CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
In medieval times it was believed the only way that people would follow the law was if they were scared of the punishment.
There was no police force in this time so punishment was enforced either by the Kings army or by the community.
The punishments for crime were extremely harsh, most included torture.
Crimes:
· Un-faithful wives, Bad mouthing your husband and gossiping were big crimes.
· Kidnapping was very common, people needed children to work on their farm or in their business, if they didn’t have any of their own
they might just go out and grab them off the street.
· Stealing was the biggest and most common crime, people were poor and when they were hungry they often just had to steal or starve.
· In medieval times they were very superstitious and they where sure there was such things as Witches, it was a crime to be a Witch but even harder to prove, most women accused of being a Witch didn’t survive the inquest.
There was no police force in this time so punishment was enforced either by the Kings army or by the community.
The punishments for crime were extremely harsh, most included torture.
Crimes:
· Un-faithful wives, Bad mouthing your husband and gossiping were big crimes.
· Kidnapping was very common, people needed children to work on their farm or in their business, if they didn’t have any of their own
they might just go out and grab them off the street.
· Stealing was the biggest and most common crime, people were poor and when they were hungry they often just had to steal or starve.
· In medieval times they were very superstitious and they where sure there was such things as Witches, it was a crime to be a Witch but even harder to prove, most women accused of being a Witch didn’t survive the inquest.
This is a picture of a common punishment
criminals usually had to stay in them for
over seven days.
Punishment:
· Women who were insubordinate to their husbands would have to wear a Scolding Bridle which consisted of a cage over their head.
· Women guilty of adultery were drowned
· Kidnappers would be imprisonment, they were taken into a chamber but they were usually tortured not just kept captive like a prison today.
· If caught sealing people often had there right hand cut off or they would be boiled in oil or put in stocks in the hot sun.
· If you where thought to be a Witch you didn’t really stand a chance, Techniques they used to test if the women was or was not were usually very unfair, One system they used was the “Ordeal by Fire”, when the accused person, has to hold a red hot iron bar and walk three steps, your wound would then be bandaged up, if it healed you would be innocent, if it had not clearly healed you would be guilty. Or the accused Witch might get thrown in the river, if she drowned she wasn’t a Witch if she floated and lived she was a Witch and would then be burned at the stake.
· Some Kings were so into their Kingdoms honesty that they wanted to capture every criminal, if they could not find them they would make knights/noblemen go to the nearest villages to search them out which usually resulted in a lot of innocent people getting killed
· Hangings and executions were done in public to scare people and show them who had power, over time people started to enjoy watching executions (if it wasn't some one they knew or loved)
criminals usually had to stay in them for
over seven days.
Punishment:
· Women who were insubordinate to their husbands would have to wear a Scolding Bridle which consisted of a cage over their head.
· Women guilty of adultery were drowned
· Kidnappers would be imprisonment, they were taken into a chamber but they were usually tortured not just kept captive like a prison today.
· If caught sealing people often had there right hand cut off or they would be boiled in oil or put in stocks in the hot sun.
· If you where thought to be a Witch you didn’t really stand a chance, Techniques they used to test if the women was or was not were usually very unfair, One system they used was the “Ordeal by Fire”, when the accused person, has to hold a red hot iron bar and walk three steps, your wound would then be bandaged up, if it healed you would be innocent, if it had not clearly healed you would be guilty. Or the accused Witch might get thrown in the river, if she drowned she wasn’t a Witch if she floated and lived she was a Witch and would then be burned at the stake.
· Some Kings were so into their Kingdoms honesty that they wanted to capture every criminal, if they could not find them they would make knights/noblemen go to the nearest villages to search them out which usually resulted in a lot of innocent people getting killed
· Hangings and executions were done in public to scare people and show them who had power, over time people started to enjoy watching executions (if it wasn't some one they knew or loved)
A picture of a women is a scolding bridle. A picture of a man being executed. A picture of a person being hung.
In this slide show I have included some funny cartoons that are about crime and punishment.