Punishments in Medieval England (Edexcel GCSE History)

Punishments in Medieval England - Timeline

Punishments in Medieval England - Summary

What do Retribution and Deterrence Mean?

• Alongside protecting people, there were two main aims of medieval punishment:

  • Retribution

  • Deterrence

Retribution

• Designed to exact vengeance on a criminal

• Based on the idea that criminals should suffer in proportion to the harm they have caused

• The Anglo-Saxon blood feud system is a good example of retribution in action

An illustration showing how the blood feud system worked. Anglo-Saxons believed it could restore balance on the scales of justice

Deterrence

• Designed to prevent crime

• Based on the idea that fear would put people off committing crimes

• Such punishments often took place in public 

• This ensured that people could see the negative consequences of committing crimes

A diagram showing examples of some deterrents used in the medieval era

Corporal and Capital Punishment in Medieval England

• There were several forms of punishment in medieval England

• Two of the most severe forms were:

  • Corporal punishment

  • Capital punishment

Corporal Punishment 

• Used to inflict physical pain

• Punishment for crimes like petty theft and public disorder

• Flogging is an example

A diagram featuring some methods of corporal punishment used in the medieval era

Capital Punishment

• Used to kill

• Punishment for the most serious crimes, such as murder and treason

• Removed the most dangerous criminals from society

• There were two main methods in the medieval era:

  • Beheading 

  • Hanging

Change and Continuity in Medieval Punishment

Anglo-Saxon Punishments 

• Early Anglo-Saxons used the retributive blood feud system, which often led to

  • Even more violence

  • Long-running disputes between families

• The Saxon Wergild became an alternative to this

  • It was more about compensation than retribution

  • It made further violence much less likely

  • Fines and compensation became the most common punishments in the Anglo-Saxon era

    • Criminals had to pay a fine to their victims or their victims’ families

    • Used for many crimes, including murder

    • Also used in cases of physical injury

Wergild Fines for Different Types of Injury

• Corporal punishment was fairly common

  • Frequently the punishment for reoffenders

    • Mutilation was used on those who continued to commit petty theft

    • Offenders had their hand cut off

• Capital punishment was rarely used

  • Reserved for the most serious crimes, like arson or treason

• The stocks and pillory were other forms of punishment

  • Used to humiliate criminals in public

  • Often punished crimes like public disorder

Norman Punishments

• Many Anglo-Saxons were hostile to the Norman takeover of 1066

• The Normans faced a lot of resistance from the population

• They needed to

  • Strengthen their royal authority

  • Assert control over the people of England

• They did this by making some important changes to punishments

• They adapted the Saxon Wergild

  • Criminals now paid fines to the king, not to victims and their families

  • Minor crimes like petty theft tended to be punished with fines

• They introduced the murdrum fine

• They also dealt out harsh punishments in public as a form of deterrence

  • Corporal punishment dramatically increased

    • Whipping was often used for minor crimes, like insulting a neighbour

    • Those who broke the Forest Laws were often punished with mutilation, having their first two fingers cut off

  • Capital punishment also dramatically increased

    • Continued to be used for the most serious crimes

    • Started to be used more on reoffenders 

• The stocks and pillory continued to be used for very minor crimes

Later Medieval Punishments

• Most Anglo-Saxon and Norman punishment methods continued into the later medieval era

• Reforms in the court system also led to some significant changes 

• King Henry II introduced prisons

  • These were mostly holding cells for those accused of serious crimes

• Fines became more common

• Corporal punishment was still widely used

  • As before, it mostly punished reoffenders

• Capital punishment was also still used

  • The capital offence of high treason was defined more clearly in law

  • Those convicted would be punished by being hung, drawn and quartered

• In some cases, those convicted of serious crimes could avoid the death sentence by

  • Buying an official pardon from the king

  • Fighting in the king’s army during war

  • Joining the Crusades

• This meant that, as the later medieval period progressed, capital punishment gradually decreased

Did Social Status Affect Medieval Punishment?

• Medieval punishments varied depending on a person’s social status

• The following factors were considered:

  • Class 

  • Gender

  • Religious authority

Class

• Determined the different fines set out in the Saxon Wergild

• This made the Saxon Wergild unequal 

Wergild Fines for Different Classes

• Wergild fines for killing Welsh people were remarkably low

• This is because Anglo-Saxon England was often at war with Wales

• Class was also important in the later medieval era

• It determined what method of capital punishment someone received

An illustration showing how a person’s class determined their punishment if they committed murder

Gender

• Norman laws treated women much more harshly than men 

• This was different to the Anglo-Saxon era, when men and women were largely treated equally

Religious Authority

• Clergy were treated differently from lay people

• From the Norman era onwards, they were tried in more lenient church courts