The harsh nature of punishment, c.500 to 1500

Punishment in the Saxon and medieval eras was harsh. For the Saxons, it was about To begin with, this meant a victim’s family could attack a criminal’s family, but it later became a system of fines. In the medieval era, Saxon ordeals continued to be used for a time. However, lesser crimes came to be punished by public humiliation instead.

Saxon ordeals

In Saxon times, a person accused of an offence would face judgement from a jury of men from the community. If there was no evidence to support the accusations, a judgement was made based on what the jury knew about the character of the accused person. The accused person swore an oath, a solemn promise, of innocence and members of the jury each swore an oath saying they found the accused guilty or not guilty. This was known as compurgation. If the jury could not decide, they used an ordeal to help them decide.

There were several types of Saxon ordeals:

Ordeal	Description
Blessed bread	A priest prayed over a piece of bread. People believed that this act of prayer would cause the accused to choke on the bread if they were lying. If they choked, they were deemed to be guilty.
Hot iron	The accused picked up a red-hot metal weight. If their burns became infected a few days later, they were deemed to be guilty.
Cold water	The accused was lowered into a river or pond. If they floated, they were deemed to be guilty.
Hot water	The accused put their hand in boiling water. If their burns became infected a few days later, they were deemed to be guilty.

Ordeal	Blessed bread
Description	A priest prayed over a piece of bread. People believed that this act of prayer would cause the accused to choke on the bread if they were lying. If they choked, they were deemed to be guilty.

Ordeal	Hot iron
Description	The accused picked up a red-hot metal weight. If their burns became infected a few days later, they were deemed to be guilty.

Ordeal	Cold water
Description	The accused was lowered into a river or pond. If they floated, they were deemed to be guilty.

Ordeal	Hot water
Description	The accused put their hand in boiling water. If their burns became infected a few days later, they were deemed to be guilty.

These ordeals continued until 1215, when the Normans added a fifth type of ordeal, which was trial by combat. The accused and the accuser would fight each other, and whoever survived the encounter was considered to be in the right.

Saxon punishments

There were several different Saxon punishments. Originally, they had supported blood feud, where criminals could be hunted down and killed by a relative of the victim. However, they realised that this led to more and more violence. To replace this system, they introduced the wergild, which was a fine paid to compensate victims. Other crimes, such as and were punished by death.

Medieval punishments

At the beginning of the medieval period, the Normans continued some aspects of the system of Saxon punishments. However, they also made some important changes. When William the Conqueror became king he continued to allow criminals to be fined, but payments were to go to the king, not to the victim. The murdrum fine would have to be paid by an entire area if a Norman was killed and the killer was not caught.

Typical medieval punishments

Other types of punishment were also used in the medieval period:

Punishment	Description
Whipping or flogging	This was used to punish minor offences such as not going to church, petty theft or begging.
Stocks and pillory	A public punishment for less important crimes, such as swearing or being drunk in public.
Mutilation	Theft or regular offending resulted in offenders having their hand, ear or nose cut off, or being blinded. Under the Forest Laws, illegal hunters could have some of their fingers cut off.
Execution	For the most serious crimes, offenders were usually hanged. However, in some places they might have been killed by being thrown off a cliff or buried alive. Heresy was punished by being burned alive. Treason was punished by being hanged until near death and then being cut into pieces.
Imprisonment	Some areas had a small local gaol (jail) for holding debtors or people waiting for their trial.

Punishment	Whipping or flogging
Description	This was used to punish minor offences such as not going to church, petty theft or begging.

Punishment	Stocks and pillory
Description	A public punishment for less important crimes, such as swearing or being drunk in public.

Punishment	Mutilation
Description	Theft or regular offending resulted in offenders having their hand, ear or nose cut off, or being blinded. Under the Forest Laws, illegal hunters could have some of their fingers cut off.

Punishment	Execution
Description	For the most serious crimes, offenders were usually hanged. However, in some places they might have been killed by being thrown off a cliff or buried alive. Heresy was punished by being burned alive. Treason was punished by being hanged until near death and then being cut into pieces.

Punishment	Imprisonment
Description	Some areas had a small local gaol (jail) for holding debtors or people waiting for their trial.

The treatment of vagabonds in Tudor times

also called vagabonds, were treated harshly in Tudor times. Laws were passed to punish vagrants in various ways. At first, beggars and vagrants were all treated the same. However, over time, different methods came to be used for those who were seen as genuinely poor due to age, illness or disability, on the one hand, and those who were able-bodied but refused to work, on the other.

Year	Punishment
1495	Vagrants were put into the stocks for three days. After that they were sent back to their place of birth.
1531	Vagrants were whipped and sent back to the parish of their birth. Repeat offenders were punished more harshly.
1547	Vagrants caught begging were branded with a V on their forehead and enslaved for two years. Repeat offenders would be executed. This law was repealed over three years.
1601	After the introduction of the Elizabethan Poor Law in 1601, local taxes were put in place to provide money to support the poor in each area and to provide work for them. However, those who refused to work were whipped and sent to a house of correction. Beggars were whipped until their back bled and sent back to their place of birth.

Year	1495
Punishment	Vagrants were put into the stocks for three days. After that they were sent back to their place of birth.

Year	1531
Punishment	Vagrants were whipped and sent back to the parish of their birth. Repeat offenders were punished more harshly.

Year	1547
Punishment	Vagrants caught begging were branded with a V on their forehead and enslaved for two years. Repeat offenders would be executed. This law was repealed over three years.

Year	1601
Punishment	After the introduction of the Elizabethan Poor Law in 1601, local taxes were put in place to provide money to support the poor in each area and to provide work for them. However, those who refused to work were whipped and sent to a house of correction. Beggars were whipped until their back bled and sent back to their place of birth.

The use of public capital punishment

Methods of punishment - EduqasThe harsh nature of punishment, c.500 to 1500