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Medieval europe crimes questions
Medieval europe crimes questions
Medieval europe crimes questions
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The Punishments of the Medieval Era When Shakespeare was born in 1564, Queen Elizabeth had taken power a mere 6 years prior, and her justice system was very different from ours. In this paper, I hope to explore some of the ways punishments were different, such as how many crimes had individual punishments, often times depending on how severe the crime was. I will also go in-depth to one of the most infamous cases of the medieval period. Imprisonment was very rare. If you were in jail, you were there because you were on trial, and you weren’t allowed to return home. Trials were very brief and if you were charged of a felony or treason, you weren’t allowed to have a lawyer. Unsurprisingly, trials were quick, with extremely brutal punishments. One of these, referred to as “The Greatest Punishment”, involved the subject being hung until they are considered to be half dead, then quartered, or to be cut up into equal pieces, alive, have their organs cut out, and finally have their body be set on fire. Fortunately, this punishment was typically reserved for the worst offenders, as its name and the process that it’s carried out by imply. Several other punishments of the medieval period were also rather gruesome. If you were charged with treason, but you were a noble person otherwise, you were to be simply hanged and buried. If you committed murder, and were found guilty of attempted murder, you’d be tied up, near the scene of the crime and left to starve to death. If you were convicted of a successful murder, you’d be hung for a little while, have your hands cut off, and then led to where you’d be executed. Rouges were to be sent to the stockades and whipped, anyone who disturbed the peace were to be continuously du... ... middle of paper ... ...y appreciated. Her only request was to have more time to get ready, a request that was promptly shot down by the represenetives, saying that she must die at the exact time specified by Queen Elizabeth. Mary arrived at the room where she was to be hung, and all preparations for her execution were taken care of. Queen Elizabeth soon arrived in a rather casual manner. As the final steps were carried out, the various people around her offered her many options, such as ministers to offer her comfort, all of which Mary refused. Just before her death, Mary prayed for Britain and Scotland to convert to Catholicism. The executioners then began to remove her veil, head dress, and various other ornaments, while Mary attempted to fight back, wanting to wear these during her execution, however she was forced to remove them. Finally, after much preparation, Mary was dead.
The conditions of prisons were a bit dreadful. In some prisons, prisoners had their feet fasten together by iron bars and had chains around their necks. Most prisoner cells had very little furniture and bedding, prisoners had to sleep on the floor or unless had their friends supply them with furniture and bedding. Most cells did not have a toilet, prisoners were given buckets. A prisoner was giving a small loaf of bread unless they had money to buy more food but that was a bit expensive. Even children were allowed in prisons. Some prison...
"Chapter XVII: Of Sundry Kinds Of Punishment Appointed For Offenders." Historion.net • History Online • Description of Elizabethan England, 1577 •. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
When Chaucer’s knight stands judgment for the rape of an innocent girl, it is the queen’s authority that decides his fate: “And yaf him to the queene, al at hir wille, / To chese wheither she wolde him save or spille” (903-904). Using her power to humiliate the knight even further, she metes out the most ironic of punishments: “I graunte thee lif if thou canst tellen me / What thing is it that wommen most desiren” (910-911). With the queen’s decree, a great importance is placed upon the understanding of a woman’s needs—for this knowledge is the only hope in saving a man’s
It was often the case, that suspects were locked into gaols, until court was held. If it happened in smaller towns, the citizens had to act as gaolers and furthermore had to feed their prisoners. Therefore they did not guard their captives very careful, which led to a lot of breakouts. That could have had financial consequences for the citizens, but they did not bother at all, because the costs in loss of working time and in feeding the prisoners were balanced by the feeling that these fines were an unavoidable form of taxation. Now the criminals tried to escape to the next churchyard, because there they could claim sanctuary. If they were successful, they could stay there in safety for the next forty days.
In February, 1587, Queen Elizabeth had ordered her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scotts, to her execution to eliminate all possibilities of any threats to her throne. This event would reflect the relentless violence and unforgiving punishments of the judicial system in Elizabethan Era. Criminals during Queen Elizabeth’s reign in England, known as the Elizabethan Era, were subject to harsh, violent punishments for their crimes. England was separated into two social classes, which were the nobility, and the commoners. Within each class, the punishments were defined by the class and type of crime that had been committed. Under the Tudor rule, the punishments dating back to the middle ages were revived. Such gruesome punishments were carried out to strike fear into the hearts of the English citizens and lower crime rate. There were a wide range of crimes that a person could be prosecuted for, and even included the act of witchcraft and alchemy. Of course, today the American court system would find prosecutions of witchcraft and alchemy ridiculous. However, in the Elizabethan Era, people accused of even the most petty of crimes would be immediately placed in prison to await their sentences, often resulting in death. Public executions were a common practice, and were often a form of entertainment for a crowd of spectators. Often considered as the “Golden Age” in English history, England’s court systems became an essential part of society because cruel punishments were severe enough to strike fear into English citizens as well as demonstrating the influence and power of Queen Elizabeth’s rule.
“Crime was met with violent, cruel punishments.” For something as simple as stealing an apple a commoner would lose their hand. They did this for embarrassment. If someone saw them with one hand, they would know you had stolen. “Many executions were witnessed by hundreds of people.” An execution only happened if a threat was made on royals or murder. An execution day was many commoners favorite day. They got the whole day off of work. On these days the whole town would gather and watch as the criminal got his head chopped off. Everything in this time had more painful punishments, but not because of their lack of technology; but because the leaders wanted you to learn your lesson. If someone lost a hand for stealing, they would most likely not do it again.
