Crime and Punishment in Anglo-Saxon times

• The Anglo-Saxon period in Britain was from around 410AD to 1066AD.
• A lot of the population lived in small villages in the countryside and very few lived in towns. This meant that many people knew their neighbours well.
• Most people grew their own food and farmed the land where they lived.
• Children were considered adults at 10 years old!

• There wasn't a police force like we have today. Keeping law and order was the responsibility of everyone in the village.
• If someone was seen committing a crime then the witness could raise a hue and cry (shouting for help). Everyone who heard it was expected to help chase and capture the suspects.
• There was a system in place called Tithing in which a group of ten men were made responsible for each other’s behaviour. If one of them broke the law, the other members of the tithing had to bring them to court. If they didn't, they would have to pay a fine.
• Every male over the age of twelve was expected to join a tithing.

• The leader of the village would use the laws written by the King to decide what punishments you would receive.
• The church and local lords had the power to decide punishments.
• The church had its own courts and a different system of punishment.
• The Anglo-Saxons didn't have prisons. Most people found guilty of crimes were punished with fines.
• Some crimes, such as treason against the king or betraying your lord, were thought to be so serious that they carried the death penalty.
• Regular offenders were punished very harshly. If they were found guilty of stealing more than once they might have their hands cut off.

• Weregild, which means blood price, was a system of fines where, if you injured someone, the victim received money.
• If a person killed someone, they paid the weregild fine to the dead person's relatives.
• The King set the fines and there was a system of payments:

• Before weregild was developed, early Saxon Kings allowed victims of crimes to punish criminals themselves.
• So, if someone was murdered, the family had the right to track down and kill the murderer. This obviously led to more violence.

In trial by ordeal, the accused would be made to perform a task that caused injury. If their wounds healed cleanly after 3 days then they would be considered to be innocent in the eyes of God.