Changes in Crime and Punishment in Britain, c.500 to the present day Flashcards
In the medieval era, what was the most common crime?
Theft - 73.5%
Murder - 18.2%
Name 3 common causes of crime in the medieval era.
Poverty - Being unable to earn income due to illness or disability meant people were forced to turn to crime to make ends meet.
Famine - Harsh winters along with poor crop yields placed great pressure on agricultural communities and meant there wasnt enough food for everyone. This forced people to commit muder or theft in order to eat. (Great famine of 1315-17)
Taxation - Government policies led to frequent hardship and protests as people were demanded to pay money they couldnt afford to
give away and this led people to steal food in order to survive. (Poll Tax of the late 1370s)
What type of crime continued from the medieval to the early modern era?
Theft
What new type of crime emerged in the early modern era?
Heresy & Treason
What caused an increase in the crime of heresy in the early modern era?
King Henry VIII’s religious reformation of Great Britain from catholic to protestant. This crime continued to be a crime throughout the tudor monarchs as the official religion of Great Britain changed 3 times before Queen Elizabeth I created the religious settlement.
How many people did Mary I execute for the crime of heresy?
283
What was a cause of crime specific to the early modern era?
King Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries.
This took away the vital role played by monasteries in helping the desperate.
List 3 vagrants and their tactics to gain money from people.
Abraham man - pretended to be mad to attract sympathy.
Clapper dudgeon - tied arsenic to their skin to make it bleed and attract donations.
Doxy - An old woman who would steal chickens and hide them among other bags.
Give 2 examples of treasonable incidents in the early modern era.
Wyatt’s rebellion 1554 - Thomas Wyatt wanted catholicism in Britain and attempted to overthrow Queen elizabeth by gaining support from others.
Gunpowder plot 1605 - Robert Catesby and Guy Fawkes along with others attempted to blow up the houses of parliament and kill the king but their plan was foiled by sir Francis Walsingham, and William Cecil.
Which crimes saw a rise during the industrial era?
Smuggling - People wanted to avoid import tax so they brought goods from places like tha caribbean and snuck their boats in caves and hid the resources in pubs with the help of gangs. (Hawkhurst Gang)
Highway robbery - longer roads allowed for more trade between towns and cities but also opened up the opportunity for people to steal your goods. (Dick turpin)
What cause of crime in the industrial era led to an increase in smuggling and highway robbery?
Changes in trade and business - The government placing customs and excise duties on imported goods meant people would smuggle them to avoid paying the 70% tax.
The increase in travel as the imdustrail revolution began to improve trade meant money was now being carried on roads to pay for goods and services.
What cause of crime lead to an increase in murder and pickpocketing?
Rising population and Urbanisation - This meant that towns and cities became more densely populated and there was an even higher demand for goods without enough soace to fit everyone. This led to more chances for murder whilst busy crowds of people gave way for the opportunity of pickpocketing in city centres.
Why was the crime of smuggling exclusive to the industrial era, and disappeared by the modern era?
Smuggling was wiped out when the British government adopted a policy of free trade in the 1840s and meant there were very few duties on any goods brought from abroad. This meant there was no need to avoid any taxes so the crime disappeared.
Name 3 types of pickpocketers.
Thimble screwers who stole pocket watches from their chains.
Prop nailers who stole pins and brooches from women.
Drag sneaks who stole goods or luggage from carts and coaches.
The automation of factories using machines led to an increase in what crime in the industrial era?
Social and political unrest - Luddites (1812) rioted against their jobs being replaced by machines and attacked and destroyed them in protests.
The swing riots (1830) occured when agricultural labourers were angry about the introduction of new machinery and the effect on their work; there were attacks on farm machines and property was set on fire.
Which area of Britain became notorious for crime?
East End in London
What 2 types of crime increased due to advancements in technology in the modern era.
Motor vehicle offences and Cybercrime
What caused the change in the nature of crimes such as theft and robbery in the modern era?
The growth of the motor car introduced multiple different crimes both directly and indirectly involving it. For example, Car and motorbike theft soared in the mid twentieth century whereas these motor vehicles have been used as getaway vehicles or to transport illegal goods such as drugs or firearms.
What crime was inevitably connected to sports, particularly football in the modern era?
Hooliganism
What are 2 examples of modern terrorism in the Modern era?
- 7/7 London attacks. suicide bombings coordinated on londons transport system by Al-Qaeda.
- Arndale Bombing. Arndale shopping centre in Manchester was subject to a bombing, injuring 200 people.
What were 3 methods of combatting crime in the Medieval era?
- Tithings. 10 fit men entrusted in policing minor problems such as disturbances, fires, animals and other threats.
- Hue and Cry. A form of communal policing where the whole town was assembled to pursue suspected offenders.
- Hundreds. Ten tithings and the hundredman dealt with serious breaches of law in and around the shire.
What was the role of the shire reeve in the Medieval era?
Responsible for public order and had the authority to raise a posse comitatus (alerting other counties and shire reeve’s) to capture criminals that had escaped the tithing.
