GCSE Revision 2008

Crime and Punishment

nmg08

Paper One – Possible topics

Saxon and Norman JusticeHow did the Saxons prevent crime?How did they catch lawbreakers?How were criminals punished?How harsh and superstitious was Saxon

Justice?

Saxon JusticeSaxons used a group approach-the Tithing

Criminals would be chased by the Hue and Cry

Common assaults and theft would be dealt with by forcing the accused to pay compensation or Wergild to the victim

Sometimes criminals were executed

Guilt was decided by juries who knew both accused and accuser

Sometimes God would decide through trial by ordeal

Juries would swear an oath of COMPURGATION as to an accused’s innocence

Norman Justice

• Regime changed in 1066 following Norman victory at Hastings

• Was there much change in how law and order was kept?

• Was Norman justice more cruel and harsher than Saxon justice?

Norman Justice

Continuity/Change

Kept Trial byOrdeal

IntroducedForest Laws Crime now seen as

against King

Wergild abolishedFines now paid to the

King

Much of Saxon systemkept by William

Trial by Combat

Late Middle Ages

• Still no police force

• Tithings still used to keep law and order

• Criminals pursued by the Hue and Cry

• Deaths investigated by the Coroner

• Sheriffs responsible for Law and Order

• Trial by ordeal ended in 1215• Serious cases heard by Royal

judges who travelled the country

• Juries deciding guilt or innocence

• Wergild no longer applied• Serious crimes punished by

death or mutilation• Non attendees at court could

be declared OUTLAW• Local manor courts dealt with

minor crimes

What can we learn from Robin Hood?

• Myth or legend?• Symbol of freedom

against harsh Forest Laws?

• Many people were outlaws!

• Folvilles more typical of outlaw gangs

Protest 1300-1700

• Rebellions against the king by nobles were quite common

• Rebels & heretics savagely and publicly executed

• Rebellions by ordinary people were rarer but again were savagely punished

1) The Peasant’s Revolt 1381

• Demands were for more freedom and higher wages

• Rebels marched on London – killed 2 of king’s advisers

• Leader Wat Tyler was killed

• Richard II promised justice but many peasants were hanged

2) Pilgrimage of Grace 1549

• Protesters led by Robert Aske

• Wanted to undo religious changes made by Henry VIII & cut in taxes

• Protest peaceful but Aske hanged, drawn and quartered

• 200 others also executed

3) Kett’s Rebellion 1549

• Causes: rising food prices, farmland lost to sheep raising

• Peaceful protest led by Robert Kett

• Later attempted armed protest

• King sent 10,000 troops – 3000 rebels died

• Kett & 50 others executed

4) The Gunpowder Plot 1605

• Plot by Catholic gentry to kill James I and to replace him with his daughter

• Plan was to blow up Parliament 5th November

• Plot discovered – Fawkes arrested along with many others

• Survivors hanged, drawn & quartered

1500-1750

• Era of the ‘Bloody Code’• By 1750 there were over 200 capital crimes• Old punishments still remained e.g. pillory,

stocks, fines• New punishments included ‘Bridewells’ (Houses

of Correction) & Transportation• Prison was only used for debtors

Poverty & lack ofwork created

Vagrants

New Crimes?

More travel by road encouraged Highway

Robbery

High level of tax onMany imports led to

Smuggling

Many people in countrysideHunting deer & rabbits.

Punishable by Death

Still noPolice!

1750-1900: Change in attitude?

• 1750 severe punishments for large number of crimes seen as deterrent

• Realisation that public executions causing more problems than solutions

• Juries failing to convict• Mixed views on the effectiveness of

transportation• Capital punishment should be replaced by

prison & hard labour

Public Executions Seen by many as chance for a day out – crowds laughed and drank – good opportunities for fighting and stealing!

“All the aims of public justice are defeated. All the effects of example, the terrors of

death, the shame of punishment, are lost”(London magistrates, 1783)

Calls for reform“ … a man who has picked the pocket of a

handkerchief worth 13 pence is punished withthe same severity as if he had murdered a

whole family. None should be punished with death except in cases of murder.”

(Sir William Meredith, MP 1770)

Was transportation a success?

YES• Used often by courts• Succeeded in

reforming convicts• Very few returned to

England

• Cost too much - £½ million per year by 1850

• More prisons – cheaper to run

• Crime rate had not fallen

• Seen by many as opportunity rather than punishment

The Development of the Police

For centuries constables& watchmen used – unpaid & inefficient!

Fielding Brothers (London Magistrates) introduced Bow Street Runners)

Metropolitan Police Act, 1829

• Sir Robert Peel (Home Secretary) had already reduced number of capital crimes

• Persuaded Parliament to pass act

• Deliberate move away from image of the Army

Changing attitudes towards the police?

Police seen as?

NB the dates are 50 years apart –

Does this mean that there was still a lot of opposition to the police?

There had been opposition to the idea of a national police force for many years. The fear was that the government would use it to cut down on people’s freedom, as well as the cost of such a scheme!

Peel was careful to avoid any link with the Army with his ‘Peelers’

Gradually the new police gained support and acceptance