Crime And Punishment 1500-1700

Question 1

Vagabondage

Answer 1

Change:
More people leaving homes due to falling wages, rising food shortages and increasing population
Wealthier people concerned due to links with increasing crime rate
Gov concerned will stir religious opposition
Clapper dudgeon - arsenic on skin to make it bleed and bandages on arms and legs
Doxy - hid stolen items in a bag
Thomas Harman stirred up fears in Caveat in 1566, categorised vagabonds
1547 - Vagrancy act
Able bodied vagabonds w/o work for 3+ days = branded w/ letter + sold as slave for 2 years
Second offence = slave 4 life or execution
Severe = not always enforced

Question 2

Smuggling (1500-1700)

Answer 2

Gov introduced taxes on range of goods
People don’t want to pay = smuggling
Many people benefitted of all classes - difficult to enforce

Question 3

Case study: Witchfinder general Matthew Hopkins

Answer 3

In 30 days, 200 witches were hanged
Started in Manningtee
Looked for a devil's mark (spots, lumps etc) as evidence of a witch
Devil came in form of familiars
Tortured to confess
Repented by naming other witches
£1 for every witch hung
1542 -1736 1000 people executed

Question 4

Elizabeth I

Answer 4

1558 - 1603
Doctrinely protestant but kept Catholic views and compromised on religion
Heretics were extreme Catholics or Protestants

Question 5

Religion and changing definition of a crime

Answer 5

1517 - Martin Luther + reformation
Monarch decided the established religious beliefs and heretics would be going against the king
Heresy and treason still crimes against authority

Question 6

Night watchman

Answer 6

Unpaid volunteers
Answered to constable
Rota - more organised
All expected to take part

Question 7

prisons

Answer 7

Use of prisons as a punishment and to house poor children
First prison was Bridewell prison - 1556
Overcrowded + men & women kept together, hard labour and poor sanitation

Question 8

Edward VI

Answer 8

1547-1553

Protestant king - heretics were Catholics

Question 9

James I

Answer 9

(1603 - 1628)
protestant but was initially soft on Catholics (afraid of assassination)
Gunpowder plot of 1605 made all Catholics treasonous

Question 10

Thief Takers

Answer 10

Paid rewards for catching criminals.
Susceptible to corruption (often other gangs)
Example - Jonathon Wild, led a gang of thieves

Question 11

Bloody Code

Answer 11

50 capital crimes by 1668 - 222 capital crimes by 1810
More crimes were considered capital crimes
Many crimes were often out of desperation
Severe penalties = not always enforced (pardons if prove good character)

Question 12

Transportation to NA

Answer 12

Severity of crime determined length of time (7 or 14 yrs)
Journey took many months
Hard labour + unpaid
usually unable to pay for return trips

Question 13

Punishment - continuity

Answer 13

Fines - deterrent
Pillory or stocks - deterrent (public humiliation)
corporal punishment (whipping, maiming, branding) - retribution and deterrent
Hanging + hung, drawn and quartered
Burning at the stake

Question 14

Reasons behind transportation

Answer 14

Ideology
Effective deterrent
possibility of rehabilitation
Change of scene might allow a fresh start
Practicality
Lack of effective prison system
Convicts can be used to populate and control colonies

Estimated 50 000 - 80 000 transported to NA in c1700

Question 15

Puritan Laws

Answer 15

1653 - 1658 Oliver Cromwell - Lord Protector
not allowed to do anything on Sunday
Not allowed to drink and feast (bad behaviour)
Christmas = holy day = only doing holy things (i.e., read bible)

Question 16

Town Constable

Answer 16

Arrested criminals and sent them to court
Rounded up “sturdy beggars”, stop suspected criminals and break up fights
Employed by town authorities
Appointed by local people (good standings)
Powers to arrest suspects w/o warrant

Question 17

End of Witchcraze

Answer 17

Hopkins disappeared - 1647
Doubts about evidence
1647 killed preacher John Love
Rev John Gaute criticised evidence
Enlightenment movement
Royal society established in 1660 and 1662 awarded a royal charter by King Charles II

Question 18

Law enforcement (1500 - 1700)

Answer 18

Collective responsibility, still hue and cry
Increase in people paid to law enforcement (small and local)
increased wealth = more crime
More businesses = more fraud
Denser population = easier to pickpocket
Vagabonds who can’t find work become criminals
Local policed funded by tax or rich

Question 19

Mary I

Answer 19

1553 - 1558
Catholic queen - heretics were protestants
283 burned at the stake

Question 20

Change in 1500 - 1700 (punishment)

Answer 20

Use of prisons as a form of punishment to punish poor people who broke the law and to house poor children
First prison: 1556, Bridewell Prison
Conditions: Overcrowding, women men and children all together, hard labour and ppor sanitisation
More crimes considered capital punishment
50 capital crimes by 1968
“Bloody Code”
Flawed system:
Many crimes out of desperation
Sever penalties = not always carried out - can receive pardon if good character

Question 21

Henry VIII

Answer 21

1509-1534, heretics were protestants
After 1534 could include Catholics
Heretics were people who disagreed with his views

Question 22

Gunpowder Plot

Answer 22

Date: 5 November 1605
Aims: Breakup powerful ruling protestant aristocrats and replace James I with his daughter Elizabeth, to influence and control her
People involved: Robert Catsby, Guy Fawkes, Thomas Percy, Thomas Winton and Jack Wright
Method: 20 May 1604 rented cellar under Parliament and blow it up with 36 barrels of gunpowder
Discovered bcos: 20 October 1605, Lord Monteagle received an annonymous letter warning not to go - given to Robert Cecil
Impact: Guy Fawkes tortured all sentenced to hung, drawn and quartered