L6 - Crime and punishment in the Middle Ages : an overview Tick the boxes to indicate which of the three portions of Medieval England the key term applies to. Tick the boxes to indicate which section of English society was most responsible for it. Then put your own definition.

Anglo Saxon England
1000-1066 / The Normans
1066-1153 / Later Middle Ages
1153-1500 / Church / Local communities / King’s authority (government) / Definition
Tithing /  /  /  /  / When they reached the age of 12, men had to join a tithing of ten men. If one of them broke the l aw, the other members of the tithing had to bring him to court or face a fine.
Hue and Cry /  /  /  /  / If somebody saw a crime committed they had to shout out and everybody who heard the hue and cry had to come running to help catch the criminal. If you didn’t join in but did hear the cry then that was counted as a crime and the whole village would be expected to pay a fine. Collective responsibility. Less effective and less used in towns.
Trial by Jury /  /  /  /  /  / Jury selected from the local area who knew the person accused. Had to decide whether or not the person was guilty. If no clear evidence was found the jury could swear an oath of ‘compurgation’ which was swearing an oath of guilt or innocence based on the character of the accused or the accuser. E.g. he isn’t trustworthy, he is likely guilty so swear oath of compurgation.
Sanctuary /  /  /  / If somebody was on the run from the law and could reach a church they could claim sanctuary which was the protection of the church. Even the sheriff or other royal officials could not remove them. The criminal would then have 40 days to decide whether to go on trial in the church courts or to leave the country.
Benefit of clergy /  /  / Clergy = people who work for the church. They were allowed trial in the more lenient church courts. If somebody was arrested for committing a crime, they could claim the ‘benefit of the clergy’ even if they weren’t part of the clergy. All they had to do was read a passage from the Bible because at the time very few people could read but priests could so it was supposed to prove that you were a clergyman. People got around the fact that they couldn’t read by memorising the passage in case they were ever arrested. The passage became known as the ‘neck-verse’ because it could save you from being hanged.
Parish
Constable /  /  /  / Appointed for one year, had to volunteer and the job was unpaid. A parish is a small area, often including just a village. Had to keep the peace in his spare time and lead the hue and cry if a crime is committed.
Coroner /  /  / Introduced in 1190, had to record all unnatural deaths in a local area and then inform the royal official; county sheriff.
Sheriff /  /  /  /  / Royal official, carried out king’s instructions. Existed during Saxon period but more important in Norman period as William was absent in Normandy a lot, so he ruled by sending writs to his sheriffs. By late medieval period they were in charge of a county and had constables in charge of smaller areas who would report to them. Would gather a posse if a criminal escaped the hue and cry.
Mutilation /  /  /  /  / Used to make examples of people to act as a deterrent to others. In medieval period an example would be cutting a hand off for stealing. Happened throughout period, depended on the person handing out the punishments as to how frequently used.
Capital punishment /  /  /  /  / Used by the Saxons for treason against the king or your lord, used by the Normans for the same but also for re-offenders and used in the later middle ages for serious crime such as murder, in addition to treason and re-offenders. Means punishment of death.
Wergild /  /  / Fine introduced to try to stop the bloodfeuds. William changed it so that the fines existed but were paid to him rather than the families of the victim as he interpreted crimes like this as crimes against the king’s peace.
Blessed bread /  /  /  / Trial by ordeal reserved for clergymen. If accused they had to eat some bread that had been blessed. If they didn’t choke then they were not guilty.
Trial by combat /  /  /  / Introduced by William I. The accuser fought the accused and God would decide who won. Fight ended when somebody was killed or too injured to continued, the loser would be hanged if not dead already.
Stocks and pillories /  /  /  /  / Humiliating form of punishment. Offenders trapped by arms or legs and kept in place for a length of time. Other people in community would sometimes throw things at them.
Church courts /  /  /  / Introduced by William I. Gave church power to try clergymen in their own courts. Were more lenient. Later in medieval era people claimed they were clergy so they could be tried in church courts, they had to read a bible passage to get the right (as clergymen could read when barely anybody else could) so some memorised it. Known as benefit of the clergy, see above.
Mudrum Fine /  /  / Introduced by William I because Normans kept being murdered. All people in local area had to pay large fine if a Norman was found dead in suspicious circumstances.
Forest Laws /  /  /  / Introduced by William I who designated large areas as ‘forest land’ It was illegal to hunt or chop down trees in these areas. A hated law. Offenders had two fingers chopped off. Repeat offenders had eyes gouged out.