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Crime and punishment in the medieval times discussion
Short essay on Elizabethan era (150-200 words)
Introduction to the Elizabethan Age
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What would be going through you mind if you were punished by being whipped, hung, burned to death, or starved during the Elizabethan Era? During the Elizabethan Era, there were different types of crimes committed and punishments faced. This paper will explain to readers the significance of the crimes and punishments .
There were multiple punishments faced for every little thing you had done. For example, if you lied during the Elizabethan Era, the bigger authority had the right to cut your tongue off. Although being whipped wasn’t something to be proud of, that was the smallest punishment to face. Having burn marks all over your body because you committed a crime was very pitiful and shameful. How would you feel if you had to carry scars on your body for life just for committing a crime?
“In Elizabethan Era, committing a crime was the worst mistake of all, depending on how big your crime was, people had to know that their lives were at risk.” Criminal actions were divided into three main categories: treason, felonies, and misdemeanors. Treason was far by the most serious of all crimes. High treason was acting to overthrow one’s government or to harm or kill its master. Felonies
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included theft, robbery, and witchcraft. These were also punished by death, although in some cases punishment was less severe. Misdemeanors were often attributed to the commoners. Some examples were forgery, begging, being in debt, adultery, fraud, and petty theft. Punishment could include burning at the stake, hanging, whipping, starvation, branding, and the pillory. Since there were three different types of classes during the Elizabethan Era (the upper classmen, the middle classmen, and the lower classmen), there were different types of punished faced for the three.
The worst punishment for the upper classmen was the death sentence. Hanging was the worst punishments for the middle classmen during the Elizabethan Era. Burning was critically a problem for the lower classmen. “Punishments were different from one another because some crimes were harsher than others.” The lower classmen didn’t try to commit big crimes like the upper classmen committed. The upper classmen often thought they were big and bad, so they committed serious crimes and thought they couldn’t be punished like everyone else because they were wealthy, but that wasn’t always the
case. Looking back at the Elizabethan times, punishments are far less brutal now than how they were then. Begging is not considered a crime in our modern justice system; it was in the Elizabethan Era.
Its rulers were unable to govern, its social institutions were ill-defined, its economy was undeveloped, its politics were unstable, and its cultural identity was indistinct.” Yet despite this near-anarchic atmosphere, David Hackett Fischer in Albion’s Seed: Four British Folkways in America (1989), concludes that the legal system was fairly effective because it succeeded in fulfilling its main purpose, to strictly enforce the colony’s hierarchical system. Therefore, the proliferation of moral crimes or violence committed among colonists of lower status was irrelevant in determining the deterrent effect on society because that was never the primary intent of the colony’s legal system. The Virginia courts enforced this hierarchical/patriarchal idea of showing deference and respect to one’s “superiors,” whether it involved the relationship between master and slave, father and son, or husband and wife. Violent crimes which threatened this social system were therefore savagely punished, and as a result “there was remarkably little violence by the poor against the rich, or by the humble against the elite.” A defendant’s position within those relationships played an important role in assigning their punishment. Virginia law considered the murder of a patriarch treason, punishable by death. Moreover, literate members of society belonging disproportionately to the elite class could always
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
“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.
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.
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
"During the Elizabethan era, crimes of treason and offenses against the state were treated with the same severity that murder is today” (Beyer 1). Some crimes in the Elizabethan era wouldn’t even be considered crimes today. Punishments were extreme. Minor crimes such as begging would result in public beating until they ran to the town’s border. If any simple crimes were repeated they would be sent to jail, or possibly hung. On the other hand, those who committed extreme crimes wouldn’t be considered for jail. Depending on what time the activity was committed, it could be considered a crime. “Punishment for poaching crimes differed according to when the crime was committed - Poaching at night resulted in the punishment by death, whereas poaching during the day time did not.” (“Elizabethan Crime and Punishment” 1) . Elizabethans would cautiously watch their activities, as they knew any simple wrongdoing could be considered for capital punishment.
