Crime and Punishment in Tudor Britain

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Crime and Punishment in Tudor Britain

• By Adam

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Introduction

• There were no police during the Tudor times.
  However, laws were harsh and wrongdoing was
  severely punished. In Tudor times the punishments
  were very, very cruel. People believed if a
  criminals punishment was severe and painful
  enough, the act would not be repeated and others
  would deter from crime as well.
• Punishment methods
• Capital Punishment states that if someone commits
  murder then they shall be executed and the family
  and friends of the victim will watch the killer
  die.
• Public execution was considered entertainment.
  Youd be killed in a public area for all to watch.

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Methods of Public Execution

• Hanging Youd be suffocated and suspended by a
  rope on a device called a gallow.
• Burning Women who commit serious crimes would
  be burnt to death on the stakes.
• Beheading Your head would be cut off by a
  special executioner with an axe.
• Being crushed/pressed to death You would be
  crushed to death by two wooden planks.
• Boiled alive If you commit a murder (other than
  capital punishment) you could be boiled to death
  in hot water.
• Public Executions were normally used on serious
  criminals.

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If you commit a small crime you may be punished
with

• Being tied to a post and whipped. This is for
  anything as mild as stealing a loaf of bread.
• Branding Hot irons were used to burn letters
  onto the skin of offenders hand, arm or cheek. A
  murderer would be branded with the letter 'M',
  vagrants with the letter 'V', and thieves with
  the letter "T".
• The Pillory The criminal would be put in a T
  shaped Stock that restrains his head and hands
  and be put in the marketplace to be mocked by
  passers-by.

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If you commit a small crime you may be punished
with

• The ducking stoolA see-saw like mechanism would
  be set up by a pond or lake with a seat to it
  (this punishment is mainly for women who steal).
  The criminal would be dunked in the lake multiple
  times a day for the rest of their sentence.
• The brank was a punishment enacted on women who
  gossiped or spoke too freely. It was a large iron
  framework placed on the head of the offender,
  forming a type of cage.

• There was a metal strip on the brank that fit
  into the mouth and was either sharpened to a
  point or covered with spikes so that any movement
  of the tongue was certain to cause severe
  injuries to the mouth.

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If you commit a small crime you may be punished
with

• The stocks (sitting)Stocks were used in the same
  way as the pillory, except that with stocks, the
  feet were bound. The stocks were a block of wood
  with two holes for your feet to go in. Local
  people threw rubbish and rotten eggs at people in
  the stocks.
• Amputation People who stole from shops and
  markets would have their hands cut off.
• The Drunkards Cloak People who were caught
  drunk would be stripped down then have an ale
  barrel put on them with holes for the head and
  hands. This served as a heavy painful shirt.