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Crime and Punishment in the Elizabethan Era: The Development of English Common Law and Human Rights



Punishment as a result of poaching varied. If a person was caught poaching during the day, no torture or pain was inflicted. However, if a person was caught poaching at night, punishment was required.Transition Statement (conclude paragraph)Crime and punishment during the Elizabethan era was also affected by religion and superstitions of the time.Main Point #3Topic Sentence (state main idea of paragraph)Religion and superstition, two closely related topics, largely influenced the crime and punishment aspect of this era. Examples/Details to Support Paragraph Topic (who, what, when, where, etc.) (include at least 1 direct quote in this section) Protestantism and Catholicism were the two most popular religions in Elizabethan England. The ruling monarch would decide on the religion that would be practiced. A well-known religious ruler during this era is Queen Mary I. Queen Mary I believed in the Catholic faith and burned all Protestants at the stake. People were given no religious freedom at the time. When nonbelievers decided not to follow the correct religion, they were at high risk of being tortured or


This is how citizens would deal with crimes, for them it was Justice. All crimes that were committed by citizens, in the Elizabethan era had different types of punishments. It was very strict on what they could and could not do in this time. The most frequent crimes were thefts, cut purses, poaching, adultery, begging, fraud, debtors, forgers and dice coggers.




crime and punishment in the elizabethan era essay



The judicial system counted a lot of laws occurring to punishments for every crime committed and religion depending on witch country. Jail in the Elizabethan era was for people waiting for their trial, those who were guilty and waiting for their punishment or witnesses for a trial. The people would not stay in jail for very long since most of them were waiting for their punishment which would not take long. The house of correction was where criminals were brought for no longer then two years in the goal to punish them for the actions they had done. The courts during the Elizabethan times would try to get confessions out by raking, they would tie them up to a stool and stretch them. The injuries were so bad, most people were not able to walk due to the raking. After all, laws were much stricter back then which resulted with a lot of torture.


To conclude, the Elizabethan era is known for theater and the works of William Shakespeare. However, the crimes, punishments and laws were very violent and strict. Personally, I think they were cruel, and it was unnecessary to kill or hurt people even if they had done wrong. There is a right way for punishment, and they did not undertake it. Therefore, it was a very long time ago. Finally, Shakespeare included themes of crimes and punishments in his plays.


Elizabethans attached great importance to the social order. In their view, every person and thing in the universe had a designated place and purpose. God was the ultimate authority; under him ruled the monarch, followed by a hierarchy of other church and government officials. Nobles, aristocrats, and ordinary people also had their places in this order; society functioned properly, it was thought, when all persons fulfilled the duties of their established positions. Crimes that threatened the social order were considered extremely dangerous offenses. These included heresy, or religious opinions that conflict with the church's doctrines, which threatened religious laws; treason, which challenged the legitimate government; and murder. Those convicted of these crimes received the harshest punishment: death. Execution methods for the most serious crimes were designed to be as gruesome as possible.


Crime in England, and the number of prosecutions, reached unusually high levels in the 1590s. This development was probably related to a downturn in the economy, which increased the number of people living in poverty. 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. To address the problem ofescalating property crime, Parliament, England's legislative body, enacted poor laws which attempted to control the behavior of the poor. Begging, for example, was prohibited by these laws. A 1572 law classified several categories of self-employed people as vagrants, including unlicensed healers, palm readers, and tinkers (traveling menders of cooking pots). As such, they risked whipping or other physical punishment unless they found a master, or employer.


The poor laws failed to deter crime, however, and the government began exploring other measures to control social groups it considered dangerous or undesirable. Between 1546 and 1553, five "hospitals" or "houses of correction" opened in London. These institutions, which the Elizabethans called "bridewells" were places where orphans, street children, the physically and mentally ill, vagrants, prostitutes, and others who engaged in disreputable lifestyles could be confined. Inmates of the bridewells had not necessarily committed a crime, but they were confined because of their marginal social status. As the name suggested, houses of correction aimed to reform their inmates, who were expected to work long hours under harsh conditions. In addition, they were often abused by the hospital wardens. Houses of correction, which increased significantly in number throughout England during the sixteenth century, reflected a growing interest in the idea that the state should aim to change criminals' behavior instead of merely imposing a punishment for offenses.


