Early Modern Crime

Question 1

What were the 2 most serious crimes connected to religion?

Answer 1

1. Heresy was a crime against the Church and an offence to God, danger to persuading others.
2. Treason was a challenge to authority but was linked to religion as they all made religious changes.

Question 2

How many people did they execute and changes did they made?

Answer 2

1. Henry closed down monasteries and killed 81 for heresy
2. Edward VI-Protestant introduced an English prayer book. 2 heresy
3. Mary I- tried to restore the Catholic Church and restored the Pope as the head of the Catholic Church
4. 283 executed as heretics

Question 3

What was the punishment for heresy?

Answer 3

1. Being burnt at the stake
2. Tied to a wooden post while a fire was lit beneath them
3. Death was caused by breathing in fumes or shock to the body caused by the fumes.

Question 4

What changes did Elizabeth make to religion?

Answer 4

1. Act of Uniformity said that everyone had to go to church on Sunday and holy days or pay a fine
2. Labelled ‘recusants’
3. The Act of Supremacy reintroduced the Oath of Supremacy-Catholics who refused were criminals
4. 1569, Catholic rebellion in the north of England
5. 1570 Pope excommunicated Elizabeth
6. After this many more Catholics were prosecuted for recusancy.

Question 5

What changes did James I make to religion?

Answer 5

1. Protestant, but tolerant to Catholics until 1605 Gunpowder Plot
2. Introduced strict anti-Catholic laws
3. 1605 Popish Recusants Act forced Catholics to swear loyalty to the King and pay heavy fines for not attending church

Question 6

What is the significance of Fox’s Book of Martyrs?

Answer 6

1. Published in 1563
2. Described persecution of Protestants by Catholic Church and Catholic monarchs, including Mary
3. Calls her ‘Bloody Mary’
4. More than 800 Protestant clergy were forced to flee abroad.

Question 7

How did circumstances lead to vagabonds arising?

Answer 7

1. In the Middle Ages, majority of people never left their town changed after 1500
2. Growing population, falling wages and rising food prices
3. More people left their jobs for work
4. Unemployed and homeless people were known as vagrants

Question 8

What were the 1547 vagrancy laws?

Answer 8

1. Vagrancy Act of 1547, any able-bodied vagrant, no work for 3 days, branded with the letter V
2. Sold into slavery for 2 years
3. Repealed 3 years later
4. Law so severe punishments not carried out

Question 9

What were the 1597 vagrancy laws?

Answer 9

1. Act for the Relief of the Poor
2. Harsh punishments to act as deterrents
3. Whipping and burning the ear using a hot iron

Question 10

What were the 1601 vagrancy laws?

Answer 10

1. 1601 Poor Laws aimed to make punishment more consistent
2. All parishes were supposed to give poor relief to anybody who was not fit to work
3. They were called the ‘deserving poor’
4. ‘Undeserving poor’ could be branded, whipped or sent to correction houses

Question 11

Enclosure:

Answer 11

1. Large areas of land which the poor had previously been able to access were closed off
2. The land was then used to graze sheep whose fleeces were sold for profit
3. Added to the number of rural people moving to the city for work

Question 12

Poaching:

Answer 12

1. Many poor people continued to hunt rabbits on enclosed acts to improve their meagre and monotonous diets
2. 1671 Game Act made it illegal
3. Many people thought this was unfair and was considered a social crime

Question 13

The rise of smuggling:

Answer 13

1. In the C17th an import duty was introduced on goods like alcohol and tea
2. Hard to enforce as people as many people benefitted from it.

Question 14

Who was Oliver Cromwell and why was he significant?

Answer 14

1. After, parliament’s victory Oliver Cromwell took the title Lord Protector from 1653-58
2. He was a strict Puritan
3. Sports after church not allowed it is a holy day
4. Feasts and alcohol not allowed- control appetites
5. Repealed in 1660
6. Decriminalisation of recusancy in 1650