8-5Crimes

WHAT CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS WERE COMMON IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND?

//Answer Prepared by Clement G.//  A number of punishments that would be deemed cruel and unusual by today's standards were used to combat crime. Villagers of the time could have been considered twisted or weird, because large crowds of people gathered to see public punishments and/or executions. They loved hangings, especially when the person was accused of treason, because as Brice Peter said on __Elizabethan England__, it " Called for them to be publicly disemboweled and then cut into quartered sections to be left on display after the person's death." Appeasement of the villagers' distorted whim was easy.  Common crimes among lower class citizens were numerous. There was theft for one. Stealing anything over five pence was punishable by hanging. Another was cut pursing, or stealing someones purse. Other crimes were begging, adultery, debtors, forgers, fraud and dice codgers. Poaching was also considered punishable by death, if it was done so in the nighttime. In the daytime, it was not. All crimes in England were very severe. There were numerous punishments for numerous crimes. For public drunkenness, the person would either be fitted into a barrel with arm and head holes, or they would have their head, legs, and arms fitted in between two wooden blocks, and then they would be left like that for a decided amount of time. A brank was a device used to stop women from gossiping, or speaking too freely. It was a metal cage that fit over the head, and a metal strip protruded into the mouth. This prevented her from talking, as it was covered in spines, and any tongue movement would result in severe pain. But lower class citizens were not the only ones that caused disturbances.  Elizabethan nobles were also accused of crimes. Many accusations involved treason, or matters of religion. The crimes that were generally linked to nobles were fewer, but much more severe. Crimes included witchcraft, spying, rebellion, sedition and alchemy. Dictionary.com defines sedition as "Any action, especially in speech or writing, promoting such discontent or rebellion." It defines alchemy as " A form of chemistry and speculative philosophy practiced in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance." This was presumably similar to witchcraft, as alchemists often tried to turn metal into gold, and to find the elixir of life (which by the way, the sorcerer's stone happens to be able to do both). All of these were without exception punishable by torture. Some of the more severe crimes were punishable by beheading. It was a horrible prospect as " The executioners often took several blows before the head was finally severed." says the William Shakespeare Info website on their page about Elizabethan Crime and Punishment. Crime in England was not worth the pain that was potentially there if the delinquent was caught.  Works Cited Beccaria, Cesare. "Essay on Crime and Punishment." //Fordham University// 1997 Web.14 Apr 2009.. "Elizabethan Crime and Punishment." //William Shakespeare Info// 2005 Web.14 Apr 2009. . I do in fact have another source but wikispaces has decided that it would be best if they didn't allow me to put it in because this website is incompetent and the equivalent of dog doo. media type="youtube" key="6mWWy8C8V4I" height="344" width="425"