Crime and Punishment in Medieval England

Law Enforcement 

-No Police Force 

-Local communities would regulate themselves.

-If a crime took place,often it was the victims responsibility to pursue justice.

-'Hue and Cry' - Victims would shout and call out for justice and the community would take it upon themselves to chase and hunt down the offender.

-'Tithing'- As there was a lot of communal respect and collective responsibility, Anglo-Saxon society placed a lot of faith on a person's word and therefore, by the age of 12, men took an oath to denounce major crimes in the community and were placed in groups of 10.If a member of the group broke the law, it were the others responsibility to take them to court.

Anglo Saxon Justice System ( Hierachy of court)                                                                     -Trial by Local jury                                                                                                                         They relied on the loacl community, the jury was made up of men from the village who knew bothe the accuser and the accused. The accuser and the accused would give their testimonies and the jury would decide who is telling the truth.If the jury felt the accuser was more honest , they would swear an oath that the accused was guilty. This oath taking was called compurgation.                    

-Trial by Ordeal                                                                                                                               As the Anglo- Saxons were a very religious society.If a local jury couldn't decide guilt or innocence,then the saxons turned to trial by ordeal in the hope that God would help them.Trials took place in a church, and includes trial by Hot iron, trials by blessed bread and trial by hot/cold water.                                                                                                                                      Punishments were hard and brutal, in the early Anglo Saxon period, Blood feuds was when victims were allowed to punish offenders as they wished and saw fit. This form of punishment was later replaced by wergild.Flogging and public humilation were popular punishments aswell.  Wergild- Saxons relied on the sytem of fines,wergild was the compensation paid to the victims of crime and their families.For fifferent status different amounts were given to compensate.

-A 'crime' is an activity that breaks the law.Crimes that threatened authority and wealth were considered serious and were harshly punished.The more serious the crime, the harsher the punishment.

Crimes against the person                                                                                                                      - Murder, Assault, Public disorder, ****    

Crimes against property                                                                                                                        - Arson, Theft such as stealing crops or poaching, counterfeiting coins

Crimes against authority                                                                                                                      - Treason, Rebellion                                                                                                                               Poaching                                                                                                                                 Hunting wild animals on other people's land without paying for hunting rights is known as poaching. It is a form of theft that increased dramatically after the Forest Laws.It is seen as a 'social' crime because many people committed this crime due to the fact that reducing the amount of common land meant many had to choose between breaking the law and going hungry.

After the Norman Conquest in 1066, William I wanted to establish royal authority over his new kingdom.He added to the existing crimes of the Anglo- Saxon's. He retained the idea of community responsibility.                                                                                                                             Norman Law enforcement:                                                                                                                  - Continuity: The anglo-saxon system of tithings,the hue and cry and the court system.                    - Changes; The Normans introduced trial by combat as another way of settling disputes.The two people would fight until one was killed or one surrendered. Use of 'Foresters' to police the Royal Forests and enforce forest laws.                                                                                                   

Forest Laws; 30% of England became the Royal Forest and was a protected areas of land so the monarchy could hunt.It became illegal to cut down trees,take firewood or kill deer within the royal forest.This angered English people and affected their lives significantly! Even though the punishments for breaking the forest laws ranged from fines to executations, many continued to do so.                                                                                                                                                 

Another change was Norman French was used in trials and courts,whilst reocrds were kept in Latin. Hundred courts (used for minor offences) became less important.Manor courts became favoured for local trials, dealing with issues like debt and theft.

Rebellions                                                                                                                                              In 1069, there was a rebellion in the North of England after the Norman invasion.William I punished the rebels harshly with death penalities to assert his authority. However, William I also punished those who were not directly involved in the rebellions, resulting in around 100 000 people starving to death due to the destructions of farmland and animals on Willaim's orders in the areas that had seen rebellions.

Murdrum Fine                                                                                                                                        This new law was used to establish control over the conquered population.If an Anglo-Saxon murdered a Norman, a large sum of money had to be paid by the hundred (an area of land).This way, murdering a Norman became more serious than murdering an Anglo-Saxon.This is another example of how the ruling classes made laws to benefit them.

Instead of Wergild, fines were paid directly to the king and not to the victim's family. 

Continuity;                                                                                                                                  England continued to lack a national police force and community responsibility remained the main way to bring an accused person to justice.Hue and cry continued.Tithings also continued, if they failed, the local sheriffs would try and bring the criminal to justice.                                   Changes;                                                                                                                                         In 1215, constables and watchers were intoduced. Parish Constables were unpaid local men who tried to keep the peace in the day.Watchers supported this by volunteering to watch the town during the night.Also, by this time Trial by Ordeal and combat was abolished as they lost support of the church, therefore there was no point to continue the trials.

The church increased it's power and influence, new laws were introduced to uphold its authority.The church targetted crimes that broke their morals and religious codes.This aimed to prevent sinfullness,that led to purgatory and hell.                                                                    Heresy( holding a belief contrary to specified religion) was considered as a punishable crime.     1361- Justice fo the peace act was intorduced.JPs had the power to  hear minor crimes and had the responsibility to enforce royal law.Punishments for minor crimes didn't change, with humiliation,stocks and flooging used to act as a deterrent for others.Fines continued to be popular and provided extra income for local lords.

Anglo Saxon;                                                                                                                                        Fines and compensation were most common.                                                                                     The system of paying compensation to victims of crime was used for many crimes, including murder, this is called the saxon wergild.                                                                                               Corporal punishments were fairly common but capital punishment was rarely used.

Norman;                                                                                                                                               Use of corporal and capital punishments rose dramtically.Breaking forest laws was punished harshly including blinding and hanging.The wergild system was endd and fines were paid to the king.Very minor crimes were still punished by fines,whipping or time in the stocks.

Later Medieval;                                                                                                                                     Use of capital punishment gradually decreased,although were still harshly punished.Corporal punishmnet were still widely used, although many juries would not convict their neighbours unless they regularly offended.Fines became more common.                                                                                                                      

The christian church was a very wealthy and powerful organisation.As England was a catholic country, the church had a huge influence over people's lives and law enforcement.The church had established independent laws and a separate court system.The church believed it was their duty to protect people from sinful behaviour that could take them to purgatory/hell.Heresy, gambling and breaking the sabbath were made illegal.

The church established it's own court to punish priest or church clergy who broke their moral code,their punishments were less harsh, with no death penalty.However,the church could still issue brutal punishments like mutilating the accused.Either by cutting off limbs, piercing eyes or even worse.Trials were heard by priests and there was no jury.As there were no jury, this attracted accused criminals and people often pretended to be a memeber of the clergy,however to prevent this,all those accused were required to read Psalm 51:1. This act is known as the benefit of the clergy as the idea that only clergymen were literate. The church provided a sanctuary which protected the accused for 40 days.During that time they would under go certain rituals like confession and taking part in religious ceremonies.After the 40 days are over, the accused are expected to face trial or go into exile.