crime and punishment
what is the timeline?
1000-1066 anglo saxons
1066-1200's normans
1200's-1500's late medival
1500's-1700's early modern
1700's-1900's 18th century
1900's-now present
what are the factors for change?
- the government
- the church
- key individuals
- attitudes in society
- poverty and wealth
- town
- travel
- science and technology
what were the crimes in the anglo saxon period [1000-1066]?
- assault
- adultery
- murder
- rape
- public disorder
- arson
- poaching
- petty theft
- serious theft
- selling rotten goods
- rebellion
- treason
- counterfeiting coins
what were the law enforcement methods in the anglo saxon period [1000-1066]?
- tithings [group of 10 men responsible for eachothers behaviour]
- hue and cry [call for help]
- shire reeve [oversaw the law]
- hundredsman [reported crimes to shire reeve]
- oath [you and others had to swear to god to prove your innocence]
- trial by ordeal [proving innocence in the eyes of god]
- trial by local jury [10 men who knew the accused and the accuser]
- trial by water [accused was put in a body of water and if they sank they were innocent]
- trial by fire [a hot iron bar was placed in the hand of the accused and if the burn healed fast they were innocent]
what were the punishments in the anglo saxon period [1000-1066]?
- maiming/corporal punishments
- hanging/capital punishment
- stocks and pillory [a wooden board the accused would stand on in public and have food thrown at them]
- wergild [a fine paid to the victim of murders family]
what were the purposes of punishments?
- deterance
- retribution
- reformation
- humiliate
- removal
what were the crimes in the norman period [1066-1200's]?
- previous
- leaving the village
- forest laws [poaching on the kings land]
- murdrum [killing a norman]
what were the law enforcement methods in the norman period [1066-1200's]?
- previous
- trial by combat [fighting to settle disputes over land or money]
- kings mund [kings responsibility to oversee law]
- church courts [moral and social crimes]
- courts
- benefit of the clergy [tried by a church court that would not execute]
- foresters [men employed by the king to oversee forest laws]
what were the punishments in the norman period [1066-1200's]?
- previous
- fines [e.g murdrum fine; now paid to the king]
- branding [a hot iron symbol stamped onto the accused]
what were the crimes in the late medival period [1200's-1500's]?
- previous
- statute of labourers [illegal to ask for higher wages after the black death in 1351]
- heresy [1382]
- vagabonds and beggars act [illegal to be unemployed or homeless in 1495]
what were the law enforcement methods in the late medival period [1200's-1500's]?
- previous
- prisons [held people until trial]
- sanctuary [only offered by important churchs; had to leave england in 40 days or go to trial]
- night watchmen [volunteers who patrolled at night]
- parish constables [led the hue and cry]
- justices of the peace [oversaw the law]
- sherrifs [now chased criminals; could form a posse to assist]
- assize of clarendon [setting up of actual courts and judges]
- coroners [investigated unnatural deaths]
what were the punishments in the late medival period [1200's-1500's]?
- previous
- burning at stake [for heresy]
- hanging drawing and quatering [for high treason]
what were the crimes in the early modern period [1500's - 1700's]?
- previous
- heresy increased due to constant changing of religions
- smuggling increased due to the high taxes on imported gooda
- vagabond and vagrancy increased due to begging and stealing
- witchcraft [1542]
- alcohol/theatres/festivals banned by the puritans [1654]
what were the law enforcement methods in the early modern period [1500's-1700's]?
- sanctuary abolished
- parish constables now rounded uo vagrants [but this became ineffective due to the rise in population]
- trial by water [brought back to find witches]
- torture [for confessions before trial]
- habeas corpus [prevented arresting indefinetly]
- thief takers [caught criminals for rewards:corrupt]
what were the punishments in the early modern period [1500's-1700's]?
