Norman crime and punishment Flashcards
What happened when the Normans took over?
When did this era start and how?
Anglo saxon era ended, Norman era started after battle of hastings in 1066.
William’s norman’s brought over their own ideas about crime.
William introduced new crimes to give in greater control over the english people to prove power and stop rebellion.
How did William I establish his royal power?
Why were people angry?
Anglo saxons hated having a new foreign king and were angry after the death of harold godwinson at hastings .
William needed to make sure anglo saxon’s submitted to his rule to gain full power .
Any act of resistance against william was crime against authority and his punishments were brutal.
William I establishment of power
What was the harrying of the north in 1069?
What was damaged?
To punish rebels who remained loyal to old anglo saxon king, william ordered an attack on communities across north to act as a deterrent.
Homes were burned, large areas of land turned to wastelands.
William sent men to destroy farmland and kill livestock.
Over 100k people died of starvation due to his actions.
Castle building ;
What did castles show? What type of castles was they called?
Who built the castles?
Who lives in the castles?
Motte and Bailey castles
Show strength and were in most towns and villages.
Built on high lands and looked down on communities to look intimidating and symbolize william’s strengthS
peasant workers built castles which acted as a way for william to show authority
Norman nobles lived in castles and gained control over areas.
What was the Norman Feudal system?
What did it give William?
A strict new way to control people.
Ultimate way to control as everyone beneath him promised to serve king and in some way power money to king.
Exchange labour for land.
Norman Feudal System;
What were laws for peasants?
What did William have loyal to him?
Law for peasants to work for new norman lords.
Became illegal for peasants to leave village to seek other work. Peasants would be searched for and known as outlaws.
He made sure he had knights loyal to him.
What was Williams royal forests?
Who could pay for hunting rights?
How much of england became part of royal forests?
Large areas of english countryside
Places for him and his nobles to hunt
Only nobles could pay for hunting rights, which gave william a good income.
30% of england became part of royal forest as 40 village communities were evicted from their land to make way for new forest.
What were the forest laws?
Common land which has previously been accessed by peasants for hunting, fishing, grazing animals, collecting firewood and berries was now out of bounds (Royal Forests)
Anyone now using this land was accused as poaching.
Forest laws;
Who were employed to seek out poachers?
What was poaching a law against? , how could it be punished?
What did forest laws create for the community?
Foresters were employed to seek poachers.
Poaching was a crime against authority and could be punished by hanging, being blinded or even castrated.
Forest laws created anger as it took away access to natural resources which so many people relied on to survive.
Norman Law enforcement
What changed?
- 1 New trial
- New type of authority
- Replacement of old authority
- Something being built
Trial by combat - arguing would use swords or sticks to fight to the death or until someone surrender.
Foresters - responsible for policing royal forests - often hated by local communities due to their harshness.
Norman Shire reeves - by 1100, all anglo saxons nobles were replaced with norman nobles.
Castle building - keep watch and intimidate new subjects, and deter them from revolting.
Norman Law enforcement
What continued?
(3 things)
Kings duty - still have to keep ‘kings peace’ now it’s just called ‘kings mund’
Collective responsibility - tithings and hue and cry were still effective in small rural communities.
Ordeals - until 1215, trial by ordeal continued.
Norman punishments -
What changed?
(3 things)
Murdrum Fine replaced Wergild (fine to be paid by whole community and to the king instead of family)
Community punishments - instead of just the accused.
Increase use of death penalty - Increase in number of capital crimes, more crimes punishable by death including poaching.
Norman punishments;
What continued?
(3 things)
Deterrent and retribution being purpose of punishment
Corporal and Capital punishment
Crime against authority continued to be punished most harshly reflecting social hierarchy.
Later Medieval
New crimes;
What was the statute of labourers (1349)?
What did it rule?
What is it similar to in earlier norman rule?
