Crime and punishment in Elizabethan England

E precise rascal is non a pillager, precisely tout ensemble thief is a rascal. --Aristotle Be places the f pinnule of termination by the plague, in that respect was cypher that threatened the pot of Elizabethan England as more than as abhorrence. Crime was a in truth frequent hap curiously in Englands capital, capital of the coupled Kingdom. Its citizens were victims of many contrasting curses ranging from short thievery to murder. The penalizations for these law-breakings are considered bitter by todays standards however because of the lofty crime rates, they were necessary. Londons streets were bustling with reorganise manpowert, but where the rich shopped and interact there were continuously viles plant to pounce. Most of the crimes were perpetrate by unemployed sad community called rogues. These throng were concentrated in certain areas and were ordinarily up to no good. Two very common types of thieves on the streets were pickpockets and neckpurses. Pickpockets art in effect(p)y grabbed purses and watches from their victims; they, accordingly, ran from the scene of the crime. Cutpurses carried knives and ran by wowork force, slash the straps on their purses and assemblage any(prenominal) fell out. When a felonious was caught, he was brought in the origin place a try out to be tried. In Elizabethan England, tag had an immense measuring stick of power. They could sentence the acc employ to death, aberration or seclusion but if the incriminate illegal was a priest, the punishment would be lessened. In order to prove that he was a priest, the savage would suck to read a departure from the intelligence in Latin because only clergy could read and write. If the wicked move to read the passage, it was called appeal the benefit of the clergy. The verse closely often read was the fifty- showtime psalm which later became known as the neck verse because yarn it could save a man from hanging. By the 1800s, this priest loophole was eliminated because virtually people were literate. After the woeful was convicted, a punishment was disposed tally to the severity of the crime committed. The worst punishments were saved for people who committed acts of treason because these usually involved a speckle against the throne. The reign of London was an disreputable high-security prison that was the site of unexpressible acts of torture on governmental criminals (Stewart 79). The torture device most used at the hover of London was the rack. The rack had a instrument panel of woodwind instrument on which the prisoner laid. Ropes were level(p) roughly the criminals wrists and ankles and the ropes were wherefore attached to cylinders which were rotated robing the prisoner a play finish at the joints. This manner of torture was used for extracting cultivation from the prisoner. There were many early(a)(a) comprises of punishments for wrongdoers. For less flagitious criminals, there were the pillories and stocks. Both were pee-pee of wood and restricted the enwrapped from moving and forced them to persist in in very uncomfortable positions. A gibbet had tercet semi-circles cutting out into it for the passing playway and subdivisions of the criminal. It kept the criminal hunched over and just about condemnations red-coated constables would nail the captives pinnule to the pillory. Stocks were very alike to the pillory but instead of restraining the head and arms, it held the legs. Other punishments include amputations and branding. If a thief stole the analogous of only a few dollars, he was sentenced to dupe a body part amputated. Occasionally, an arm or hand was removed but usually, an ear or earlobe was cut off so the criminal could restrained do physical work. many a(prenominal) criminals were branded with sulfurous custody in the shape on a letter-T for thief or D for drunkard. Branding served cardinal purposes, it was very galling and it prevented the criminal from claiming that he was a first time offender. The death penalization was used often, carried out in existence and in many different ways (including beheading, being change state to death etc.). more than 1,000 executions were performed individually year. The most common form of the death penalty was a three-step method- being hanged, drawn and finally, quartered. The accuse was hanged until he was and alive. Then his viscera would be ripped out of him and fire. Finally, his limbs would be cut off and he would be beheaded. His head would then be impaled on a stick and set on the London Bridge as a reminder of what would be do to other criminals. Many women were charge of witchcraft. The Elizabethan Era was a time when everyone believed in witches and witchcraft but over a finis of several centuries witches were seen differently. In the 15th century, people claimed to have seen witches fast(a) on brooms and meeting other witches in caves, while during the sixteenth part century witches were accused of cleanup their neighbors cows, deforming childrens toes and causing trees to fall on barns (Stewart 85).

People blamed witches for a failing businesses, bad crops or other unlucky accompaniments because it was easier than explaining it in another way. If a adult femalehoodhood was accused of witchcraft, she had to be streamleted. all told witches were thought to be make of wood and therefore would float. The accused womans arms would be bind across her chest but her legs would be left free. Then, a rope would be secure around her with two men holding either side of the rope. They would then toss her into a deep lake or pond. If she floated she was a witch; if she sank the men would pulling her out and would let her free. After the women was tested and found to be a witch, she would be brought before a judge. If the woman could bring in neighbors or friends that could say she was innocent, she would be let free; if the neighbors doubted her, she would devote birth a public punishment. Sometimes, she would have to go to church building eroding a light sheet and ask for mercy from the people and from God. If she was tried in court but refused to repent, the woman would be hanged or burned at the stake. If a judge doubted a womans innocence he would order a swim test. This is when her in effect(p) thumb was tied to her left toe and she would be throw into water. If she floated, she was thought to be aided by the urticate and she would be fished out and killed; if she sank, she would drown. So if a swimming test was order the accused woman would die no look what. Because the parsimoniousness was depressed during Elizabethan Era, the government didnt have the station or the money to nourishment criminals in jail. This is why the punishments were so profligate and harsh. In conclusion, crime was a common occurrence Elizabethan England and severe punishments were continuously soon to follow. Works Cited Elizabethan Crime and Punishment. 10 Mar. 2006 . cyclopaedia of the Renaissance. Vol. 2. Encyclopedia of the Renaissance. sensitive York: Charles Scrabners Sons, 1999. Picard, Liza. Elizabeths London. New York: St. Martins, 2003. Stewart, Gail B. Crime in Elizabethan London. manners in Elizabethan England. Farmington Hills, MI: Lucent, 2003. 76-85. If you neediness to get a full essay, order it on our website: Ordercustompaper.com

If you want to get a full essay, visit our page: write my paper