Crime and Punishment in Early Modern England c.1500-1700

Question 1

What three big changes influenced crime and punishment in the early modern period from 1500 to 1700?

Answer 1

1. There was a widening gap between the rich and the poor.
2. Rich landowners wanted a greater say in how the country was being run and so there was an increase in crimes against property.
3. England became a Protestant country and this led to much conflict and confusion.

Question 2

Did the most common crimes change between the medieval and early modern periods?

Answer 2

No, theft of food, money or low-value belongings remained the most common crimes.

Question 3

Did law enforcement change dramatically between the medieval period and the early modern period?

Answer 3

Not much. There was still no police force. Tithings and the hue and cry still existed in smaller, village communities but were less effective in the growing towns and cities.

Question 4

Did punishments change much between the medieval and early modern period?

Answer 4

Not really, there was still the basic belief that savage, terrifying corporal and capital punishments were a deterrent to stop others committing crimes.

Question 5

What big change was there in terms of the amount of crime?

Answer 5

Crime rates went up in the 1500s and early 1600s.

Question 6

How did people’s perceptions of crime rates change between the medieval and early-modern period?

Answer 6

There was an increased fear of crime. By the late 160s, there is evidence that crime was actually falling. However, most people continued to believe that crime was rising rapidly.

Question 7

What was the biggest change in terms of the penal system between the medieval period and the early modern period?

Answer 7

The introduction of the Bloody Code: the number of crimes carrying the death penalty greatly increased.

Question 8

How did population growth influence crime and punishment in the early modern period?

Answer 8

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, there was a steady increase in the population. More people meant it was harder for some to find work and easier to avoid being caught.

Question 9

How did the widening gap between rich and poor influence crime and punishment in the early modern period?

Answer 9

Because the overwhelming majority of the population remained poor, they were vulnerable to rises in the price of food caused by bad harvests. A fall-off in trade or the collapse of a local industry could lead to unemployment and hardship for many.

Question 10

Was there a change in the way printing influenced people’s perceptions of crime and punishment?

Answer 10

Yes, after the printing press was invented in the fifteenth century, more books, broadsheets and pamphlets appeared and a favourite topic was crime, particularly witchcraft and vagabondage. Pamphlets were usually illustrated and read aloud to others so even the illiterate could still understand.

Question 11

How did the religious turmoil of the early modern period under the Tudors influence crime and punishment?

Answer 11

There was a general increase in public belief in evil and supernatural explanations for events.

Question 12

Why did the religious turmoil under the Tudor in the early modern period lead to an increased public belief in evil and supernatural explanations for events?

Answer 12

Because arguments about religion increased and there was an increase in accusations of being in league with the Devil - Protestants accusing Catholics and vice versa.

Question 13

How did political change create insecurity and fear in the early modern period?

Answer 13

The English Civil War (1642-1649) in which Parliament fought and defeated the King’s forces - and the King was executed - turned a lot of people’s worlds upside down.

Question 14

How did landowners influence crime and punishment in the early modern period?

Answer 14

Landowners were becoming richer, while the majority remained poor. Therefore, landowners encouraged laws that defended their rights, power and property.

Question 15

When was James I on the throne?

Answer 15

1603-1625

Question 16

What were the two most serious crimes connected with the religious change of the early modern period?

Answer 16

Heresy and treason.

Question 17

What was heresy?

Answer 17

Heresy was seen as a crime against the Church and an offence to God. Heretics were seen as a danger to others as they could persuade others to follow them in their false beliefs.

Question 18

What was treason?

Answer 18

Treason was a challenge to the authority of the ruler. It became connected to heresy in this period because all of the Tudors from Henry VIII onwards (except Mary I) became the head of the Church of England and anyone who challenged this authority was guilty of treason.

Question 19

What was the punishment for heresy?

Answer 19

Burning alive at the stake.

Question 20

How many people were executed for heresy under Henry VIII?

Answer 20

81

Question 21

How many people were executed for heresy under Edward VI?

Answer 21

2

Question 22

How many people were executed for heresy under Mary I?

Answer 22

283

Question 23

How many people were executed for heresy under Elizabeth I?

Answer 23

5

Question 24

Was everybody accused of heresy executed?

Answer 24

No, most people took the opportunity to recant their religion - make a public statement that they had changed their religious beliefs.

Question 25

Who was John Fox?

Answer 25

He was a protestant under the reign of Elizabeth I who wrote a book called the Book of Martyrs.

Question 26

Why was the Book of Martyrs important?

