History key words for Yr9 test

Question 1

Assize Judges

Answer 1

Royal Judges who traveled around the country hearing serious cases

Question 2

Benefit of the Clergy

Answer 2

The right to be judged in the church court

Question 3

Capital crime

Answer 3

A crime punishable by death

Question 4

Capital punishment

Answer 4

The death penalty

Question 5

Corporal punishment

Answer 5

A physically painful punishment

Question 6

Deterrence

Answer 6

To scare/warn people from committing a crime

Question 7

Forest Laws

Answer 7

Norman laws that banned ordinary people from hunting and gathering wood in the King’s forest

Question 8

Heresy

Answer 8

The crime of holding religious beliefs different to those of the monarch

Question 9

Houses of Correction

Answer 9

An early form of prison where vagabonds and prostitutes were whipped and made to work before being sent back to their parish. Also used to hold petty criminals before trial

Question 10

Hue and Cry

Answer 10

Raising the alarm by means of loud shouts and cries when a crime had been committed against you. Everyone in the hearing distance would join the hunt for the criminal.

Question 11

Justices of the peace

Answer 11

Local magistrates appointed to keep the peace and hear minor legal cases

Question 12

Manor courts

Answer 12

Local medieval courts that dealt with mainly minor crimes

Question 13

Moral offences

Answer 13

An action that offends the moral standards of society

Question 14

Murdrum Fines

Answer 14

Norman law that made the whole community pay a heavy fine if a Norman was killed

Question 15

Parish Constables

Answer 15

Men from every village or town who were appointed to uphold law and order. The job was unpaid and part-time.

Question 16

Poaching

Answer 16

The illegal hunting of animals

Question 17

Posse

Answer 17

A group of men called upon by the sheriff to track down a criminal

Question 18

Quarter Sessions

Answer 18

Courts held 4 times a year and used to hear serious cases

Question 19

Reformation

Answer 19

The religious movement in the 16th century when protestants rejected the Roman catholic church

Question 20

Retribution

Answer 20

A punishment that matches the severity of the crime

Question 21

Sheriff

Answer 21

The chief law enforcer in each county during the Middle Ages

Question 22

Social crime

Answer 22

An illegal act that many people don’t regard as a crime (Forest Laws).

Question 23

Stocks

Answer 23

A wooden frame with holes in it that held the feet of a convicted offender which aimed to humiliate them

Question 24

Tithings

Answer 24

Groups of 10 men over the age of 12 who were responsible for each other’s behavior. If a member of the tithing broke the law the others would have to bring him to justice or face a fine.

Question 25

Treason

Answer 25

Disobedience or disloyalty to the government or monarch.

Question 26

Trial by Combat

Answer 26

A form of trial by ordeal that began in the Norman era. Guilt is decided if the accused loses in a fight.

Question 27

Trial by Ordeal

Answer 27

A type of trial held near a church in which God decides whether the accused is guilty or innocent

Question 28

Vagrant

Answer 28

The crime of being a wandering beggar.

Question 29

Wergild

Answer 29

A form of compensation paid to the victim of a crime in Anglo-Saxon times