Early Modern England (1500-1700) Flashcards
What social factors affected crime and punishment in Early Modern England?
Population growth: Population grew as the Black Death died down, people found it harder to find work
Economic changes: Although England became wealthier overall, the majority were left poor, making them vulnerable to rising prices of food after bad harvests, leading to unemployment and hardship.
Printing: Fear of crime spread as crime was often written about on leaflets, which many would understand either by reading or being read aloud for them to understand.
Religious turmoil: As a result of Britain constantly switching between Catholic and Protestant monarchs in the 16th Century, both sides accused each other of being in league with the devil, and this belief in the supernatural was also used to explain events that occurred.
Political change: The execution of King Charles I after the English Civil War in the 17th Century turned the world upside down for many (who believed in the Divine Right of Kings), and this created a feeling of fear and insecurity that lasted decades
Landowners’ attitudes: Landowners were becoming richer and growing in influence. With the increasing population of the poor, landowners regarded them with more suspicion with regards to crime
What were the different forms of trial available in Early Modern England?
- The Justices of the Peace dealt with minor crimes.
- Quarter sessions were held four times a year so royal judges could deal with more serious crimes
- The Assize dealt with the most serious crimes
What were Debtors Prisons?
Debtors prisons were a form of punishment for people in debt. They had to pay off their debts to leave the prison, however they could not source income as they could not work.
What were the different forms of policing in Early Modern England?
Continuity:
- Tithings and hue and cry were still used, however hue and cry became much less effective as the towns became much larger, so not everybody knew each other and who to chase after.
- Parish Constables were still used to protect citizens from crimes, they could arrest and punish criminals and were responsible for offenders held in prison before trial.
- A local posse was used to catch criminals (group of men all over 21, lead by Sheriff)
Change:
- Larger towns employed town watchmen to patrol the streets from 22:00 until dawn. They carried a lamp and rang a bell to warn people to go home or risk being identified as criminals. They were volunteers and unpaid.
- The town constable was appointed to turn in serious criminals over to the courts, break up fights and collect community payments for road maintenance and cleaning.
Crime rate increased in Early Modern England, as policing became much less effective as towns grew.
What were the different forms of punishment in Early Modern England?
- Pillory
- Fines
- Hanging, drawing and quartering (Capital punishment): Used for treason, poaching, smuggling, witchcraft and arson (setting fire to something).
- Banishment
- Flogging/whipping (usually done to vagabonds)
- Houses of Correction were built for repeat offenders or vagabonds, they would have to carry out hard labour
- Carting: Involved a person being humiliated by being dragged around on a cart. Used against those who committed adultery or vagabondage
What were the effects of the Reformation on Crime and Punishment?
- Benefit of the Clergy was removed, also because many people learnt the neck verse
- People would be burned for committing heresy, which is refusing to follow the religious views of the monarch or the state
- Tougher laws emerged dealing with crimes against royal and church authority
What was vagabondage and what factors caused it?
Vagabondage was the state of being homeless, poor and unemployed, so vagabonds would roam the streets in search of work or money.
Factors that caused vagabondage:
- Fewer jobs/higher unemployment rates.
- Rising population: not enough work to go around for the rising population.
- War: There was a loss of business due to the war with Spain, and soldiers had nowhere to go after being discharged from the army.
- Changes in farming: Enclosures were created so that people could cordon off their own land, reducing work for some farmers.
- Periods of hardship due to inflation: Often caused by bad harvests, and this lead to increased poverty, unemployment and therefore vagabondage.
Why did authorities regard vagabondage as such a big threat?
- They committed crimes such as thefts, assaults and murders - government believed this was their way of getting hands on money without working
- Public already paid poor rates to help poor people in their area, they did not want to pay for potential vagabonds who were not from their area
- With the reformation, Protestants saw begging as idleness, unlike catholics
- Lack of understanding of why vagabonds were present
How did the treatment of vagabonds change in the 16th Century?