Answer 26

Because it cemented Mary I’s reputation as being religiously intolerant and gave her the nickname ‘Bloody Mary’.

Question 27

What law was introduced in 1495 (under Henry VII)?

Answer 27

The Vagabonds and Beggars Act: ‘idle’ people were put in stocks when they arrived in a new village or town and then sent back to their place of birth.

Question 28

Why did vagabondage become a crime?

Answer 28

Because the vast majority of people never left the place they were born and those that did - in search of jobs - had no support from family and local community so they often turned to crime.

Question 29

What was the commonly-held view of vagabonds/vagrants?

Answer 29

That they were lazy and had brought their troubles upon themselves.

Question 30

What was a ‘dummerer’

Answer 30

A vagrant pretending to be deaf and mute.

Question 31

What was a ‘drunken tinker’

Answer 31

A thief using trade as a cover story.

Question 32

What was a prigger of prancer?

Answer 32

A horse thief.

Question 33

What was a kinchin mort?

Answer 33

A girl beggar.

Question 34

What harsh punishment for vagrants was introduced with the Vagrancy Act of 1547?

Answer 34

Any able-bodied vagrant who was without work for more than three days was to be branded with the letter V and sold into slavery for 2 years.

Question 35

Was the punishment contained in the 1547 Vagrancy Act carried out?

Answer 35

Not very much! It was seen as too severe and was withdrawn after three years.

Question 36

What punishments for vagrants were included in the 1597 Act for the Relief of the Poor?

Answer 36

Whipping and burning the ear using a hot iron - these punishments were intended to act as a deterrent to vagrants.

Question 37

How did the 1601 Poor Laws aim to make the system for dealing with vagrants more consistent?

Answer 37

All parishes were now supposed to provide poor relief to anybody who ws not physically fit to work.

Question 38

What term described those who were not physically fit tot work?

Answer 38

The ‘deserving poor’

Question 39

What happened to the ‘undeserving poor’ who were fit to work but not in employment?

Answer 39

They would be punished severely - branded, whipped or sent to one of the recently-opened houses of correction where they would be forced to work.

Question 40

Give an example of a house of correction.

Answer 40

The first one was opened in 1556 in the disused Bridewell Palace in London and was called Bridewell Prison.

Question 41

How did houses of correction, like Bridewell Prison, work?

Answer 41

Inmates in places like Bridewell Prison were made to do ‘hard labour’ (like breaking up rocks) to pay for their keep and encourage habits of hard work.

Question 42

How were the earlier prisons of the 16th century different from the later houses of correction under Elizabeth I?

Answer 42

Earlier prisons were not purpose built - they were often just a secure room in the local castle or a gatehouse that could be locked up.

Question 43

What was the purpose of the earlier prisons in the beginning of the early modern period?

Answer 43

They were not considered a punishment in their own right, but used as holding areas where prisoners were kept waiting for trial or for a punishment to be carried out.

Question 44

What were prison conditions like in the early 16th century BEFORE houses of correction started to be built in London and around the country in the 17th century?

Answer 44

They were very poor. Prisoners had to pay for food and other basic needs like bedding.

Women, children and men were housed together and petty criminals held together with more hardened, violent offenders.

They were dirty and unhealthy and prisoners often died of diseases such as Typhus.

Question 45

What was enclosure?

Answer 45

The act of fencing off previously common, or public, land by powerful landlords. It made life much harder for village people to survive and caused more people to move from villages into towns and cities in search of paid work. Enclosures were sometimes torn down and even led to one
significant rebellion under Edward VI: Kett’s Rebellion of 1549.

Question 46

What is poaching?

Answer 46

The crime of hunting or fishing on enclosed, private land. It was a ‘social crime’ as most people didn’t think the law was fair and so it was hard for the authorities to stop it.

Question 47

What law made poaching illegal?

Answer 47

The 1671 Game Act.

Question 48

What did government do that meant smuggling increased in the 17th century?

Answer 48

The government introduced import duties on a range of goods, including some alcohol and tea. Smugglers could make money by avoiding import tax and there were plenty of people willing to buy at a reduced price.

Question 49

Who won the English Civil War in 1651?

Answer 49

Oliver Cromwell and the puritan parliamentary forces.

Question 50

What effect did the Puritan victory have for crime and punishment?

Answer 50

Because the Puritans thought everyone should be focusing on religion and having ‘pure souls’, laws were passed that made many quite ordinary activities illegal, such as drinking and feasting.