After the black death,, there was more work but fewer workers. This meant peasants had to work harder and began demanding better rights and wages. Land owning ruling classes were worried if peasants got too wealthy, they would get powerful.
Statute of labourers
Wages would be same as before black death
Would be illegal to move to a new area to look for better paid work
Would be illegal to ask for pay rise
Workers shall recieve maximum wage.
Similar to forest laws, as they wanted to protect land and status.
Later Medieval
Newer Crimes
What was the heresy laws (1382,1401,1414) and what were they punishment for?
What were the punishments?
Heresy ( crime of challenging official religion) became a crime.
King and parliament did this after people returned from the crusaded speaking about the beliefs of other religions such as islam and judaism.
People began to question christian church, clergy felt threatened and asked kings for tougher laws against heretics.
Punishments ;
Burned at stake in public
Justices of peace had the power to arrest anyone they thought was a heretic.
Late medieval;
New law enforcement romes
What were Henry II reforms?
Set up prisons for suspected criminals to be held before trials.
Ordered royal judges to visit county twice a year to judge any serious crimes.
He standardised laws (written down and instructions were issued to all local authorities, laws become same across country)
Late medieval;
New enforcement roles
What were Justices of peace?
Knights had previously been called keepers of the peace, now became JP’s. directly chosen by king and had some responsibility to judge in smaller courts. Reputation for being harsh and many were landowners.
Late Medieval;
New law enforcement roles
What were the coroner?
Corner (introduced in 1194) investigates any suspicious deaths.
Late medieval
New Law enforcement roles;
what were town constables?
Tithingmen given a more official roles as constables by end of 1400s, became known as town constables.
Late medieval
New law enforcement roles:
What were sherrifs? (Or shire reeve)
What were their new role?
Role of sheriff expanded. Now expected to track down criminals if hue and cry failed. Could also hire a posse (gang) of local men to help catch criminals if needed.
Late medieval
What were all the changes in law enforcement roles?
Henry II reforms
Coroner
Justices of peace
Town Constables
Sheriffs
Similarities of punishments in later medieval england
Purpose of punishments continued to be as a deterrent as a form of retribution.
Authorities used a combination of corporal punishments and fines for smaller crimes.
Changes in punishments in later medieval england
If a person was found guilty of high treason, they were to be hung drawn and quartered.
commoners who committed serious crimes were hanged while nobles were typically beheaded.
Late medieval;
Why was a church a key influence over law and order?
Fear of sin and being sent to hell
God should have final judgement
Church powerful and wealthy, influenced kings
Society believes god without question.
Clergy were highly educated and respected in their community.
Influence of church;
How did the church courts help?
Held theory that criminals should be given opportunities to reform.
Promoted the use of corporal punishment over capital.
This way criminal had opportunity to repent and change way of behavior.
Influence of the church;
How did it influence ordeals?
Believes god had final judgement
Carried on until 1215.
All decided on guilt or innocence by god.
Influence of church ;
Benefit of Clergy
- Members were given special right by church called benefit of clergy.
-Church courts more lenient.
-Negatives ; anyone could claim to be member of clergy, they just had to read a passage from bible known as psalm 51.
Influence of the church;
Sanctuary
Since anglo saxon times, some important criminals offered criminals protections away from law.
Last up to 49 days.
Often the accused had to pay a fine to remain in church, after this they had to promise to attend royal court or leave england.
Late medieval;
Declining influence of the church
How did henry II (1154-1189) influence this?
He believed churches were too lenient.
He wanted punishments to be a harsh deterrent.
He used royal judges in court and demanded a standardised and fair system of punishments.
Also issued the first set of written laws.
Late Medieval;
Declining influence of the church
How did Trial by Jury affect thisV
In 1215, pope ordered ordeals should end.
Solution was more secular - trial by jury
More secular but still required the accused to swear religious oath, like we still do today.
Late Medieval ;
What were the two factors that caused the decline in influence of the church?
Henry II influence
Trial by jury.
