Medieval Crime & Punishment Flashcards

All 21 cards in this deck

Why was poaching seen as a 'social crime' in medieval England?

Many people believed it harmed no one and it was usually done to provide food; they resented common land being reserved for the king's use.

What did the Treason Act (1351) do?

It defined treason in law, distinguishing high treason (disloyalty to the king) from petty treason (the murder of a master or a husband).

What were William I's Forest Laws?

Norman laws that made large areas royal forest and created new offences there, such as hunting deer, taking wood or grazing animals.

True or false? After the Norman Conquest, the murder of a Saxon was treated as more serious than the murder of a Norman.

False. The murder of a Norman was seen as the more serious crime.

What was a tithing?

A group of ten men aged over 12 who were responsible for each other's behaviour; if one broke the law, the others had to bring him to court or pay a fine.

What was the hue and cry?

The shout raised by the victim or a witness of a crime; everyone who heard it had to stop work and join the chase, or the whole village was fined.

What was the parish constable?

An unpaid local man appointed for a year to keep order in his parish and lead the hue and cry; the job was unpopular and influential people often avoided it.

What was Wergild?

A fine paid by a criminal to the victim or the victim's family as compensation, with the amount depending on the victim's social status.

How did the Normans change Wergild?

They ended it: fines were now paid to the king's officials rather than to the victim or their family.

Why were medieval punishments such as the stocks carried out in public?

For deterrence: the pain and public humiliation were meant to put other people off committing the same crime.

True or false? 'Corporal punishment' means putting a criminal to death.

False. Corporal punishment is physical punishment such as whipping or the stocks; capital punishment is execution.

What was sanctuary?

The right of an accused criminal to claim protection in a church for 40 days, then choose between standing trial and leaving the country (abjuring the realm).

What was Benefit of Clergy?

The right of members of the clergy accused of a crime to be tried in Church courts, which gave much lighter punishments and never the death penalty.

What was trial by ordeal?

A religious trial run by a priest, used when a court could not decide guilt; it was believed God would show whether the accused was guilty or innocent.

Give the reasons trial by ordeal ended.

The Church's attitude changed and in 1215 clergy were forbidden to take part; Henry III abolished it in 1219 as trial by jury became more common.

Give one example each of a crime against the person, a crime against property and a crime against authority in medieval England.

Person: murder or assault. Property: theft or arson. Authority: treason or rebellion, which were treated as the most serious of all.

What was the Norman murdrum fine?

A heavy fine paid by the whole hundred (local district) where a murdered Norman was found, if the killer was not handed over. It was meant to stop Anglo-Saxons killing their conquerors.

How did William I's punishment of rebellion differ from Anglo-Saxon practice?

He punished whole communities as well as the rebels: in the Harrying of the North (1069–70) crops, animals and farmland were destroyed, and many thousands of people starved.

How did an accused person prove they could claim Benefit of Clergy?

By reading aloud a passage from the Bible. Because few people could read, many non-clergy learned the passage by heart so they could be tried in the more lenient Church courts.

Name two types of trial by ordeal and how the result was judged.

Any two of: hot iron or hot water (innocent if the burn healed cleanly); cold water (innocent if the accused sank); consecrated bread, used only for priests (guilty if they choked).

Why were Sanctuary and Benefit of Clergy significant in the early thirteenth century?

They showed that the Church ran its own system of justice alongside the king's courts, so some accused people could escape the normal punishments.