Importance Of Law In The Middle Ages

Throughout history, there's been many different types of laws that people of the era have abided by. Although, this essay will be focusing on three specific law codes that all vary significantly but still manage to have apparent similarities despite the time differences. These three primary law codes are The Code of Hammurabi, The Torah, and the Twelve Tables. Each of these were created at different times in history, in different cultures and locations across the globe. The Code of Hammurabi was written as far back as 1754 BC in ancient Mesopotamia, while The Twelve Tables was the creation of Rome at about 400 BC, and The Torah doesn’t even have an extremely solid date of its creation but is believed to have been completed around the 1300s after being given to Moses by God.

In Medieval times determination of guilt and innocence was unfair and people relied on God to be the determinant of guilt or innocence. Trial by ordeal was a practice that was used to decide whether you were guilty or innocent (thefinnertimes.com).Trial by ordeal was made up of 3 trials – trial by water, trial by fire and trial by combat. These trials all have different negative features; trial by water was when the accused and accuser get tied up and thrown into the water, if someone floated they were guilty and if they sunk they were innocent. Trial by fire was when you either had to walk barefoot on fire or you had to hold a red-hot bar for a certain amount of time, if when the accused came back after 3 days and their hand hadn’t started to heal, they were declared guilty (yesnet.yk.ca). Trial by combat was undoubtedly the most unfair trial out of them all.

In the Early Middle Ages, only Trial by Ordeal was used. This trial was based on the belief that God would save the Innocent and punish the guilty and had horrific methods, such as placing an arm in boiling water or holding an iron bar. (Tol & Zagora 2014, p. 63) With the Norman Conquest in 1066, William the Conqueror introduced trial by combat (Rickards, 2012). Trial by combat was used for the nobles, where the accused would fight the accuser. William the Conqueror believed that God would protect the Innocent when the parties fought. The guilty would’ve then be punished severely (Easton & Saldais 2011, pp. 330, 331). With the creation of the Magna Carta in 1215 (Trueman, 2016) there were many changes to the Trial Procedures. The Magna Carta abolished Trial by Ordeal and replaced it with Trial by Jury, which involved a jury hearing a case and deciding the guilt or innocence of the accused. Many people didn’t trust trial by jury, which led to a law being created in 1275 stating that if a criminal didn’t choose trial by jury then they were tortured (Addison, et al. 2011). Therefore, evidence shows changes in power and laws transformed trial

Have you ever thought of how and what made everyone want to follow the law nowadays? Hammurabi’s code and the Ten Commandments were two early (not the earliest) codes of law that were used in the ancient times as methods of justice, both of the laws shaped society then and now. Hammurabi’s code goes back to ancient Mesopotamian culture that flourished way before the Bible was written or the Greek and the Roman civilizations had even developed. Hammurabi made a collection of 282 laws that established values of manner and justice for keeping order in his kingdom. God engraved the Ten Commandments on stone tablets that were given to Moses and the population of Israel. Even though the code and the commandments

Laws are usually inspired and taken from the common knowledge of the society, whether the common knowledge was good or bad it does not make a difference. To illustrate, common laws derive from ethical backgrounds passed through generation to generation, where they feel that these traditions are sacred, and they cannot change it, because they fear the resistance that might develop form that change. Similarly, any religion after certain time gets to change in the name of modernity and prestige. To explain more, Hammurabi

Trial by hot Iron was one way to determine innocence in the Middle Ages, you had to undergo this trial to prove your innocence. In this trial the defendant would have to carry an iron that weighed one pound, after it was heated over fire and pulled out during a ritual prayer. He or she would carry the hot iron metal for 9 feet, measured by the own defendants foot size. Their hands are strapped at the end of the 9 feet. Then they would be examined after 3 days by a Priest.They were considered guilty if there hands weren't showing any progress of healing. If there hands were showing progress of healing he or she is innocent .If the crime of the accused was particularly bad such as betrayal of a Lord or murder the iron would be 3 pounds. In the

And if the chain was broken it equaled bad consequences and a sin against God (Melani). The Great Chain of Being was a huge part of the culture in medieval Europe. Law and justice was a priority on manors and in towns. Average people were responsible since there wasn't any real justice force like police (Mortimer 216). At age 12, serfs and townspeople had to agree to observe and uphold law (Mortimer 217).