Criminals were not dealt with in private. They were displayed in towns and the middle of the marketplace for all the people to see. Many were witnessed by hundreds of people. Commoners treated punishment days as “exciting” days out("Elizabethan Crime and Punishment" 1). The crowds of people who gathered for the public punishments and executions could be considered twisted individuals. They relished these days. For example, theft resulted in public hanging for all of the people to watch. Often times crimes were falsely accused and the crowds knew it, but nothing could be done. Small crimes, such as stealing bird eggs would result in a death sentence. It was the terrible price starving people had to pay because the government made begging illegal("Elizabethan Crime and Punishment" 1). Many crimes resulted in brutal beatings. Beatings and executions were definitely not an issue, the only question was the type of beating a person would get or how they a would be executed("Elizabethan Crime and Punishment" 1). A lot of times the Upper class was exempt from punishment unless it was a serious crime. Unfortunately, the Commoners did not get that valuable treatment because they were almost always in trouble. With any evidence of relationships with evil spirits condemned a person to death by hanging, burning, or drowning. More punishments included: beheading, pressing, and the drunkard's cloak. The drunkard’s cloak was basically a big barrel
Capital punishment, also referred to as the death penalty, is the judicially ordered execution of a prisoner as a punishment for a serious crime, often called a capital offence or a capital crime. In those jurisdictions that practice capital punishment, its use is usually restricted to a small number of criminal offences, principally, treason and murder, that is, the deliberate premeditated killing of another person. In the early 18th and 19th century the death penalty was inflicted in many ways. Some ways were, crucifixion, boiling in oil, drawing and quartering, impalement, beheading, burning alive, crushing, tearing asunder, stoning and drowning. In the late 19th century the types of punishments were limited and only a few of them remained permissible by law.
Progressing forward, Jeff Jacoby, columnist for The Boston Globe, provides readers with his view of “Boston’s Forefathers’” system of punishment in his essay, “Bring Back Flogging.” Within the contents of his work, Jacoby describes how flogging was utilized as punishment in its day. One such example he utilizes involves a woman who pleaded guilty to committing adultery. He writes that her punishment was “fifteen stripes severally to be laid on upon her naked back at the Common Whipping post” (Jacoby 1). In his piece, Jacoby argues for the revival of flogging and Puritan style punishment in the United States.
In her speech to the troops at Tilbury during the year 1588, Queen Elizabeth I stands her position as the Queen of England, and inspires her troops before she sends them off achieve victory over the Spanish Armada. When she started her reign over England in 1558, she made England Protestant; this made Catholic enemies outraged. Queen Mary of Scots, her cousin, married the Earl of Bothwell, the chief suspect, which made the people of Scotland infuriated. In doing this, Elizabeth grew suspicious Mary would attempt to take over England and begin the spread of Catholicism. In result of her cousin’s actions, Elizabeth signed a death warrant for her cousin in 1587. Shortly after her cousin’s death, King Philip II planned to invade and take over England. In her speech, Queen Elizabeth I successfully uses repetition, pathos, and diction to emphasize her faith and support her strengths as a leader to the troops before they head off to battle.
During the early modern period Europe experienced a phase of vicious prosecution of the people accused of the crime of ‘Witchcraft.’ There has been an estimated death toll of up to 50,000 people during these Witch-hunt crazes, although the exact figures are unknown. What is known is that overall 75-80% of those accused were woman although this varies in different states. In this essay I will discuss the role of gender in witchcraft and why the majority of people executed as Witches were women.
"Today's system, where imprisonment is a common penalty for most crimes, is a historical newcomer." Many crimes during 1718 and 1776 were punishable by death. This was usually done by hanging, sometimes by stoning, breaking on the rack and burning at the stake. Towards the end of the 1700's people realized that cruel punishment did little to reduce crime and their society was changing the population grew and people started to move around more frequently. There had to be a search for new punishments. "New punishments were to rely heavily on new ideas imported from Europe in the writing of such social thinkers of the Enlightenment as the baron de Montesquieu, Voltaire, Thomas Pain and Cesare Beccaria". These thinkers came to believe that criminals could be rehabilitated."
The aim of this lesson will be to develop students understanding of crime and punishment in Medieval Europe. As outlined in AUSVELS, this will include investigating different kinds of crime and punishment utilised and the ways the nature of crime and punishment has either stayed the same throughout history, or changed over time.
Physical punishments were the panicle of consequences that one had to endure when a law was disregarded by a citizen. Foucault describes a public execution that happened in March 1757, “This last operation was very long because the horses used were not accustomed to drawing; consequently, instead of four, six were needed; and when that did not suffice, they were forced, in order to cut off the wretch’s thighs, to sever the sinews and hack at the joints...” (Foucault 3). This particular idea is rather gruesome, the idea of being drawn and quartered multiply times only to fail and have t...
In the 18th century, a lot of the cities or towns had not made any law enforcement. In the 1800s, people were beginning to notice that crime was starting to grow a little bit. They believed that whoever did the crime should get punished for what they did. When the people did the crimes and went to prison they were punished so horribly that it was just about considered too much. The citizens of the towns didn't really get the point of the difference in punishment and torture. The people that were around during this time were starting to wonder if the people getting punished were right or