Crime and punishment
The middle ages was a time of severe punishment and harsh torture.
Crimes
Many crimes where committed in the middle ages but I will mention some more common crimes
Thievery
It was the most common crime mostly committed by peasants as food or clothing was very expensive. These kind of items were often stolen to be sold
Kidnapping-
People would kidnap children of the town and use them for slavery or farm work. Sometimes they just needed to grow the size of their village so they would kidnap children.
Unfaithful
Mostly this crime was committed by women who were unfaithful (cheated) to their husband.
Heresy
When someone is unfaithful to the church. This crime was when people from the church started to doubt the church and started to believe in unorthodox beliefs.
Punishment
Punishment was harsh and often ended in death!
Most punishments involve torture; the reason why punishment involved torture was to inflict the most amount of pain before death, or prolong the time it took to die.
There were other punishments like fines. This would be used mostly in cases involving peasants who did not have much money. Punishments for people higher in the feudal system virtually did not exist so if a noble sole or was unfaithful they would not be punished as they where apparently protected by god!
Before people got punished they would have to be found guilty of the crime committed, this was decided in court.
There where 2 different courts depending the severity the crime:
The manorial court (trial by jury)
This court dealt with all but the most serious crimes. The lord’s steward was the one in charge of running the court. A jury of twelve men where chosen by the villagers. The jury would decide if the person was guilty by gathering evidence then decide on their guilt and what punishment should be applied.
95% of the trials ended in a guilty verdict as most decisions had already been made well before the trial!
The kings court (trial by ordeal):
Only serious crimes where heard by the kings court,
The accused person had to face trial through 1 or more tests, below are some of the tests that were used:
Ordeal by fire
The accused would pick up a burning hot steel bar and walk 4 steps with the bar in their hand then get it bandaged. After this ordeal they would be sent home and asked to return 3 days later. If the wound was starting to heal they where innocent, if not, they where guilty!
Ordeal by water
The accused would be tied by the hands and feet and thrown in to the water. If they floated they were guilty, if they sunk they were innocent. If they sank however, they would probably drown, as many people in those days could not swim!!
Ordeal by combat
Noblemen would fight the accused (usually to death) and the winner of the fight would be found to be innocent.
Here are the punishments:
The middle ages was a time of severe punishment and harsh torture.
Crimes
Many crimes where committed in the middle ages but I will mention some more common crimes
Thievery
It was the most common crime mostly committed by peasants as food or clothing was very expensive. These kind of items were often stolen to be sold
Kidnapping-
People would kidnap children of the town and use them for slavery or farm work. Sometimes they just needed to grow the size of their village so they would kidnap children.
Unfaithful
Mostly this crime was committed by women who were unfaithful (cheated) to their husband.
Heresy
When someone is unfaithful to the church. This crime was when people from the church started to doubt the church and started to believe in unorthodox beliefs.
Punishment
Punishment was harsh and often ended in death!
Most punishments involve torture; the reason why punishment involved torture was to inflict the most amount of pain before death, or prolong the time it took to die.
There were other punishments like fines. This would be used mostly in cases involving peasants who did not have much money. Punishments for people higher in the feudal system virtually did not exist so if a noble sole or was unfaithful they would not be punished as they where apparently protected by god!
Before people got punished they would have to be found guilty of the crime committed, this was decided in court.
There where 2 different courts depending the severity the crime:
The manorial court (trial by jury)
This court dealt with all but the most serious crimes. The lord’s steward was the one in charge of running the court. A jury of twelve men where chosen by the villagers. The jury would decide if the person was guilty by gathering evidence then decide on their guilt and what punishment should be applied.
95% of the trials ended in a guilty verdict as most decisions had already been made well before the trial!
The kings court (trial by ordeal):
Only serious crimes where heard by the kings court,
The accused person had to face trial through 1 or more tests, below are some of the tests that were used:
Ordeal by fire
The accused would pick up a burning hot steel bar and walk 4 steps with the bar in their hand then get it bandaged. After this ordeal they would be sent home and asked to return 3 days later. If the wound was starting to heal they where innocent, if not, they where guilty!
Ordeal by water
The accused would be tied by the hands and feet and thrown in to the water. If they floated they were guilty, if they sunk they were innocent. If they sank however, they would probably drown, as many people in those days could not swim!!
Ordeal by combat
Noblemen would fight the accused (usually to death) and the winner of the fight would be found to be innocent.
Here are the punishments: