Crime and Punishment in the Elizabethan Era

People in the Elizabethan era certainly had a very different concept of justice than we do today.
A minor trespass would be dealt with as strictly as possible. Lets say a poor person was begging
in the street; they could be subject to vicious beatings on the spot or even face jail time. Today,
if something like that happened where the government was beating poor people for begging in
the street, the amount of public outcry would be colossal. People would be protesting and
society would be up in arms. Back then, that was just another average day. People in the
Elizabethan era would see similar acts on a daily basis. This was certainly not the most
glamorous time period. Punishment for more serious crimes included beheading, hanging, and
quartering. Quartering was the process of hanging the victim and then cutting of their head and
chopping the body into four pieces. What constituted as a serious crime was basically anything
that went against the royals and their government. This included things like treason and
rebellion. Murder was also included on this list. Surprisingly, even though murder was not the
most horrible crime a person could commit, it still carried a mandatory death sentence. Treason
was definitely the worst crime a person could commit. Anyone who was found plotting against
the royals was in for a nightmare. Quartering while the victim was still alive in public would be
the penalty for this offence. People of the upper class, government officials, and the king and
queen were often exempt from the law and did not receive any form of punishment for their
crimes (if they committed any). If a wealthy person of the upper class was to be executed, they
would be beheaded. Regular citizens were usually hanged. The government officials were often
the ones who carried out the execution. Most punishments would often be presented in front
of a large crowd. Tower hill was notorious for being the place where the most executions held.

London Tower was nearby and acted as a prison. Both of these places are now historical sites
for people to tour and visit. These terrible executions that were so common in England in the
16th century were not just to punish the victim, however. They were also to discourage people
from committing the same crime by intimidating them. Bodies would sometimes be hung on
posts in the streets as a reminder to the citizens not the cause trouble. This often led to a
terrible smell in the streets. In addition to that, public executions also provided some sort of
entertainment to the population. Other than books and plays, people in the Elizabethan era did
not have many things to entertain themselves with. So, they would go and watch public
executions to occupy themselves. It would be todays equivalent of going to see an action
movie. It would all be very cinematic. The victim would be led to a raised platform so that the
audience could get a good look of the execution. Sometimes, the victim had the option of
addressed the crowd with a small speech. Then the execution would take place. With the
person dead, the crowd would then fight for the victims personal assets. These scavengers
would often take all of the victims clothing and sell their belongings. This is like something out
of a movie. Today, we should feel grateful that we have a much better justice system. Back
then, the accused rarely got a fair trial because the court proceedings were weighted heavily
against the defence. A trial was often a mere formality that ended with the accused being
found guilty. What would be met with beheading is now met with imprisonment nowadays.
Also, capital punishment has been abolished in most developed countries. We do not have to
worry about our government publicly beatings us or executing us for infractions against the
law. Maybe in a few hundred years people will look back at us and think our punishments for
certain crimes are cruel.

Works Cited
Mortimer, Ian. The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England. New York: Viking Press, 2012.
Alchin, Linda. Elizabethan Era. n.d. November 2014. <http://www.elizabethanera.org.uk/elizabethan-crime-and-punishment.htm>.
Lambert, Tim. Local Histories. n.d. November 2014.
<http://www.localhistories.org/tudorpun.html>.
Singman, Jeffrey L. Daily Life in Elizabethan England (Daily Life Through History). Santa Barbara,
California: Greenwood, 1995.
Stevenson, Roy. The History of Executions . n.d. Novemeber 2014. <http://www.roystevenson.com/executions.html>.