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