Continuities And Changes Flashcards
Give 3 continuities of punishment in early modern England
Retribution and deterrence were still the main purposes of punishments
Fined continued to be used for minor crimes
Stocks and pillories
Capital punishment such as burning for heresy, hanging for theft, and poaching
Give 2 changes in punishment in early modern england
Transportation and correction houses
Give two continuities of policing in early modern England and explain them:
The hue and cry - constable expected to lead the hue and cry with a POSSE, also supporting the sheriffs
Ordinary people still had policing responsibility ( They could track down a criminal themselves)
Give 3 changes of policing in early modern england:
Town watchmen to patrol larger cities - employed (unpaid) to patrol streets during the fay and night. Expected to arrest drunks and vagabonds. All male householders were expected to volunteer.
Sergeants - employed in towns to enforce market regulations by weighing goods and collecting fines in traders who were behaving badly.
Rewards - were offered for the arrest of particular victims or serious crimes. Sometimes, it could be equivalent to a years income for a middle class family
What is a justice of the peace?
They had been set up in the later Middle Ages, but during tudors times, it became a key part of local law enforcement. People of local importance and usually a landowner who took the job for prestige. JPs judges manor court cases.
Community policing remained in the early modern period, but what about it changed?
If someone was robbed, it was their responsibility to get an arrest warrant from a magistrate, track down the criminals, and deliver them to the constable
What remained the main defence against crime?
Parish constables, which was a part-time job without weapons or uniform. Dealt with everyday matters such as begging without a license. Didn’t go on oartol but had the power to inflict some punishments, such as whipping vagabonds
Give two changes of trials in the early modern period:
Habeas Corpus Act: Passed in 1679 and prevented the authorities from locking up someone indefinitely without charging them with a crime. Anyone appearing in court had a certain time to do this before they had to be released
Quarter sessions: JPs still dealt with minor crimes, but four times a year, they would meet with other JPs in the county and would judge more serious cases.
Give 2 continuities of trials in the early modern period:
Manor courts - continued to deal with local, minor crimes such as selling underweight bread and drunkenness. Also, still relied on a local jury
Church courts remained
How did the benefit of the clergy change in the early modern period?
By the 1600s, many people had memorised the ‘neck verse’. The law was changed and prevented those accused of serious crimes from claiming the benefit of the clergy.
In the 1600s, where were criminals now being sent, and for how long?
Transported to British colonies in North America to do manual work. They were sentenced to either 7 or 14 years and then released, but many couldn’t afford to return to england.
Transportation for life was also used for murderers who escaped the death penalty.
I’m 1618. What did James I allow, and what did this show?
Gave permission for vagrant children to be transported to North American colonies. This shows they were seen as a source of plague and criminality
Why did transportation become a punishment?
It provided inhabitants and workers to establish the American colonies, which simultaneously removing criminals from england. Also, it provided an alternative punishment for execution for petty crime, as many people found it too harsh
What were houses of correction, and what was their purpose?
In the late 1500s, they were built to punish vagrants and repeat offenders with hard labour and whipping. It was believed this hard work would persuade offenders to change their behaviour.
How did wealth and poverty lead to new definitions of crime in the years 1500 to 1700
The overwhelming majority of people remained poor at this time and thus made them vulnerable to the rise of food price in the 1590s. Many resorted to wandering and begging. This led to more people out on the street and it being easier to punish people of vagrancy. As it became more of a problem, it shifted from a social crime to a serious crime. Public fear also contributed.
