Lesson 6 C1500-1700 Flashcards
Early modern England
State a ‘new’ crime in early modern England
Vagabondage or vagrancy
What was Vagabondage or vagrancy?
- A vagabond or a vagrant is an unemployed homeless person.
Why did this new crime come along?
- The late 15th and 16th century saw a large increase in the number of vagrants due to the increasing population, falling wages , rising food prices and no system to help the needy.
Vagabondage laws timeline
1494 - Vagabonds and beggars act = vagabonds put into stocks for 3 days and 3 nights then sent to where they were born or most known.
1547 - vagrancy act , The able bodied w/o work for more than 3 days were branded with the letter V and sold as a slave for 2 years (repealed)
1597 - The act for the relief of the poor - split vagrants into ‘deserving ‘ poor and ‘undeserving ‘ poor
1601 - poor laws
The deserving poor given poor relief by the local parish, The undeserving could be branded , whipped or sent to a correction house
state 2 other new crimes in early modern England
- smuggling
- witchcraft
What was smuggling and why was it done?
- Smuggling is where people bring goods into the country secretly to avoid paying import tax and then sell it on
- seen as social crime
Why did smuggling increase?
- When import tax on certain goods including brandy and tea was introduced in 17th century, the crime of smuggling increased dramatically.
how was witch craft previously seen and dealt with?
Witchcraft had been a minor crime and dealt with by the church courts .New laws against witchcraft were passed making it severe.
Time line of witchcraft
- 1542 = Henry VIII made witchcraft punishable by death
- 1563 = Elizabeth I changed law so charges of witchcraft was tried in common court
- 1604 = James I instructed the death penalty to be given to people ‘ summoning evil spirit’
