1000-1066: Crime in Anglo-Saxon England | Crime & Punishment | GCSE History Revision

It’s the year 1000 and England’s population is thought to be somewhere between 1.7 and 2 million. About 90% of people live in the countryside. These people in rural areas live in small, scattered hamlets, on farmsteads, making them very vulnerable to the effects of warfare, bad weather, poor harvests and diseases.

#GCSEHistory #GCSERevision #CrimeAndPunishmentGCSE

PATREON:   / alonglongtimeago  

**---Useful resources---**

Quizlet Flashcards: https://quizlet.com/_8fdcug?x=1jqt&i=...

Practice exam-style questions:
Explain two features of Crime in Anglo Saxon England

For other Crime & Punishment exam-style questions: https://quizlet.com/_5dxxg2?x=1jqt&i=...

Revision Notes:
- 1000, England's population was 1.7-2 mil
- About 90% of peeps lived in the countryside
- In rural areas they lived in small scattered hamlets and on farmsteads
- Communities v vulnerable to effects of warfare, bad weather, poor harvests and diseases
- The king and nobility made the law
- Village communities and family ties are also strong and help enforce the law at a local level
- The Church is another important influence on ideas about c&p

3 important trends in c&p under the saxons:
- Power & influence of the kind over c&p grew - penalties increasingly decided by the king rather than local communities
- Role of the church increased - church wanted to give those who had committed a crime the opportunity to save their soul
- Use of punishments, inc capital punishment increased

The Role of Anglo-Saxon Kings
- King Ethelred (978-1016 ruled)
- In this time ongoing conflict in the border between England and Scotland
- Some regions were occupied by viking settlers
- c1000 Ethelred attacked some viking settlements & tried to stop viking attacks by making alliances with Normandy
- This gave him more control over his kingdom
- Previously communities had made their own laws, so the c&p system was quite basic and relied on local customs
- As the authority of English kings and the territory of England grew, in was generally accepted that the king would make and enforce laws
- The king relied on advisors to help him govern the country
- But he held the overall authority and it was his duty to care of the king's peace (up keeping law & order so peeps could go about their daily business)
- Britain had a 3 tiered social structure of nobles freemen and serfs
- All 3 classes were subject to the king's authority
- The king ruled in close connection with the noble families
- Nobles kept it going by backing laws that protected their interests
- The king gave the nobles land in return for their support
- Actions that threatened this social structure were classed as crimes
- This could be a serf starting a fight with a noble to treason
- Crimes of this type are known as crimes against authority

Crime in Anglo-Saxon communities: towns, villages, abbeys
- c1000 English towns were growing in importance, especially Hamwic (soton), Eoforwic (York) and Lundenwic (London)
- They grew because of settled populations, trade connections with Europe and coined money which made trade much easier
- Larger communities had more opportunities to commit crimes against people and property
- Lots of people in close contact meant it was easier to get away with a crime as people didn't all know each other so well
- Concentration of trade goods and money meant that there were lots of valuable things to steal
- Most still lived in villages
- Peeps there knew one another, making it easier to identify and catch criminals
- Local communities were expected to take collective responsibility for upholding the law
- Each area had a reeve (sheriff) who carried out decisions made by local courts
- Other populations were based around church communities
- c1000 several great abbeys were founded, as well as many smaller monasteries
- As well as monks and nuns, these required daily labourers to run the buildings and supply food and other necessities
- The church was v powerful and had a particular responsibility for moral crimes and crimes against the church
- The church punished those who broke church laws, e.g. by stealing church property

Anglo-Saxon Laws
- Saxon kings formally issued codes of law
- With each new code new laws could be introduced, existing laws could be altered and laws that were being ignored could be strengthened

FOR FULL NOTES FOLLOW LINK: https://quizlet.com/_58irn6?x=1jqt&i=...

**---Social Media---**
Twitter:   / alongtimeago_yt   || @alongtimeago_YT
Patreon:   / alonglongtimeago  
Insta:   / alonglongtimeago   || @alonglongtimeago
  / alongtimeagoyt