As the traditional age attracted to a nearby, a significant number of the past Roman laws were rendered out of date by changing states of the realm. Confounding and conflicting laws impeded the working of courts. Additionally, Roman common law regularly at odds with the eastern realm 's received religion of Christianity.[5] in light of this circumstance, Justinian charged the development of a few groups of law which are on the whole alluded to as the Code of Justinian.

St. Thomas Aquinas argues that an “an unjust law is no law at all.” (Aquinas in Dimock, ed., 2002, p.19) However, Aquinas also acknowledges that a human lawgiver may promulgate a command that has the form of law, and is enforced like a law, yet is unjust. This observation leads to the realization that these are two inconsistent claims. Yet Aquinas believes that these inconstancies can be reconciled. In Aquinas’ view an unjust law is not a law but yet is also able to be issued as law and imposed as law.

From the origins of civilization, people looked for a high power for guidance and direction. Beginning with the Sumerians, the kings and their nobility looked to their polytheistic religious beliefs for direction through cosmic and terrestrial signals. Priests came into play, helping those who needed help in their walk with their faith. The Pope was considered God on Earth and government officials looked to him to answers numerous times during battles and wars. Religion became a companion to power in the middle ages, but the nature of authority slightly changed, relying more on religion, as we entered into the modern period.

During the Middle Ages, criminals were punished in many different ways. The punishment was all dependent upon the severity of the crime. Punishments ranged from a simple fine all the way up to a death sentence. There were three types of law that governed the people: natural law, divine law, and customary law. The type of crime was based off of the governing law that was broken. Some of the biggest were crimes against God, crimes against the king, felonies, and commercial crime. The biggest flaw within the court system is that the rich were able to hire better lawyers and those lawyers were able to lessen the sentences. Criminal activity was not taken lightly during the Middle Ages because the objective was to strike fear within the people 's hearts and make them tremble at the thought of disobeying the law.

he first monarchical government in England is initiated through the victory of Danish in northern England by Edward the elder in 899. Edward the Elder was the first monarch of Britain and he lead it from 899-924. After him many monarchs ruled Britain and Britain continue as an absolute monarchy. They run the country according to their own desire. But when it comes the period of King John 1199-1216 he was insisted to sign the Magna Carta in 1215 by leading noblemen of England. They succeeded in forcing King John to realize that they and other freemen had rights against the Crown. In History many people declare that the last absolute monarch of England was King John. He signed Magna Carta the Charter that gave certain liberties to people and more importantly preserved that the Monarch's will is not tyrannical. Magna Carta was and still is the foundation of the law systems of many countries including UK USA Canada Australia and other countries. King James I 1603-25 of England was the last absolute Monarch in British

This law, rooted in religious teachings, regulated many facets of daily life, including morals and marriages. During the later Middle Ages, the law of Europe was governed by the Church. An entire jurisdiction was exercised by the church which protected the widows, orphans and helpless and also dealt with offenses. Popes of the Middle Ages eventually had a power over all rulers, even kings and emperors. The pope was the leader of a bureaucratic structure of churchgoing men in charge of church-related business. Based in Rome, the pope was the medieval Church's leader. Church leaders such as bishops and archbishops sat on the king's council and played leading roles in government. Bishops, who were often wealthy and came from noble families, ruled over groups of parishes. The Roman Catholic Church was the supreme power during the Middle Ages. It was the stabilizing force in everyday life which kept the community framework together. The laws and rules of the land, public policies and governance of the people were all affected by religion during the Middle Ages. Any attempt at threatening Christianity by other religions was met with force and all measures were taken to spread the religion in other parts of the

When you think of Magna Carta and Rule of Law, you do not think that they are related at all, but in reality, they are very comparable. The similarities between the two documents is that both of them put limits to the power of the government and they are both written contracts that specify what governments can and cannot do. The theory of monarchy was that every ruler has unlimited power subject only to whoever was above him, which was God. This document indicates earthly rules kings had to follow.

citizens are under a duty to obey the same laws, and there can be no