1531: Whipped until bodies were bloody and then returned to previous residence
1547: First offence, two year slavery: second offence, slavery for life or execution
1550: 1547 Act repealed as too harsh, 1531 Act was revived
1572: First offence, whipping and burning through gristle of an ear with an iron; second offence, execution
1576: Houses of correction built to punish persistent beggars
1593: 1571 Act repealed, 1531 Act revived
1598: Vagrants were whipped and sent home, if they did not mend their ways they would be sent to the Houses of Correction, banished or executed
What was witchcraft and what factors led to it being treated so harshly and the witch hunt of 1645-1647?
Witchcraft is the practice of magic for evil purposes, involving the use of spells, and it was accused of much more in Early Modern England due to a variety of factors:
- Economic: Bad harvests caused rises in food prices, people became superstitious following periods of hardship and blamed witchcraft. Witch hunters also became a paid job, encouraging them to put forward ideas of witchcraft. Witchcraft was also often accused of following ‘witches’ being rejected charity.
- Religious: The movement from Catholicism to Protestantism caused each set of believers to accuse each other of being in league with the devil, linking to witchcraft
- Science and technology: Printing was invented and allowed thoughts of witchcraft to be publicised and spread more quickly. A lack of science and technology could not explain the occurrences that were believed to be witchcraft.
- Social: Tensions between locals after population growth brought about unemployment lead to many accusations of witchcraft
- Political: Bishops that had been in exile when Mary I was queen returned under the rule of Elizabeth I and brought back strong Protestant beliefs arbour witchcraft. James I was also fascinated about witchcraft and wrote a book about it, influencing the thoughts of many. King Charles I being executed also brought about ideas of witchcraft.
What was transportation and when was it introduced?
Transportation was introduced in the 1660s, criminals began to be sent to American colonies. Transportation for life was for murderers who escaped the death penalty.
Once in America, the conditions were close to slavery, but transportation was still deemed as the soft option compared to the death penalty by many.
What was the bloody code and when was it introduced?
In 1688, there was a big change to the law. The number of crimes carrying the death penalty drastically increased, with 50 crimes being punishable by death at first, but this was increased to 160 by 1765, and 225 by 1815. These laws became known as the bloody code.
The death penalty was used by the government as a deterrent, to prevent others from committing the same crimes.
Case study 1: What was the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 and how were the conspirators punished?
- When James I became king in 1603, many Catholics were hopeful that they would be allowed to worship more freely as his wife was a catholic. However, anti-catholic advisors caused James I to tighten laws further against Catholics, limiting their freedom.
- Robert Catesby lead a group of conspirators in a plan to blow up Parliament. However the plan failed as Lord Monteagle was warned of the attack by a conspirator who was his relative. The government was warned and Guy Fawkes was infamously found in a chamber below parliament next to the explosives.
- Guy Fawkes was forced to confess the names of the other conspirators and eventually all conspirators were tracked down. Those who were not killed in fighting were hanged, drawn and quartered after trial.
- Their harsh punishment acted as a deterrent, as citizens would be deeply afraid to plot against the government again on the grounds of religion.
Case study 2: What was the witch hunt of 1645-1647?
In 1645, Matthew Hopkins started searching East Anglia for ‘witches’, as witchcraft had become much more of a popular accusation for things going wrong.
Hopkins accused old, vulnerable women of different villages of witchcraft on ridiculous grounds, such as having a scar (Devil’s mark), which proved being in league with the devil.
He would then exhaust his suspects to the point where they would confess, hand them over to the magistrate and receive 1 pound for each ‘witch’ that was hanged. Hopkins also demanded fees from towns to ‘protect them from witches’
What most likely allowed Hopkins to get away with his torturing techniques was the breakdown of the government after the Civil War, nobody was entirely keeping track of how Hopkins brought in ‘witches’.
Hopkins eventually disappeared after the validity of his work started to be doubted, but he was responsible for at least 100 executions of ‘witches’ between 1645 and 1647.