Though Elizabethan prisons had not yet developed into a full-scale penal system, prisons and jails did exist. But they lacked the capacity to handle large numbers of prisoners who would remain behind bars for long periods. Jails in the sixteenth century were primarily places where suspects were kept while awaiting trial, or where convicts waited for their day of execution. Those who could not pay their debts could also be confined in jail. Unlike today, convicted criminals did not usually receive sentences to serve time in prison. Instead, punishments most often consisted of fines for small offenses, or physical punishments for more serious crimes.


Chapter XI. Of Sundry Kinds of Punishments Appointed for Malefactors In cases of felony, manslaughter, robbery, murther, rape, piracy, and such capital crimes as are not reputed for treason or hurt of the estate, our sentence pronounced upon the offender is to hang till he be dead. For of other punishments used in other countries we have no knowledge or use, and yet so few grievous [serious] crimes committed with us as elsewhere in the world. To use torment also or question by pain and torture in these common cases with us is greatly abhorred sith [since] we are found always to be such as despise death and yet abhor to be tormented, choosing rather frankly to open our minds than to yield our bodies unto such servile halings [draggings] and tearings as are used in other countries. And this is one cause wherefore our condemned persons do go so cheerfully to their deaths, for our nation is free, stout, hauty, prodigal of life and blood, as Sir Thomas Smith saith lib. II, cap 25 De republica, therefore cannot in any wise digest to be used as villans and slaves in suffering continually beating, servitude, and servile torments. No, our jailers are guilty of felony by an old law of the land if they tormentany prisoner committed to their custody for the revealing of his complices [accomplices].


Capital punishment is defined as the authorized, legal killing of an individual as punishment for a crime that was committed. The Victorian era was the age of progress, stability and great social reforms but in the same time was characterised by poverty, injustice and social unrest tensioni.


Torture, as far as crime and punishment are concerned, is the employment of physical or mental pain and suffering to extract information or, in most cases, a confession from a person accused of a crime.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined')ez_ad_units.push([[970,250],'elizabethanenglandlife_com-medrectangle-4','ezslot_1',102,'0','0']);__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-elizabethanenglandlife_com-medrectangle-4-0');While torture seems barbaric, it was used during the Golden Age, what many consider to be that time in history when Elizabeth I sat on the throne and England enjoyed a peaceful and progressive period, and is still used in some cultures today.


Crime and Punishment inElizabethan EnglandPrinter Friendly Version >>> A young courtier in Queen Elizabeth I's court When Queen Elizabeth I assumed the throne of England in 1558 she inherited a judicial system that stretched back in time through the preceding Middle Ages to the Anglo-Saxon era. The concept of incarcerating a person as punishment for a crime was a relatively novel idea at the time. Most prisons were used as holding areas until trial and subsequent sentencing. Trials were skewed in favor of the prosecution, for example, defendants accused of a felony or treason were not allowed legal counsel. Justice was usually swift and often brutal. William Harrison set himself the task of chronicling everyday life in Renaissance England during the late 1500s. Among his observations he included an overview of crime and punishment:The Greatest Punishment"The greatest and most grievous punishment used in England for such as offend against the State is drawing from the prison to the place of execution upon an hurdle or sled, where they are hanged till they be half dead, and then taken down, and quartered alive; after that, their members and bowels are cut from their bodies, and thrown into a fire, provided near hand and within their own sight, even for the same purpose."Varying Punishment for Commoner and Nobility"Sometimes, if the trespass be not the more heinous, they are suffered to hang till they be quite dead. And whensoever any of the nobility are convicted of high treason by their peers, that is to say, equals (for an inquest of yeomen passeth not upon them, but only of the lords of parliament), this manner of their death is converted into the loss of their heads only. In trial of A pomander - carried by well-to-doElizabethans and filled with aromatic spices. It was held to the nose tocounter the fouls smells of thestreet and those caused byinfrequent bathing. cases concerning treason, felony, or any other grievous crime not confessed, the party accused doth yield, if he be a noble man, to be tried by an inquest (as I have said) and his peers; if a gentleman, by gentlemen; and an inferior, by God and by the country, to wit, the yeomanry (for combat or battle is not greatly in use), and, being condemned of felony, manslaughter, etc., he is hanged by the neck till he be dead, and then cut down and buried. But if he be convicted of wilful murder, done either upon pretended malice or in any notable robbery, he is either hanged alive in chains near the place where the fact was committed (or else upon compassion taken, first strangled with a rope), and so continueth till his bones consume to nothing. When wilful manslaughter is perpetrated, beside hanging, the offender hath his right hand commonly stricken off before or near unto the place where the act was done, after which he is led forth to the place of execution, and there put to death according to the law."Suicide 2ff7e9595c


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