Crime in later Medieval England 1100-1500

Question 1

What was the population of London and York and what effect did it have on crime?

Answer 1

· The growth of towns e.g London (population = 30,000) and York (population = 11,000) meant more crime.

Question 2

What was the Statute of Labourers 1351?

Answer 2

· Crime to ask for higher wages after the Black Death with Statute of Labourers 1351. Done to protect the interests of the rich. The law introduced a maximum wage for workers and made it illegal to move to a new area to look for better paid work.

Question 3

What were the Heresy Laws · Heresy Laws 1382, 1401, 1414?

Answer 3

· Heresy Laws 1382, 1401, 1414 – made it a crime to disagree with the teachings of the Church with the punishment being burned at the stake. Those who questioned the teachings of the church were called ‘heretics’.

Question 4

What were the moral crimes?

Answer 4

· Moral crimes such as failure to attend church, drunkenness, immorality, playing football on Sundays.

Question 5

Crimes against women

Answer 5

· Domestic violence against women was seen as acceptable by many men.
· Rape largely went unpunished e.g a historical study of the Midlands between 1400 and 1430 shows that in 280 rape cases, not one led to a conviction.

Question 6

Statistics on Petty crime

Answer 6

· Petty crime continued to be most common e.g 73.5% of all offences in Medieval England = theft, 18.2% = murder, 6.2% =receiving stolen goods and 2.1% = arson, counterfeiting coins, rape and treason.