Crime and Punishment

  • Period: 1000 to 1500

    Medieval England

  • 1066

    Hue and Cry

    Used up until 1827 when it was replaced by the Met police Act. When it failed, a coroner was informed who formed a posse to find the criminal
  • 1066

    Trial by combat

  • 1066

    Forest laws

  • Jan 1, 1066

    William the Conquerer

    He invaded England and started changing a few laws, introduced a feudal system. William built a lot of castles for saftey using local land which caused bitter resentment towards the Normans. Because of this he had to introduce the Murdrum fine
  • 1070

    Murdrum fine

    The entire region had to pay an expensive fine if a Norman was killed and no one owned up to it
  • 1215

    Trial by ordeal banned

    Banned by Pope Innocent the third
  • 1361

    Justices of Peace Act

  • 1476

    Printing press introduced in England

  • Period: 1500 to

    Early Modern England

  • 1531

    Vagabond laws

  • 1534

    King Henry's break with Rome

  • 1547

    Vagabond laws made more harsh

  • 1550

    Repeal of Vagabond laws. 1531 act reinstated

  • 1558

    Queen Elizabeth becomes queen

  • Period: 1558 to

    Elizabethan Era

  • 1559

    Religious Settlement

  • 1559

    Lord's rebellion

  • 1561

    MQoS returns to Scotland

  • 1565

    Dutch revolt begins

  • 1567

    Spanish Fury

  • 1568

    MQoS flees to England

  • 1568

    Genoese Loan incident

  • 1569

    MQoS placed under house arrest

  • 1569

    Revolt of the Northern Earls

  • 1570

    Papal Bull against Elizabeth

  • 1571

    Ridolfi plot

  • 1572

    Change in Vagabond laws

    Burning and whipping for first offense. For second offense execution
  • 1572

    Drake attacked Spanish at Nombre de dios in Panama

  • 1576

    Houses of Correction

    Built in every county to punish and employ persistant beggers
  • 1576

    Spanish Fury

  • 1577

    Pacification of Ghent

  • Dec 1, 1577

    Drake's Circumnavigation begins

  • 1579

    Duke of Parma put in charge

  • Feb 1, 1579

    Drake attacks cacafuego

  • Jan 1, 1580

    Drake returns form circumnavigation

  • 1581

    Drake knighted

  • 1582

    Duke of Alencon returned to Netherlands

  • Alencon failed

  • Throckmorton plot discovered

  • Death of William of Orange

  • Treaty of Joinville

  • Treaty of Nonsuch

  • Drake's raid on Cadiz

  • Armada defeated

  • Armada spotted in Channel

  • Battle of Gravelines

  • Vagabonds act 1531 Reinstated

    Vagabond act 1572 was repealed as it was to harsh and replaced by the 1531 act
  • Relief for the Poor act

    Poor rates had to be paid by the locals and collected by local parish offices and the money was used to support the "deserving" poor
  • Gunpower plot

  • Sanctuary ended

  • Period: to

    Matthew Hopkins

    Matthew Hopkins was known as the witchfinder general. Around 250 cases of witchcraft were recorded between the years 1645 and 1647 with Hopkins convicting most of these with his partner John Stearne. Most convictions happened during times of uncertainty like the English Civil war(1642-1649)
  • Habeus Corpus

    It prevented authorities from imprisoning a person for an indefinate time without charging the person with a crime
  • Period: to

    Bloody Code

    The number of crimes that could recieve the death penalty increased. 1688 - 50 crimes punishable by death, 1765 - 160, 1815 - 225
  • Highway robbery widespread

  • Period: to

    Modern England

  • Black Face act

  • Witchcraft laws repealed

  • Duke of Richmond tackles smuggling

  • John Howard releases "State of Prisons"

  • French Revolution

  • Abolition of Bloody Code

  • Peel's Gaols act

    Influenced by John Howard and ELizabeth Fry. It brought about the following changes: male and female prisoners were to be seperated, Prison wardens and governers were to be paid, prisoners should have access to healthy food as well as fresh water, split the prisoners apart based on if they were reoffenders, focused on reform through prison chaplains
  • Metropolitan police

  • Tolpuddle Martyrs transported to Australia

  • Peak of Transportation

  • Better transportation - Railways

  • Only murder and treason are capital crimes

  • 70% of population can read and write

  • It becomes compulsory for all counties and towns to set up police forces

  • Transportation ended

  • 90 prisons built including pentonville

  • CID set up

  • Education law

  • 95% of people can read and write

  • Conscientious objectors first seen in WW1

  • Death penalty abolished