During seventeenth century flogging was a popular punishment for convicted people among Boston's Puritans. Fortunately, those times have passed and brutal and inhuman flogging was replaced by imprisonment. Columnist for the Boston Globe, Jeff Jacoby in his essay "Bring back flogging" asserts that flogging is superior to imprisonment and advocates flogging as an excellent means of punishment. He is convinced that flogging of offenders after their first conviction can prevent them from going into professional criminal career and has more educational value than imprisonment. He also argues that being imprisoned is more dangerous than being whipped, because the risk of being beaten, raped, or murdered in prison is terrifying high. Unfortunately, Jeff Jacoby made some faulty assumptions and his article "Bring back flogging" is filled with misconceptions.
Crime and punishment during the Elizabethan era was also affected by religion and superstitions of the time.
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.
"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."
Punishments in colonial days were a lot harsher than they are today. There were extreme punishments for minor things like lying, name calling, or rude comments. In colonial times there ideas of punishments were different than ours. They didn't use a jail very often, but instead punished them publicly to shame them. Some of their not so pleasant punishments were to whip you, put you in the stock, which meant that people could throw things at you all day long, or burn your crime onto your hand. If the criminal stole the formidable punishments could become as extreme as a hanging, for things as small as taking a silly silver spoon!. Although punishments for woman and children
The death penalty, created in the Eighteen Century B.C by King Hammurabi of Babylon, was a way to punish those who went against the laws and committed crimes. Back in the B.C. era and all the way until the late Tenth Century the methods of the death penalty were being crucified, beaten to death, burned alive, and drowned. The methods of execution died down in the Tenth Century, the execution methods became less heinous and over the top. Hanging became the most used method of execution, but that soon changed in the Sixteenth Century. Henry VIII of Britain brought back all the horrible and gruesome methods of execution and also implementing more ghastly methods. Over 72,000 people were executed either by being boiled to death, burned at the stake, hanged, beheaded, and drawing and quartering. Drawing and quartering is where the accused is tied to a horse and dragged to the gallows where he is hung by the neck for a...
Some are harsher than others, but we get punished for sinning no matter what. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester got punished for committing adultery. Her punishment was to stand on the scaffold for three hours holding Pearl and the ‘A’ on her chest. The people would humiliate her because of her sin. Hester’s punishment was not as harsh, but standing in front of everyone is embarrassing. Dimmesdale, Pearls father, confesses that he i the father. Everybody is surprised about the new news that he says that God has punished him “by giving[him] this burning torture to bear upon [his] breast! By bringing [him] hither, to die this death… He will be done! Farwell”(229). His punishment was not as harsh as Hester’s, but Hester’s was worse because people saw the Scarlet Letter, unlike Dimmesdale. He knew that he committed the sin, so he was fine with the punishment they gave him. He then dies and leaves Hester and Pearl alone because he could not live with he guilt of sinning. In The Crucible Proctor’s sin lead to punishment. Danforth interrogated him and was asking him if he was lying about his confession: : I will not accept it [if it is a lie]” (143). Since Proctor ripped the paper, they punished him by hanging him. His punishment was to be hung in front of the people. Not only did he suffer but so did Elizabeth, his wife. She had nothing to do with this, but even she got punished because they took her husband away from her. There are
Crime and punishment in the Elizabethan era where split into two different classes. The upper class consisted of the nobility,courtiers, and the Royal family etc. The lower class consisted of every one else.( Elizebethean-era.org.uk)Crimes and punishments would vary between each class. If someone was in the upper class they could be charged with a more sever crime than the lower class. Punishment would dramatically be different if both an upper and lower class people committed the same crime. For example if someone were in the upper class and they Murdered some one they could be charged a death sentence. If a lower class person murdered someone they would be tortured then killed if not already dead. Many crimes that an upper class person did where not common for the lower class and same for the upper class.
The Elizabethan era was especially not the time to act out against the law. For the poor, there were all sorts of "physical and rather gruesome" (Elgin, 22) punishments one could receive. They dealt with crime in a much more brutal way than we do now, but this was necessary. England had an exceptional amount of crime at the time and people needed to know that their lives were at stake. Unlike today, prison was hardly considered a punishment during the Elizabethan era. It was merely just the place where people that had been accused would stay until they had been tried, and claimed either guilty or innocent. Beside prison, the stocks and the pillories were the next least brutal way to serve for your crimes. They were big wooden planks that the convict