CRIME & PUNISHMENT IN BRITAIN c1500- c1700

Flashcards about Crime and Punishment in Britain c1500-c1700

Vagabondage

Homeless and unemployed people in the 1500s

Vagrancy Act

An act in 1547 stating an unemployed, able-bodied person should be branded and forced into slavery.

Henry VIII

England became a Protestant country under this ruler.

War

Surviving soldiers often left without money, homes, or jobs.

Matthew Hopkins

Restricted suspects' food, water, and sleep to force them to confess to witchcraft.

Witchcraft

A crime punishable by death during the Tudor and Stuart periods.

Bad harvests

Blamed on witches and evil spirits.

Matthew Hopkins

Led a large-scale witch hunt in East of England in 1645.

James I

King of England from 1603-1625.

Daemonologie

A book published in 1597 by James I that encouraged English people to hunt witches.

Town Watchmen

Meant to deter criminals but also called out weather and helped drunkards home; better known as Charlies after 1663.

Transportation

Criminals were taken to North America for 7 or 14 years to undertake manual labor.

Gunpowder Plotters

A group led by Robert Catesby plotted but failed to blow up James I in 1605.