Nature of criminal activity throughout the period
Types of crime
There are different types of law-breaking activity.
| Crime against | Description | Examples |
| A person | A crime where a person is harmed | Murder, manslaughter, sexual crimes, assault |
| Authority | A crime opposing or threatening the government or leader | Treason, conspiracy, espionage |
| Property | A crime targeted at possessions and property | Smuggling, fraud, shoplifting, burglary |
| Crime against | A person |
|---|---|
| Description | A crime where a person is harmed |
| Examples | Murder, manslaughter, sexual crimes, assault |
| Crime against | Authority |
|---|---|
| Description | A crime opposing or threatening the government or leader |
| Examples | Treason, conspiracy, espionage |
| Crime against | Property |
|---|---|
| Description | A crime targeted at possessions and property |
| Examples | Smuggling, fraud, shoplifting, burglary |
How much crime?
Evidence from courts, magistrates, police and surveys helps historians to calculate crime levels for different periods. More recently, the media also provides evidence of crime through news articles and appeals for information.
Sometimes it may appear that crime is increasing, but the apparent increase might actually be related to other factors:
- the authorities might 'crack down' on a certain type of crime during a particular period and arrest or convict more people
- people might become more confident to report a certain type of crime
- new laws have created new crimes and the definition of some crimes have changed - making it difficult to compare crimes across different periods
The medieval era
Historical research suggests that the medieval period was a particularly violent time. It has been estimated that in the 1340s, Oxford had a murder rate of around 110 murders per 100,000 people. In 14th-century London the murder rate varied between around 36 and 52 deaths per 100,000 people. By comparison, the 2020 murder rate for Britain was around 1 murder per 100,000 people.
In medieval times, many of these deaths started as arguments that ended up being settled in a violent feud. People may have thought the king’s justice was too slow or too corrupt, so they took matters into their own hands. Knives, sickles and other implements that could be used as weapons were easy to get hold of in agricultural communities. Death may not have been the intended outcome of violence in medieval times, as people who were attacked may have died from wounds that could be successfully treated today.
It is difficult to be precise about levels of crime - especially violent crime - in the medieval period, because much of it was not documented in court records. Some crimes were also looked at very differently. Domestic violence and abuse now has a much broader definition than in medieval times, so it is difficult to compare these crimes in the two periods.
16th and 17th centuries
The overall crime rate seems to have risen in the 1500s and then fallen after the mid-1600s. This fall was due to:
- a series of good harvests in the later 1600s
- a slower growth in population
- the greater availability of work
Sometimes there were surges in crime rates, eg after a bad harvest or at the end of a war, when soldiers came home. There were also dips in crime rates, usually during wars.
Just like in medieval times, theft and violence were the main crimes that existed in the 16th and 17th centuries. The most common crimes were thefts of small amounts of money, food and property. Only a minority of crimes were violent.
Increasing literacy and the availability of printed An early form of newspaper which was a large piece of paper with information printed on it. spread information about crimes more widely. The broadsheets often focused on violent or new crimes, which led to a misconception among many that crime was increasing in this period.
18th and 19th centuries
The crime rate probably remained fairly stable in the early 1700s. However, between 1750 and 1850 there was a significant rise in crime. This was the time of the Industrial and Agricultural Revolutions.
The period between 1810 and 1820 saw the most dramatic rise in crime. This was a time of rising food prices, poverty and unemployment after the end of a series of wars with France. After 1850 the crime rate began to fall gradually. This was linked with the introduction of police forces and changes in the system of punishment.
Minor thefts accounted for around 75 per cent of the crimes that we know about in this period. As in previous centuries, violent crimes were in the minority, accounting for only around 10 per cent of crime. Despite the fame of some career criminals, such as the highwayman Dick Turpin, most crime was committed by first-time offenders or occasional criminals. Most convicted criminals were men under age 30.
Many people at the time believed crime was more common than it actually was. There was fear of revolution among lawmakers and fear of increasingly violent crime.
20th and 21st centuries
In the early 1900s crime continued to fall, as it had done since 1850. However, from 1950 onwards the reported crime rate has risen quite significantly. The crime rate has increased faster than the increase in the population.
It has become more common for authorities to carry out surveys of the population. These help us to gain an insight into unreported crime rates. One survey in the 1980s suggested there were three times more thefts than were being reported to the police.
However, in these centuries, the amount of unreported crime has probably dropped compared to earlier centuries. People nowadays are more willing to report crimes to the police, and the police are more consistent in recording all reports of crime.
These factors may make it look like the rise in crime has been more dramatic than it has been. Therefore, crime has increased, but maybe not quite as dramatically as the reported crime statistics might suggest.
