Early modern England Flashcards
Name 3 changes in society
- Increasing population and decline of feudalism = higher unemployment so towns grew
- End of feudalism and new farming methods = Enclosure of land
- Change in religious beliefs
What crime did the increasing population lead to?
Street criminals and petty thieves
What crime did the end of feudalism lead to?
Poaching
What crime did change in religious beliefs lead to?
Heresy and high treason
Define high treason
Crime of plotting or acting to overthrow or harm the ruler or country
Define heresy
Having religious beliefs that were different to the official religion of the country
Who was Early Modern England ruled by?
Tudors then Stuarts
Name 3 new crimes in Early Modern England
- Vagabondage
- Smuggling
- Witchcraft
Define vagabondage
Unemployed, homeless person who resorted to thieving or begging and charity to survive
Why did vagabondage increase in the late 15th and 16th Century? (4)
- Increasing population
- Falling wages
- Rising food prices
- No system to help the needy
Define smuggling
people bring goods into the country secretly to avoid paying import tax and then sell it on
Name 3 laws against witchcraft in the Early Modern Period
- Henry VII made it a capital offence
- Elizabeth I charges of witchcraft tried in common court
- James I made it a capital offence
Name 4 Vagabondage laws
- 1494 Vagabonds and Beggars Act - put in stocks for 3 days then sent back to place of birth
- 1547 Vagrancy Act - able-bodied without work for 3 days branded with letter ‘v’ and sold as slave for 2 years
- 1597 Act for the relief of the poor - split vagrants into deserving and undeserving
- 1601 Poor laws - deserving poor given poor relief by local parish whilst undeserving whipped or sent to a correction house
Continuity in catching criminals form Medieval to Early Modern Period (2)
- People expected to raise and join hue and cry
2. No national police force
Change in role of church from Medieval to Early Modern Period (2)
- Benefit of clergy - people branded to show they received privilege and more serious crimes (murder) were exempt from benefit of clergy
- Sanctuary - Henry VIII stopped exile abroad and said they had to keep to designated sanctuaries in England. James I abolished sanctuary altogether
Changes in role of watchmen from Medieval to Early Modern (5)
- Carried a lamp
- Rang a bell for alert
- All male householders expected to volunteer (unpaid)
- Patrolled between 10pm and dawn
- Overseen by town constable
Changes in role of town constable from Medieval to Early Modern (5)
- Employed by authorities
- Respected members of community
- Power to arrest suspects and take them to Justice of Peace
- In charge of watchmen
- Helped with town administration
Continuity in aims and punishment from medieval to Early Modern (4)
- Fines
- Stocks, flogging or maiming
- Hanging
- Burning - only used for heresy
Change in types of punishment from medieval to early modern period
- BLOODY CODE:1688- 1825 known as Bloody Code as there were at least 50 crimes punishable by death and the aim was to frighten people so they wouldn’t commit crime
- TRANSPORTATION: usually to North America where manual work took place. Under James I, but many could not afford to come home
Why did transportation become a punishment? (2)
- Chance of rehabilitation whilst acting as a deterrent
2. Alternative to execution for petty crime
Reasons for harsh and public punishment for treason (4)
- Most serious crime received most serious punishment
- Without police force, harsh punishment was thought to be the only way of deterring crime
- Period of political instability required harsh treatment as form of deterrent
- Harsh message necessary to deter Catholics from rising against Protestants
Write a narrative for the Gunpowder Plotters (6)
- More laws stopped Catholics from practising faith and Elizabeth died so cousin James Stuart inherited throne
- James I continued with anti-Catholic laws so lead by Robert Catesby, a group of Catholics plotted to kill the King on 5th November 1605
- Lord Monteagle gave letter warning him not to attend state opening of parliament o Robert Cecil
- Plotters rented house next to Houses of Parliament and filled cellar with gunpowder
- Cecil ordered search of Houses of Parliament, the gunpowder and guy Fawkes were discovered on November 5th. Fawkes gave up name of conspirators
- Plotters tried and guilty of treason in January 1606 so publicly hanged, drawn and quartered
Evidence of witchcraft (7)
- Unusual marks on the body
- Witness accounts
- When pricked with a needle the accused doesn’t bleed
- When thrown into water the accused float
- Confessions from the accused
- If 2 proven witches swear the accused is a witch
- Possessed children acting as accusers
Define witch hunts
When people actively tried to discover witches.
When did the witch hunts occur?
English Civil War
Name 5 reasons for the intensity of the witch hunts
- Economic problems - cause by civil war and bad harvest so people looked for scapegoats
- Social changes - war left women widowed and more strangers as people travelled with army and searched for work
- Lack of authority - Civil war weakened control of local authorities
- Religious change - religious differences increased by the civil war as puritans believed witchcraft was being used by Catholics
- Influence of individuals - 1603, James I promoted witch hunting. Matthew Hopkins stirred up fear
Describe Matthew Hopkins (4)
- Employed by Justice of Peace to find witches in Essex and East Anglia
- Received money for each person prosecuted
- Used torture to extract confessions
- Helped stir up mass panic of witches