- previous
- houses of correction [for vagrants/harsh labour]
- transportation [sent to north american colonies to do 7-14 years of harsh labour]
- the bloody code [1688- 50 crimes punishable by death]
witchcraft facts
- religion and the church played an important role
- witches could do magic and heal
- wise women and women who subverted gender norms were accused of witchcraft
- they were caught by witch hunters and killed
- they were blamed for poverty / bad harvests / vagabonds
- political and economic chaos caused superstitions to rise due to fear
- protestants wanted to clear society of witches so they suspected catholics
matthew hopkins facts
- operated in east anglia
- was responsible for the death of many
- used torture to get confessions
- increased fears of witchcraft
what were the two types of vagrancy ?
the deserving [genuinely couldnt work and so deserved help from society]:
- orphans
- widows
- seriously sick
- the elderly
- disabled
the undeserving [could work but chose not to so they didnt deserve help from society]:
- alcoholics
- lazy
- robbers and thieves
- those who decieved people into helping them
gun powder plot facts
- group of 12 catholics
- planned to blow up parliment in 1605
- catholics were a huge threat to elizabeth and james 1
- catholics hoped when james came to power the laws against them would be less harsh but no
- guy fawkes was caught and tortured and when the others were found they were all hung drawn and quartered
- laws became even harsher
what were the crimes in the 18th century [1700's - 1900's]?
- previous [smuggling and poaching increased]
- waltham black act [illegal to poach and wear a mask / 1723]
- highway robbery [traffic between cities increased and people started travelling with more valuable goods]
- witchcraft abolished due to science
- striking [after the french revolution in 1789 the authorities feared the same would happen in england]
what were the law enforcement methods in the 18th century [1700's-1900's]?
- CID department [first official detective force that brought evidence to trial]
- bow street runners [1748 / first official police force but not proffesional ]
- the metropolitan police [1829 / first proffesional police force]
- trial by jury continued
- parish constables and night watchmen were still responsible for dealing with petty crimes and patrolling
- mounted patrols [sent on major roads to prevent highway robbery]
what were the punishments in the 18th century [1700's-1900's]?
- transportation abolished
- bloody code [reached 222 but then abolished in 1868]
- prisons [pentonville]
- harsh unecessary labour
- flogging [beating with a stick]
who were the bow street runners ?
- john and henry fielding
- 1749
- made to deter criminals
- first official police force but not proffesional
- payed by government
- horse and foot patrols
- shared information about crime
what was the metropolitan police?
- 1829
- robert peel
- first proffesional police force
- successful
- had uniform
- created because of population growth
- patrolled high crime areas
- ended the bloody code [reformed prison systems and reduced the number of death penalties]
who were the tolpuddle martyrs?
- 6 farmers
- arrested for disputes over decreasing wages
- after the french revolution in 1789 the british were afraid of an uprising
- people started protesting and striking
who was elizabeth fry?
- prison reformer
- treated prisoners with respect and kindness
- influenced robert peels prison reforms
- set up education clases / better food and clothes
- visited newgate prison
who was john howard?
- prison reformer
- investigated prison conditions
- work led to the 1774 goals act [aimed to improve the sanitary conditions and health of prisoners]
what was pentonville prison?
- designed to isolate prisoners
- thick walls to prevent communication
- had a toilet and basin in the cell so there was no excuse to leave
- prisoners wore facemasks to prevent them from seeing eachother
- aim was to deter
what were the strengths of the seperate system?
- cleaner
- less disease
- right levels of punishments
what were the weaknesses of the seperate system?
- isolation led to mental illnesses and a high suicide rate
- no education provided for new skills to use after release
what were the crimes of the present [1900's-now]?
- smuggling [drugs/alcohol/cigarettes/people for prostitution]
- terrorism [methods on public transport/violent acts]
- hate crimes [homophobia/racism/domestic abuse]
- drunk driving and drug intake
- conscientious objectors [people who refused to fight in WW1 but in WW2 could sign up to do non combat tasks]
what were the law enforcement for the present [1900's-now]?
- surveillance [CCTV/security checks]
- police force more specialised [special branch for terrorism / fraud squad is an armed unit / e crime / national crime agency for drugs / dog handling units]
- new technology
- neighbourhood watch [volunteers would get together to prevent and detect crime]
- police community support officers [ work with schools and the community to raise awareness of crime]
- forensics [DNA - 1988 / fingerprints in 1902]
- legal aid [given to those who couldnt afford lawyers]
what were the punishments in the present [1900's-now]?
- prisons [high security / open / probation etc]
- youth offenders [juvenille detention centre]
- community service / electronic tags / drug and alcohol programmes
- death penalty abolished in 1965
who was derek bentley?
- hanged for the murder of an officer
- controversial execution
- important role in the abolition of the death penalty
- had serious learning difficulties = mentality of a child
- did not shoot the officer : it was his friend craig
who was timothy evans?
- wrongfully accused for killing his wife and baby
- recieved death penalty
- wrongly accused
who was ruth elis ?
- murdered her boyfriend after he violently abused her for years
- recieved death penalty