Crime And Punishment During The Elizabethan Era

The Elizabethan era lasted from 1558 through 1603. In American history, this time period is known as the golden age because during this England became much more of a wealthy nation. In this era, the nation was able to invest in arts and exploration. Many writers and poets, such as Shakespeare, shaped the ways of theatre and literature. This era is also vastly known for its ways of handling crime and punishment. In the Elizabethan era, unsparing, common crime and punishment flourished for reasons fluctuating because of social class, gender, religion, and the satisfaction of antiquated torture devices.
A common theme among all of the styles of punishment during the Elizabethan era is presenting the prisoners with the most gruesome punishments

possible. This was especially true for capital offenses, which are crimes that are involving the death penalty. Capital crimes mostly consist of robbery, larceny, arson, rape, heresy, treason, and murder. In this era of time these offenses against the law were considered the most serious, and that of deserving the worst punishment. One example of a common way of torturing these criminals is being “racked”. This “involved having their arms and legs fastened to a frame that was then stretched to dislocate their joints” (Harrison). Torturing a criminal had to be authorized by the Queen; however, with permission deaths were allowed to be utterly brutal. In point of fact, many executions took place in public venues so onlookers are able to view it. This added to the brutality because it embarrassed the convict. Many executions also used fire to bring prisoners a painful death. “Poisoners were burned at the stake, as were heretics such as Anabaptists. Two died in 1572, ‘in great horror with roaring and crying’” (Picard). Although this process was easy to arrange, it was usually the last form of torture for victims because it was invariably fatal. Along with this, there was a torture device known as the Brazen Bull. This was a hollow brass statue that often resembled a red bull. Victims were then placed inside this device, most commonly with their tongues cut off. After getting sealed in the bull, they would start a fire around the machine, causing an immense heat to surround the sufferer. As the prisoner would thrash around trying to stay alive, this would provide additional entertainment to the audience since it mimicked the sounds of a real bull. (Grabianowki) For lesser crimes, felons would be punishable to carting many times for cases of incest and fornication. Carting is described as being carried in a cart or riding on a horse backwards through the city while holding a poster describing the offense. This is often said to be “an Elizabethan version of naming and shaming” (Picard). Many objectives for forms of punishment were based on embarrassment to the convict and the most pain filling ways of death. Also, the people of Elizabethan England lived by the French law of “Peine forte et dure”. This is said to less of a punishment and more of a procedural hiccup. The idea of this method is subjecting a defendant, who refused to plead, to having stones getting heavier and heavier onto the victim’s chess until either a plea was noted or he/she died. (Harrison) Although all of these methods vary largely, they all lead to prove the reality of punishment and gruesome torturing during the Elizabethan era.
Consequently, in this particular era is was common to use slavery as a form of punishment. During this period, slavery was still relatively new, so the idea to use it as punishment was not horrific. Many Europeans, in fact, “(including the Queen) had invested in slave voyages or were supportive of slavery” (Slavery in Elizabethan England). This punishment is one that is considered a life worse than death, which is one of the highlights that made it appeal to town leaders. However, only the people who looked as though they were strong enough were sent to the galleys to be slave laborers. To many, this punishment is surprising because at this time, slavery wasn’t connected to racism. (Picard) The use of slavery was only for criminals who were strong enough to do manual labor on large vessels.
Furthermore, Elizabethans accompany vast attention to social orders.

It was believed that everyone and everything was designed for a certain place and purpose, and some classes are given partial treatment based on their place in society, thus causing worse punishments and increase in crime rates. Anyone accused of capital crimes were given the right to a trial, although their legal defense was minimal. However, in most cases involving the state, the courts would ignore evidence. Walter Raleigh (1552-1618), for example, was accused of treason in 1603. Even though many believed that the charged were fabricated, and he had a convincing defense, he was found guilty and condemned to death. (Harrison) Cases like this weren’t uncommon with the prolonged expectations of poor social classes. The nobility, ranked immediacy under royalty, was seen as better in every way, including felonious acts. Continuing, it is stated that “most property crime during Elizabethan times, according to The Oxford Illustrated History of Tudor & Stuart Britain, was committed by the young, the poor, or the homeless” (Harrison). The escalated level of crime is reason that the lower classes were so poor and mistreated. They lived under an invisible but heavy pressure to commit minor crimes such as petty theft and pick pocketing in order to survive on the

streets.
Notably, in the Elizabethan era “God was the ultimate authority;” (Harrison) and because of this any religious crimes were seen as capital offenses and criminals were often tortured and put to death. In current ruling, the worst crime a person can commit is murder. On the contrary, during the Elizabethan period, treason and heresy were the same, if not worse, than murder. To disrespect or directly disobey the church was uncalled for in this era and were viewed with disgust. “It is arguable that lesbian sex was frequently viewed not so much repugnant as symptomatic of more fundamental offenses such as heresy (Phillips).” Homosexuality was seen not as a life choice, but as a riot against order and the tranquility of the church ruling. If homosexuality acts were committed, the person was seen as heretic and immediately burned that the stakes. Also, sinful crimes, such as adultery, were given tortuous punishments to cause embarrassment and shame. Reason why fornication affairs were defined as illicit is “because they represented deviations from the principle that sex was permitted only between husband and wife” (Phillips). If the women happened to get pregnant form the infidelity, the punishment was much more severe. The any women caught involved in these actions would get whipped, half- naked, in the streets of the community. They would also have to spend up to a year incarcerated. Crimes against the church were seen as revolting and were punished with unreasonable intensity.
Moreover, although the book, “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is known around the globe, many don’t realize how this book portrays the truths of unfair woman were punished in the Elizabethan era.

Women held almost no value to the society during the time period, thus when a woman commits a crime the town’s people were brutal. They would get an even lower status than ordinarily. These women are said to be “cast beyond the pale of "respectable" society, such as prostitutes, unwed mothers, bastard children, and adulterous wives” (Battan). This meaning that people simply with a lifestyle that contributes to the aberrations for the church ruling are considered to be put out of society. In this generation most women didn’t dare to speak out against these unfair criticisms; however, there was a group of people who confronted the rise of sexual respectability in Elizabethan England. This group named themselves the Free Lovers. The initial goal of this campaign was to isolate sexual matters such as adultery, birth control, and marriage away from the state so that people are free to have any long- term relationships or marriage. (Battan) This group was of the first to reflect upon a liberal philosophy and bring equality into the law. Despite the fact that group this band strives to treat the bias punishments and idealities held for women, females continued to live without rights until the early

1900s.
Crime and punishment under Queen Elizabeth’s rule was varied for justification such as ancestry, gender-specific, denomination, and revenge against criminals. Even petty crimes had a punishment that almost seemed blown out of proportions. Also, with capital crimes, such as treason, murder, and heresy, it was a priority to make the torture horrifyingly grim. Although this era was known for its great wealth and exploration, it is also named for the misery of criminal offenses and penalties.