Medieval England 1000-1500 Flashcards
By 1000 AD, what was Anglo-Saxon England made up of?
Farming communities that shared the responsibility for maintaining law and order.
What were most of the crimes?
Crime against property, e.g. theft
Poaching
Example of social crime, hunting illegally.
Why was poaching considered acceptable in this period?
Many people lived together collectively farming land so the population turned a blind eye to poaching, way to survive.
Crime against neighbours
Insulting friend/neighbour, or something as serious as murder.
What happened in 1066?
The Normans invaded England and William Duke of Normandy became the new King of England.
Changes under the Normans
- building of castles, to protect themselves and exert their authority over the area
- introduced a new language to the country
Forest laws
All forest land belonged to the King and therefore trees could no longer be cut down for fuel.
Reaction to forest laws
- those living in the forest weren’t allowed to own dogs or use bows and arrows
- many normal people ignored these laws, happy to break it in order to survive
What were the methods of policing?
- tithings
- hue and cry
- local constables
Tithings
- every man 12+ had to join a tithing
- group of 10 men responsible for each other’s behaviour
- if someone broke the law, other members would bring him to court or pay the fines
Hue and cry
- entire village would stop their current work and chase after the criminal
- whole village would pay a fine if anyone chose not to participate
- if failed, Sheriff would get a posse of men to continue searching
Trial by jury
- members of local community, mainly men who knew accused and accuser
- accused and accuser would tell their side, jury would decide who’s telling the truth
- no evidence -> jury would decide based off their knowledge of the two parties
Compurgation
When the jury felt that the accuser was more honest than the accused they would take an oath called Compurgation.
Constables
- well respected men, usually a local landowner or tradesman
- take role for one year
- main responsibility was to keep the peace
- need to keep an eye out for crime and lead hue and cry if necessary
What was the main principle behind punishments?
Deterrence and retribution
Retribution
Idea that a person should ‘pay’ for what they have done.
Corporal punishment
- to the body, could result in a period of time in the stocks and pillory
- public, to humiliate offenders and deter others from committing crimes
Reoffenders
- mutilation to parts of their body e.g. cutting off a hand, ear or nose, or even ‘putting-out’ the eyes
- to deter others from further crimes
Fines
- AKA Wergild
- offender paid the victim of the crime, mainly used in crimes against person/property
Capital punishment
- death penalty/ execution was reserved for serious crimes e.g. treason
Treason
- going against the King or betray your Lord
- severe punishment to show others how important it is to be loyal to those in authority
Prison
- not widely used
- used when waiting to be executed or held in debtors prison due to owing money
Why was Wergild removed?
Fines were paid to the King and his officials instead
Reaction to Norman changes
- due to invasion, there was a lot of distrust and anger
- some Saxons killed Norman soldiers
Murdrum fine
If a Norman was killed, everyone in the area would pay a fine to the king
Trial by combat
- accused had to fight the accuser until one was killed or unable to fight
- loser was hanged as God considered him guilty
Role of the church
- Saxons were very religious, if local jury couldn’t make a decision they would let God decide using Trial by Ordeal
- all trials took place in church, except Cold Water
- ended in 1215
Trial by hot iron
- usually taken by a woman
- carried a red-hot piece of metal for 3 paces
- bandaged for 3 days
- healing -> innocent
- not healing -> guilty
Trial by hot water
- usually taken by men
- dunk hand in boiling water to retrieve an object
- hand and arm bandaged for 3 days
- healing -> innocent
- wounds were festering -> guilty
Trial by blessed bread
- by priests accused of a crime
- priest that was present would pray that the accused would choke on bread if they lied
Trial by cold water
- usually taken by men
- put into pool of water/river with rope tied around waist
- if they sank in Gods pure water -> innocent
- floated, rejected by pure water -> guilty
Sanctuary
- if you commuted a crime you could claim sanctuary
- church would protect you
- no one able to remove you from church, not even County Sheriff
- criminal had 40 days to decide to face trial or leave country
- leave the country -> travel to the nearest port barefoot, carrying a wooden cross and get onboard the first ship heading abroad.
Church courts
- never sentence anyone t death regardless of how serious the crime was
- Moral offences such as failure to attend church, adultery and drunkenness
