Crime and Punishment 1500 - 1700

New crimes
1. Heresy
  1. Believing in a different religion to the Monarch
2. Vagrancy
  1. Wandering the country looking for work, sometimes begging
3. Witchcraft
  1. Practising witchcraft/dark magic (only women could be witches)
Influence of the Church - what the church did to ensure justice
1. Benefit of the clergy
  1. Church courts tried people who committed moral crimes such as sex outside of marriage or not going to church
  2. Church courts tried members of the clergy for any crime - known as benefit of the clergy
    1. People proved their right to benefit of the clergy by reading a passage from the Bible (Priests were some of the only people who could read) so people memorised the passage so they could be judged by a church court instead
      1. Did this because church courts were much less harsh - never ruled death penalty
2. Trial by ordeal
  1. First used in 1000 - 1500s but still used in 1500 - 1700s
  2. 4 types of trial by ordeal
    1. Trial by hot water
      1. Accused had to retrieve something from a pot of boiling water, if the burn healed well in 3 days time, the person was innocent, if the burn had not healed, was guilty
    2. Trial by hot iron
      1. Accused was burned by a hot iron and if the burn healed well in 3 days, person was innocent, if the burn had not healed, was guilty
    3. Trial by cold water
      1. Accused tied up and thrown into deep water, if they sank they were innocent, if they floated they were guilty
    4. Trial by 'blessed' bread
      1. Only for priests
      2. If the accused choked on the bread they were guilty, if not they were innocen t
3. Sanctuary
  1. Someone running from the law could seek sanctuary by going to a church. A priest could report the crime but the accused could not be arrested. the accused could either agree to go to court and be judged or leave the country.
  2. If the accused had not left the country after 40 days, they were outlawed
Changes in society
1. Population increase
  1. More people moved to urban areas in search of work and so towns and cities grew
    1. Increase in street criminals and petty theft - crimes against people
2. Changes in religious beliefs
  1. Increase in heresy and high treason as some people refused to believe in the same religion as their monarch
3. End of feudalism and new farming methods
  1. Resulted in more people fencing off their land
    1. Increased crimes against property like poaching as landowners restricted who could hunt on their land
New laws
1. 1547 Vagrancy Act
  1. The able-bodied without work for more than three days were branded with the letter 'v' and sold as a slave for two years
    1. Didn't work as was impossible to prove
2. 1494 Vagabonds and Beggars Act
  1. Vagabonds were put in stocks for three days and nights, then sent back to where they were born or most well-known
3. 1597 Act for the Relief of the Poor
  1. Split vagrants into two categories: 'deserving' (elderly and disabled) and 'undeserving' (those fit for work)
4. 1601 Poor Laws
  1. The 'deserving' poor were given poor relief by the local parish; the 'undeserving' could be whipped, branded or sent to a correction house
New law enforcers
1. Watchmen
  1. Watchmen patrolled the streets between 10pm and dawn carrying a lamp and a bell to alert people of trouble
  2. They were overseen by the town contable and all male householders were expected to volunteer unpaid
2. Town constables
  1. Employed by authorities in towns and were in charge of the watchmen in their area
  2. Respected members of the community
  3. Had the power to arrest suspects and take them to the Justice of the Peace and helped with the town administration
3. Still no police force
4. No police force
New punishments
1. Fines
2. Pillory or stocks
3. Flogging or maiming
4. Hanging
5. Burning
Punishments
1. Fines
  1. For minor crimes
2. Pillory or stocks
  1. For crimes such as begging, drunkenness and vagrancy
3. Hanging
  1. For crimes such as theft, murder, poaching, witchcraft and smuggling
4. Burning
  1. Only used as the punishment for heresy
The Bloody Code
1. In the 17th century, the number of crimes punishable by death increased. by 1688 there were 50 capital offences ranging from minor crimes like stealing, to murder
  1. Because of the increase in capital offences, the period from 1688-1825 became known as the Bloody Code
    1. The aim was to scare people so that they wouldn't commit any crime
    2. Causes of the Bloody Code
      1. Travel and Technology
        Lots more people were travelling which increased theft and highway robberies/murders
      2. Government/Lawmakers
        Rich people made more laws so that they were protected from theft or poaching
      3. Media
        Reports about crime in newspapers and pamphlets scared people
      4. Wealth and poverty
        Bad harvests led to the poor getting desperate, stealing from the rich and being persecuted
      5. Key individuals
        People felt the need to commit crime because they were desperate
  2. By 1765 there were 160 crimes that carried the death penalty
The witch hunts of 1645-1647
1. In the years 1645-47 there was a huge increase in the number of people executed for witchcraft
  1. Many of these were due to Matthew Hopkins, who called himself the 'Witchfinder General'
    1. Matthew Hopkins
      1. Employed by a Justice of the Peace to find witches
      2. Received money for each person prosecuted for being a witch. It's estimated that his 'work' led to around 300 people being investigated for witchcraft and 112 hanged
      3. Used to torture to extract confessions, often included people giving names of other 'witches'
      4. Helped stir up mass panic and fear of witches through his prosecutions and pamphlets
  2. A witchhunt was when people actively tried to discover witches
  3. Reasons for the intensity of the 1645-47 witch hunts
    1. Economic problems
      1. The Civil War and poor harvests cause huge economic problems. People needed a scapegoat to explain why this had happened
    2. Social changes
      1. The war left many women widowed or alone as their husbands were away fighting. There were also more 'strangers' around as people travelled with armies or searched for work
    3. Lack of authority
      1. The Civil War weakened the control or local authorities. In some areas law and order collapsed completely
    4. Influence of individuals
      1. Since 1603, James I had promoted witch hunting. People like Matthew Hopkins stirred up fear of witches through their writing and also took part in witch hunts themselves
    5. Religious change
      1. Religious differences were increased by the Civil War. Many Puritans, on the side of the parliament, believed that witchcraft was being used by the Royalists, some of whom were Catholic
2. Evidence of witchcraft
  1. Unusual marks on the body
  2. Witness accounts or 'possessed' children as accusers
  3. When pricked with a needle, the accused didnt bleed
  4. Confesion form the accused
  5. If two proven witches swear the accused is a witch

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Crime and Punishment 1500 - 1700

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	Created by Liora Silas about 6 years ago