The Types of Criminal Activity in Early Modern England (Edexcel GCSE History)

The Types of Criminal Activity in Early Modern England - Timeline

The Types of Criminal Activity in Early Modern England - Summary

Social and Religious Changes in Early Modern England

Social changes

• Farming became more efficient

  • Land enclosure increased

  • This meant that all farmland, including common land, was fully used

  • By 1700, most of the country’s land was enclosed

A diagram showing the effects of enclosures on landowners and poor people

• The population increased

  • Towns and cities expanded

  • Trade flourished

  • More people moved to urban areas to look for work

• The diagram below shows some of the challenges people faced as a result of social changes

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A diagram showing some of the challenges people faced as a result of social changes

Religious changes

• The English Reformation began with Henry VIII, who

  • Broke away from the authority of the Roman Catholic Church

  • Became the head of the Church of England

• It was unpopular with the mostly Catholic population

  • The following years were full of religious confusion, unrest and extremism

  • England’s official religion swung back and forth between Catholicism and Protestantism

    • This depended on the religious beliefs of the different monarchs

An illustration showing some of the different monarchs’ religious beliefs

What Activities Were Considered Crimes in Early Modern England?

• Medieval crimes were still considered crimes in the early modern era

• Important social and religious changes led to the creation of some ‘new’ crimes

Vagabondage

• Also known as vagrancy

• Became a crime as a result of pressure the general population put on the government

  • Vagabonds often wandered in search of work

  • This made them strangers to the community

  • Many relied on begging and charity to survive

  • The settled population hated, feared and resented them

An illustration showing some typical early modern attitudes to vagabonds

• Community members shared pamphlets listing the different types of vagabonds
  

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An illustration featuring some of the different types of vagabonds

• The number of vagabonds increased in the 15th and 16th centuries

  • There were roughly 30,000 vagabonds in the Tudor era

• The illustration below features some reasons for the increase in vagabonds

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An illustration featuring some reasons why there were more vagabonds in the early modern era

• In the reign of Elizabeth I, the law split vagabonds into two categories:

  • ‘Deserving’

    • Elderly

    • Disabled

  • ‘Undeserving’

    • Able-bodied

    • Fit for work

Smuggling

• Dramatically increased in the 16th and 17th centuries

  • English explorers started to discover more of the New World

  • They returned to England with luxury goods

  • They wanted to make their own money from these goods

  • They sold them without paying import taxes

  • The illustration below shows some of the luxury goods smugglers sold

An illustration showing some of the luxury goods smugglers sold

• Like poaching, smuggling was what historians call a ‘social’ crime 

  • Many did not view it as threatening or serious

    • They were happy to buy cheaper goods from smugglers

• This made smuggling very difficult to enforce

Witchcraft

• In the medieval era, witchcraft was 

  • A minor crime

  • Tried in church courts

• In the early modern era, witchcraft became 

  • A very serious crime 

  • Tried in secular courts

• The table below lists different reasons for the increase in witchcraft accusations in early modern England

  
  Table of reasons for the increase in witchcraft accusations in early modern England

• Witch-hunts further increased between 1645 and 1647

Why did Crimes Against the Person Increase in Early Modern England?

• Urbanisation led to an increase in crimes against the person

  • Vagabonds started to move to towns and cities

    • Many committed crimes like assault and murder

• Urban areas became a lot more busy

  • This made it easy for street criminals to avoid being seen or caught

• Criminals had greater anonymity

Why did Crimes Against Property Increase in Early Modern England?

• Increased unemployment and poverty led to an increase in crimes against property

• People started to commit 'survival' crimes

• The illustration below shows how poaching and petty theft became survival crimes

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An illustration showing how poaching and petty theft became survival crimes

Why did Crimes Against Authority Increase in Early Modern England?

• Religious and political changes led to an increase in crimes against authority

  • Heresy

    • Increased after the English Reformation

    • Involved having the wrong religious beliefs at the wrong time

    • Important clergymen played a role in charging and judging cases

  • Treason

    • Increased due to there being more disputes about who should rule

    • Involved not accepting the monarch’s authority (political or religious)

    • The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 is an example of treason

An illustration showing how some of the different early modern monarchs dealt with heresy and treason