8-4Crimes

Crime and Punishments WHAT CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS WERE COMMON IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND? //Answer prepared by James Lueken//

Crimes and punishments of the Elizabethan times are not happy subjects to discuss. Crimes were met with violent punishment usually resulting in death. Large crowds of people were drawn as punishment was demonstrated. The lower class considered these events as exciting days out. On some occasions, only the noble men were allowed to watch the people suffer. The form of punishment that would be executed would depend on your class. Since the upper classmen were smart and rich, they were expected to commit more extreme crimes. With extreme crimes comes extreme punishment. When in court, the defendant’s chances of winning were extremely thin, and court trials were usually for spectators and prosecutors.

As stated in paragraph one, a person’s punishment relied on their class. Upper classmen would usually carry out crimes like spying, rebellion, or high treason. As for punishment, upper classmen commonly received burning, drawn and quartered, or beheading. Burning meant the recipient was burned alive. Drawn and quartered is when the prisoner hanged half dead, has his/her genitalia and intestines removed and burned, and then has his/her body divided into four parts before getting beheaded. To be beheaded is to have your head hacked at multiple times before completely being separated from the body. Executioners were the men who would conduct the beheadings. It is said that the person maintains consciousness five to eight seconds after the blows. The heads were usually put on display in the cities. Because of this, some people came to fear the places where the heads were. Torture was also common. Devices like the rack, the collar, and the iron maiden were commonly used on the upper class. While on the rack, the victim’s hands and feet are tied down and are pulled in opposite directions. This would create excruciating pain that was of its own. A prisoner would permanently have bad ligaments and cartilage following the torture session. Some say you could hear the victim’s cartilage and bones snap and pop when stretched to a certain extent.

As for the lower class, treatment for crime differed drastically. Commoners consistently committed crimes like theft, forging, and poaching. Forging was used to make money of rich people, Poaching, the illegal kill of animals, was a serious offense in the Elizabethan Era and was very common. Theft occurred on the streets where poorer people lived. Punishment for these crimes varied. Some examples of punishment that occurred are the wheel, whipping, beating and burning. The wheel especially was very cruel. This device was like riding on a water wheel for hours at times, except there was a steep incline. If a victim were to fall, their shins would be banged and bloody.

Works Cited "Elizabethan Crime and Punishment." __WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE__. 9 Mar. 2009 . Stewart, Gail. __Life in Elizabethan London: Elizabethan England (Lucent Library of Historical Eras)__. Farmington Hills, MI: Lucent Books, 2002.