Crime Early Modern - 1500-1700

New Crimes - overview

  • The Game Act 1671 made poaching illegal in enclosed land illegal

Enclosed - fenced off land, exclusive to land owner

  • Smuggling - bring in good without paying tax

  • Vagabondage

  • Heresy - not being the religion of the king

  • Treason - betraying the king (e.g. not taking Oath of Supremacy)

  • Witchcraft

Vagabondage

  • begging was associated with theft

  • poor-rate was increasing - bad harvest in 1570’s, 1590’sSpanish Ardmarder

  • Often outsiders to area - people didn’t trust them

  • Puritans thought not working was a sin

  • Pamphlets exaggerated problems

  • 69 vagabonds in 15060 → 555 in 1600

1572 act - first offence = whipping and burning gristle of the ear

- second offence = execution

1576 - Houses of Correction were places to punish and employ persistent beggars

Role of Monarch

Time-line

  • 1517 - Martin Luther’s 95 Theses (challenging Catholic practices)

  • 1521 - Henry VIII awarded ‘Defender of the Faith’

  • 1534 - Act of supremacy (declared Monarch of Supreme Head of the Church of England)

  • 1536 - Dissolution of the Monasteries

  • 1549 - Book of common Prayer

  • 1555 - 300 protestants burnt at stake

  • 1559 - Act of Uniformity (Book of common prayer must be used)

  • 1605 - Popish Recusancy Act (pay allegiance to King and go to CofE services)

  • population increased 3 million → 4 million

  • Influenza and plague, and poor harvests

  • 1642 - English Civil war breaks out

  • 1649 - Charles is executed, Cromwell protectorate begins

  • 1660 Monarchy Restoration

Further detail

  • Reformation - Protestantism grow more popular, and the idea that the Catholic church needed to be reformed

New crimes were introduced - heresy and treason

  • Civil war - Oliver Cromwell overthrew monarchy and started a republic

This lead to banning of Christmas, drinking, working on Sunday, etc.

Gunpowder plot - 1605

  • Lead by Robert Catesby

  • A recusant was a fine for not attending Protestant church

  • The plot was discovered by an anonymous letter sent to a relative working in Parliament, that then got leaked to the Government officials

  • 4 plotters were shot on 6th November, the rest put on trial, then executed.

  • Every year on 5th November go to church to give thanks to God - saved nation

  • 1605 Thanksgiving Act - Catholic banned form legal professions

  • Banned from voting and being MP’s until 1829

  • 1606 Popish Recusant Act - Catholic had to pay allegiance to the crown and attend CofE services

Witchcraft

Why accusations increased

  • Attitudes to women (underlying cause) - 90% cases against women, women who didn’t meet model of domestic duties were suspicious, vunerable if widowed or never married

  • Social Upheaval (exacerbated problem) - Civil war, divided supporters, disruption and uncertainty

  • James I’s Demonologie 1597 (trigger cause) - supported child witnesses, fearful of Catholic rebellion, wanted to uncover conspiracies

  • Mathew Hopkins (trigger cause) - interrogation methods (restrict food, sleep deprivation), examine body for sign of familiars, gave other witches names, 117 people accused in Sudbury, lead to John Stearne (investigated 300 people, 112 were hanged)

  • Economic problems (exacerbated problem) - falling wages, rising un-employment, poor harvests, people wanted a reason

  • Religion (fundamental cause) - fear of Catholicism,, struggle of good/evil

  • New laws on Witchcraft - more severe punishments (Witchcraft Act = death)

What happened to accusations over time

1717 - last ever trial for witch craft

1736 - last law for witchcraft was a crime was repealed

Enlightenment - Philosophical movement of 17th and 18th centuries - focused on reason to question and analyse ideas

This lead to a decline due to shifts in religious theories, and scientific theories.