What features of medieval policing changed after the norman conquest of 1066?
-JPs were first appointed in 1326 to assist the sheriffs in controlling the shires. JPs were local land owners who commanded respect through their position.
- Parish constables replaced hundredman around the thirteenth century to assist JPs.
- Watchmen were developed to protect property at night in larger towns and cities.
What form of policing continued from the Medieval period to the Early Modern era?
Community policing
What was a limitation in community policing?
Urbanisation and the expansion of cities meant one or two JPs/Nightwatchmen couldnt monitor a large city with up to tens of thousands of people.
What were the 3 main roles of the JP in the early modern era?
- Responsible for overseeing and organising the local parish constables and watchment, ensuring that they carried out their jobs effectively.
- Monitoring and controlling beggars and vagrants and administer the new 1601 Poor Laws.
- Enforce local government orders and punish those who disobeyed.
What were the characteristics & the role of the parish constable?
Completed an unpaid post for one year.
Were usually local tradesman/farmers.
Given a fine if you refused to be a constable.
- Their main role was to keep order in the area and catch/arrest those who broke the law.
What were the main characteristics of the nightwatchman?
Unpaid
Chosen on a voluntary basis.
Carried a bell, lantern, and a weapon.
Increasing population meant that policing in the industrial era had to change in what way?
Enforcing law and order had to become the responsibility of the government.
Who were ‘thief-takers’ and how did they police crime?
Thief takers would capture criminals or negotiate the return of stolen goods for a fee. Most of the time they wouldve ordered the theft so that a ‘finders fee’ would be placed on the item, for them to return it making a profit. 2 examples of thief takers were Jonathan Wild & Charles Hitchen.
Who set up the Bow Street Runners?
The Fielding brothers
After Henry Fielding took over as Chief Magistrate from Thomas de veil at Bow Street, how did he police?
- Setting up a small force of full time law officers who were trained and given a salary.
- Keeping records of reported crimes.
- Placing adverts for information in local newspapers.
- John fielding, Henry’s brother, started the ‘Hue and Cry’ magazine to pass on information about crimes and criminals.
What act extended the Bow Street scheme in 1792?
The Middlesex Justices Act
Who set up the MET police in london in 1829?
Sir Robert Peel
What were the ‘peelers’ job?
patrol a set area, looking out for crime carrying a truncheon and a rattle
What did the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835 do?
allowed police forces to be set up in larger borough towns
What did The Rural Police Act of 1839 do?
enabled police forces to be set up in more rural areas of the country.
What did The County and Borough Police Act in 1856 do?
made it compulsory for a police force to be set up in every county
Give 4 specialised parts of the modern police force that began in the industrial era?
The Detective Branch (1842)
The Special Branch (1883)
Photography (1850s onwards)
Fingerprinting (1901)
What was a change in the nature of policing from the industrial to the modern era?
The methods and resources available to the police imcluding advances in forensic science, computer technology, and changes in transport and communication.
What was a major change in the modern era for policing?
The establishment of female police officers.
later in the modern era, what form of policing rose again to prevent crime in neighborhoods?
Neighborhood Watch Schemes. A form of community policing aiked to prevent crime in the local area.
What change in policing increased the effectiveness of catching criminals?
improved methods of transport and communication
Give an example of how computer technology improved policing methods?
The Police National Computer was set up in 1974 and was developd.
Give 4 examples of trial by ordeal?
- Trial by hot iron; if an offenders hand became infected within 3 days of being scalded with a hot iron, they were guilty.
- Trial by hot water; if an offenders hand became infected within 3 days of being scalded by hot water, they were guilty.
- Trial by cold water; The accused was lowered into a pond or a river and if they floated, they were guilty
- trial by blessed bread; A trial given to priests, where if they choked on a piece of blessed bread he was guilty.
What system of fines did the Saxons rely on to compensate victims families?
Wergild - The worse the crime, the higher the fine
Give 2 examples of corporal punishment used in the Medieval era?
Whipping & Flogging
When and why did trial by ordeal end?
Trial by ordeal ended in 1215 because the Normans added trial by combat. 2 men fought until either one lost or neither could fight. whoever lost was deemed guilty, and whoever survived the trial would be hung.
How were vagabonds dealt with in the early modern era?
Vagrants were either whipped, flogged, branded, and sometimes even hung.
What was the main purpose of the stocks & pillory in the early modern era?
to humiliate offenders and make an example of them.
In what year was there an act that required stocks to be set up in villages to hold and punish runaway servants?
1351
What crime did people have to commit to be punished by the pillory?
Being dishonest through either trading or gambling, and perjury
What form of punishment was primarily used in the industrial era due to the expansion and growth of the british empire?
Transportation to colonies
What was the name of the main place in London where people were executed?
Tyburn
How many people were hung at Tyburn and how many were women?
1232 people were hung at Tyburn and only 92 were women.
What are 2 reasons for transportation?
- Reduced crime in Britain by removing the criminals
- Believed to reform the criminals by giving the, hard labour
