there an increase in crimes against property?
Land owners restricted those who could hunt on their land so more people took up poaching.
What type of crimes increased with changes in people’s religious beliefs?
Crimes against authority.
What is treason?
The act of plotting or acting to overthrow or harm the ruler of a country.
What is heresy?
The crime of having religious beliefs that were different to the official religion of the country.
When did heresy first become a crime?
1382
Why did treason charges become more common?
There were more disputes about who should rule.
Why did heresy charges become more common?
The official religion kept changing between Catholic and Protestant.
Who played a role in charging people with heresy?
Important members of the clergy.
When did heresy and treason become interlinked?
When monarchs became head of the Church.
What was heresy usually punished by?
Burning at the stake.
What was a vagabond/vagrant?
An unemployed or homeless person.
Give 2 reasons why the 15th and 16th Centuries saw a large increase in vagabondage?
- Falling wages
- Rising food prices
- Increasing population
- No system to help the needy
How did the rest of the population view vagabonds?
As lazy and responsible for their own problems.
When was the Vagabondage and Beggars Act passed?
1494
What did the Vagabondage and Beggars Act outline?
If a vagabond was found, they would be put in stocks for 3 days and then sent to where they were born.
When was the Vagrancy Act passed?
1547
What did the Vagrancy Axt outline?
Anyone able-bodied without work for more than three days was branded with the letter ‘v’ and sold as a slave for two years.
Why was the Vagrancy Act repealed?
It was impossible to enforce.
When was the Act for the Relief of the Poor introduced?
1597
What did the Act for the Relief of the Poor outline?
Split vagrants into two categories - ‘deserving’ (elderly and disabled) and ‘undeserving’ (those fit for work).
When were the Poor Laws introduced?
1601
What did the Poor Laws outline?
The ‘deserving’ poor were given poor relief by the local parish and the ‘undeserving’ poor could be branded, whipped or sent to a correction house.
What happened when import tax was increased on certain goods in the late 17th Century?
Smuggling increased.
What type of crime was smuggling?
A social crime.
What is smuggling?
The act of secretly bringing goods into a country to avoid paying import taxes.
Why were laws against smuggling difficult to enforce.
People did not view it as a threat.
Did witchcraft become more or less serious than in medieval times?
More serious.
Who made witchcraft punishable by death and in what year?
Henry VIII in 1542.
How did Elizabeth I change the law regarding witchcraft in 1563?
Charges of witchcraft had to be tried in a common court.
In 1604, who did James I instruct the death penalty to be given to?
Anybody ‘summoning evil spirits’.
