Crime and Punishment Medieval England

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What were the six methods the Saxons used to prevent crime in medieval england?
Bloody Feuds, wergild, the hue and cry, Tithing, Saxon justice, Trial by Ordeal.
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What was the bloody feud in medieval england?
If a person committed a crime against another then the victim’s family may have a blood feud with the criminal’s family. This meant that the victim’s family was allowed to take revenge on criminal’s family.
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What was the wergild in medieval england?
This literally translates as blood money. Wergild was a bit like compensation for damage to a person. If you killed someone you owed a pre-determined amount their family as Wergild.
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What was the the hue and cry in medieval england?
If a member of the community saw a crime being committed they would cry out for others in the village to come to their aid and everyone was expected to help apprehend the criminal.
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What was the the tithing in medieval england?
Once a man reached 12 years old he was expected to join a tithing. A tithing was a group of 10 men who were all responsible for each others’ behaviour. If one committed a crime the others were responsible for bringing him to justice.
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What was the the saxon justice in medieval england?
When a criminal needed to be brought to justice, they'd go to the folkmoot, which was a local lord and people who knew the accused and they'd judge whether he was guilty or innocent, if not they'd face trial by ordeal
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What was the the trial by ordeal in medieval england?
The trial by ordeal system essentially passed the judgement of innocence or guilt over to God.
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What were the four trial by ordeals?
Trial by Fire (or hot iron), Trial by Hot water, Trial by Cold water, Trial by sacrament (or blessed bread)
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What was Trial by Fire (or hot iron)?
the accused would hold a red hot iron bar and then have their wounds dressed. If after 3 days their wounds were healing it was considered that god had protected them and they were innocent, if their wounds were infected God had forsaken them
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What was Trial by Hot water?
the accused would retrieve an object from the bottom of a pot of boiling water. Their wounds were then bound and inspected 3 days later
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What was Trial by Cold water?
which the accused was thrown into a local pond or lake. The water represented purity, therefore the guilty would be rejected and would float; unfortunately the innocent would be accepted into the pure water and could well drown.
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What was Trial by sacrament (or blessed bread)?
the accused praying that if they were guilty they would choke on a slice of bread, they would then eat the bread and if they survived they were innocent.
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What were minor crimes in medieval england?
theft, damage to property
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How were minor crimes dealt with?
fines, oaths on the bible and public humiliation
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What were major crimes in medieval england?
Murder and Treason
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How were major crimes dealt with?
mutilation of limbs, execution, hanging or beheading
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What was an outlaw in medieval england?
If someone was accused of a crime but did not show up to answer for their crimes at the folkmoot they were considered an outlaw. This meant that they were no longer protected by the laws of the land and could be murdered without reprisal
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Why was the saxon system fair?
•The system of justice was the same for everyone • With the system of Trial by Ordeal everyone had the same chance of being protected by God • Humiliation was used as a punishment so losing a family member to execution did not disadvantage families
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Why was the saxon system unfair?
•The juries knew the accused and could be bias •Trail by ordeal was no based on factual evidence •tithings meant you could be accused for someone elses crime
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What were the five things the normans introduced?
Trail by combat, murdrum fines, forest laws, laws written in french, the harrying of the north
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What was trial by combat, introduced by the normans?
the accused and the accuser would fight until either the death or one of the two gave in. The loser was considered to have been forsaken by God and was therefore guilty. You could also pay people to do it for you.
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What was murdrum fines, introduced by the normans?
This law stated that if a Norman was killed and the killer could not be found it was considered to be ‘Murdrum’. If the killer was not found then a hefty fine was given for the whole village to pay.
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What was forest laws, introduced by the normans?
These laws applied to areas of woodland that were protected by William I. Saxons could not hunt deer; carry a bow or chop wood from the trees in these protected woods.
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What was laws written in french, introduced by the normans?
By writing new laws in French this stopped any of the old English/Saxon lords from understanding or contributing to the developments of new laws.
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What was the harrying of the north, introduced by the normans?
When William I first came to power in England there were a number of rebellions. William would burn down villages to put his message across and also would kill whole herds of livestock. All of this was designed to deter further rebellion.
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What was the extension of the kings peace?
The king’s peace was an old law that protected the area directly around the king. If a crime was committed in this area then the punishment was much harsher than it would normally be. This was to stop people committing crimes near the king.
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What was travelling justices?
Travelling Justices were people who were given power by the king to hear cases and make judgements on behalf of the king
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What were county gaols?
Until the county gaols were built the only form of prisons were those that were used to hold people prior to going to court. These gaols, once built, were used as a form of punishment.
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What was trial by jury?
If you felt that you did not want to be judged by an ordeal then you could pay for a ‘writ’ a document that allowed you to be heard in the king’s court and be tried by a 12 man jury (the basic model that we still use today).
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What was justice of the peace?
the Justice of the Peace Act appointed 3-4 Justices of the Peace to each county. These JP’s had the power to fine, bind and arrest people who were disturbing the peace. This was the first policing ordered by the king.
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What were county coroners?
These were people who were specifically appointed to investigate unexpected or suspicious deaths.
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What were the two main impacts the christian church had on medieval england?
Benefit of the clergy and sanctuary.
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What impact did the benefit of the clergy have on medieval england?
The benefit of the clergy was the right that Priests had to have any discretion tried by the Church Courts. The church courts were seen as much less harsh than the King’s court or the manor courts.
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What impact did the sanctuary have on medieval england?
If someone was being perused for committing a crime and they made it to a church they could claim sanctuary. By claiming sanctuary they would be protected from the law. When seen by county coroner if they confessed they could leave the country.
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What are five legal facts that affected women?
•Women couldn't marry without their fathers permission • Women could not divorce her husband • If her husband divorced her she couldn't have custody of children • Women could not own property of any kind • Women could not go into business
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Why was the story of robin hood popular in medieval england?
Robin Hood is a Saxon lord and enemy to the Normans, He was an outlaw and many people could sympathise with the unfair treatment, broke the very unpopular Forest Laws as he carried a bow and arrow in a forest, he took money from the rich
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

What was the bloody feud in medieval england?

Back

If a person committed a crime against another then the victim’s family may have a blood feud with the criminal’s family. This meant that the victim’s family was allowed to take revenge on criminal’s family.

Card 3

Front

What was the wergild in medieval england?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

What was the the hue and cry in medieval england?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

What was the the tithing in medieval england?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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