Crime and Punishment in Elizabethan England

Crime and punishment in the 1800’s was very unlike today. Punishments were much more violent and severe back then with crime rates being high. However, a lot of the crime was unaccounted for due to how easy it was to get away with crimes back then. Compared to today, where as crime rates are increasing daily. As such, crime rates today surpass the rates in the 1800s. However, punishments are not as fatal today compared to the past. Almost all criminals in the 1800s were penalized with death in some way, typically by hanging. According to Gooii, some crimes, such as treason or murder, were considered serious crimes, but other ‘minor’ offences, such as picking pockets or stealing food, could also be punished with the death sentence.

The delivery of punishment has changed significantly over the centuries. Up until the 19th century in England, imprisonment was not regarded as a punishment, it was merely used while the offender waited to be sentenced to their ‘real’ punishment (Bull, 2010; Hirst, 1998). Corporal punishment such as flogging, branding and mutilation, death by hanging, and transportation to other continents such as America and Australia were common punitive measures through the ages, until well into the 1800’s (Newburn, 2003). Although these extreme penalties are no longer acceptable or practised by criminal courts in England or Australia, in some ways, the past has

Having extreme, agonizing, punishments was not out of the ordinary during the 17th century. The punishments and crimes were very unsystematic, and often times very foul. There were punishments that were as minor as carting,and there were punishments as severe as the death penalty.Throughout the 17th century there were a variety of punishments for different crimes that were commited.

A major change through medieval times were types of punishment. Usually, types of punishment relied on social hierarchy and the crime you had committed. Some of the punishments included being placed in stocks, have to drink poison, be pulled apart by horses, banishment and burnt on the stake. (Medieval punishment wikispace.com) (blogspot.com) (australia.gov.au). Most punishments purpose, were to torture people or humiliate.

During the 17 and 18th century the British legal system was incredibly harsh, distributing death penalties for often minor offences, the aim of this was to deter individuals from committing crime. There was very

Crime and punishment in victorian times was divergent than it is today. In victorian times , the sentencing and punishment was very stricted. The petty crimes were mostly likely sentenced to death and hung. For example, John Walker was convicted of stealing onions and was sentenced seven years for it. If anyone stole food from the grocery store in this era and got caught the store would most likely call law enforcement and give them a warning and let them go. That is very different than how they treated it in victorian times. Criminals in victorian times were treated different than they are treated today.

The image below is a primary source of people being hung in the Middle Ages for murdering. The authors perspective is shown how he has drawn people hanging down while there are people watching them to show them not to do this. The viewpoint of the author is to say not to do this otherwise it will happen to you. The crowd around the punished people are there to show the seriousness of the punishments providing a warning and awareness of the consequences. It could lead to death and torture for the rest of their lives, this reflects to the authors point of view. Overall, Crimes and Punishments in the Middle Ages were very hard for people to escape. Authors presented a lot detail to show how life was strict back in the Middle Ages. Images that

Crime and Punishment in the Elizabethan era was very unusual and cruel when we look at it from today’s standards. Punishment was very harsh and most things they did back then was completely normal for them but by today it’s insane what they used to do to criminals. Speaking of which whom they counted as “criminals” was insane as well as their definition of a criminal. The crimes committed directly affected the type of punishment someone one would receive for committing such an act. Crimes and punishments to us now seem completely wrong and just plain strange.

The punishments for crime in the colonial times were harsh in some cases or humiliating. Some crimes like murder, treason, or piracy,(stealing from other boats) had people sentenced to death. Crimes that cost the price of humiliation were crimes such as being drunk or working or traveling on sunday.The specific way a criminal would be punished is that

One of the many things that has been highly controversial and still is to this very day is how to properly punish and treat criminals. Here in America we now have the Eighth Amendment to protect us from cruel and unusual punishment. This was based off of a Parliament Act of 1689 that created England’s Bill of Rights. Before England had come up with the idea that humans should have guaranteed basic rights, it wasn’t a matter of whether or not a criminal would die, as much as it was a matter of how they would die. Torture devices such as the guillotine, the stake, the brazen bull, and the rack were used to spread the idea of fear and punishment that was ineffectually used by leaders to try and control their people throughout the history of Europe.

When woman was in the water “the women usually drowned.” (The Renaissance: Crime and Punishment). Another tool was the amputation saw. And the body would be in terrible pain because “it was used to remove a limb slowly and painfully.” (The Renaissance: Crime and Punishment). Beheading was used for the higher-class people, “because it was considered a more honorable way to die.” (Elizabethan Crime and Punishment).

The immense sickness wasn’t the only thing dark about Europe’s Middle Ages. The monarchs were cruel and unruly to their subjects while enforcing brutality upon their land and citizens. The laws enforced by these kings and queens were nothing short of diabolical, for there was no set list of limitations and rules meaning that the monarchs could punish anyone for anything, even if that meant simply disturbing the king. The executions of the ‘accused’ were public to the citizens, and were “a pitiless affair” (McGlynn). The kings ruled with an iron fist as their methods of justice were murderous as executions “sent out a message of warning and deterrence” and “offered the ultimate guarantee against repeat offenders”. The message monarchs tried to send while carelessly shedding blood was that they desired to make a statement, and scare citizens into not committing crimes, for they would know the gruesome consequences. If not death, the “standard, mandatory sentence” of all accused peoples was mutilation of “eyes, noses, ears, hands, feet and testicles”. To sum it all up, punishment in the Middle Ages was much more unforgiving than in this modern day of age; being burned at the stake or beheaded by the guillotine are still some of the most spine-tingling punishments to this day. In all of the depressing fog of the Middle Ages, could there truly have been a beneficial factor?

Next, the punishments that a person could get will vary on what they committed and how bad the punishment the people thought they should get. The punishments in the Elizabethan Age are very brutal because back then, they believed that violence was acceptable and a natural habit for mankind. The Great Punishment is the worst punishment a person could get. The felon will be hung, but they will not die while being hanged. They will take the felon down, quarter their body while still alive, and bury them in the ground. Quartering someone’s body is to cut their body in quarters. Torturing a person would come next to the Great Punishment. The will put the felon on a rack, in a collar, or even burn them with a branding iron on the cheek, back, or leg. Other general punishments include being decapitated and putting their head on top of a post, they could be branded on the cheek or burned on the left hand, whipped out in public for everyone to see, they could be sent to the military, be sent to correction facilities, hung to die at the place where the felon had committed their crime, or they could even be beheaded. If the crimes were extremely severe the felon would have the reign of “Bloody Mary” put on them. Bloody Mary is a legend that appears in the mirror when her name is called multiple times and appears bloody. The Elizabethan Age was very serious about the punishments that they gave their felons.

For centuries governments have acted on behalf of society removing and punishing criminals with the goal of protecting its citizens. Criminals were arrested and locked-up in jails awaiting their sentencing. Once sentenced, they were publically humiliated, tortured, or killed. Early forms punishments were cruel and mostly focused on retribution.

“Classical Criminology was developed in the eighteenth century in opposition to the use of extreme and arbitrary punishments. Classical Criminology advocated a rational approach that punishment ought to be imposed only to the extent necessary to ensure a deterrent.” (Rowe, 2012: 191)