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The nature of medieval punishments
The nature of medieval punishments
The nature of medieval punishments
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The Renaissance time period was a very unique era that has influenced our world greatly today. However, some things were not passed down and have yet to be passed down to today’s society from that unique time period. The punishments used in the Renaissance are one thing that fits on both sides of the plane. The types of punishments that were used have changed drastically since the Renaissance. The punishments used were very harsh but also very creative.
The techniques used when prosecuting a criminal in the Renaissance time period were much different than the ones used today. The investigations that were held were made judicially to get the best results (Brackett). This has influenced the way we perform investigations today. If they found
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Torture was used quite often to get essential information if the criminal was not willing to confess (Brackett). This is one technique that is rarely used or no longer used in today’s society. Another technique that was used in the renaissance era was that if one family member was guilty of a crime, the family of that criminal would get punished along with the criminal (Muir). There was also an option for the plaintiff of a court case to pay court costs and reverse the charge on to the claimant if the claimant could not prove his or her case (Brackett). These procedures are obviously not used anymore in today’s society.
There were many different types of weird and absurd punishments used in the Renaissance. Most of these punishments targeted the body of the victim while most punishments used today are aimed to get into the criminal's mind. One of the most common punishments used was flogging. A flog consisted of leather thongs attached to a handle, used almost just like a whip. Victims of flogging were often punished in public too
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When a criminal was branded, a mark was burnt into their skin used more for an identification mark rather than a punishment (Schrader). Capital punishments were often used in the Renaissance era. The most common of these punishments was hanging. When a criminal was receiving a punishment, they were often stripped of their clothing to show shame to the public (Schrader).
During the Renaissance, different crimes brought on different punishments. A lot of punishments given were in someway related to the crime committed. For example, if someone was guilty of theft, they would have their finger or hand cut off (Schrader). The court during the Renaissance had a system to determine whether or not your crime was honorable or dishonorable. If your crime was considered honorable, your punishment was less painful and was done faster than someone who was deemed dishonorable which meant their punishment was more painful and lasted longer
"Chapter XVII: Of Sundry Kinds Of Punishment Appointed For Offenders." Historion.net • History Online • Description of Elizabethan England, 1577 •. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
They got the whole day off of work. On these days, the whole town would gather and watch as the criminal got his head chopped off. Everything at this time had more painful punishments, but not because of their lack of technology but because the leaders wanted you to learn your lesson. If someone lost a hand for stealing, they would most likely not do it again. Where as a commoner would lose their hand for stealing, a noble would only be placed in a pillory.
Criminals were not dealt with in private. They were displayed in towns and the middle of the marketplace for all the people to see. Many were witnessed by hundreds of people. Commoners treated punishment days as “exciting” days out("Elizabethan Crime and Punishment" 1). The crowds of people who gathered for the public punishments and executions could be considered twisted individuals. They relished these days. For example, theft resulted in public hanging for all of the people to watch. Often times crimes were falsely accused and the crowds knew it, but nothing could be done. Small crimes, such as stealing bird eggs would result in a death sentence. It was the terrible price starving people had to pay because the government made begging illegal("Elizabethan Crime and Punishment" 1). Many crimes resulted in brutal beatings. Beatings and executions were definitely not an issue, the only question was the type of beating a person would get or how they a would be executed("Elizabethan Crime and Punishment" 1). A lot of times the Upper class was exempt from punishment unless it was a serious crime. Unfortunately, the Commoners did not get that valuable treatment because they were almost always in trouble. With any evidence of relationships with evil spirits condemned a person to death by hanging, burning, or drowning. More punishments included: beheading, pressing, and the drunkard's cloak. The drunkard’s cloak was basically a big barrel
Capital punishment, also referred to as the death penalty, is the judicially ordered execution of a prisoner as a punishment for a serious crime, often called a capital offence or a capital crime. In those jurisdictions that practice capital punishment, its use is usually restricted to a small number of criminal offences, principally, treason and murder, that is, the deliberate premeditated killing of another person. In the early 18th and 19th century the death penalty was inflicted in many ways. Some ways were, crucifixion, boiling in oil, drawing and quartering, impalement, beheading, burning alive, crushing, tearing asunder, stoning and drowning. In the late 19th century the types of punishments were limited and only a few of them remained permissible by law.
Flogging… What is it? What purpose does it serve? For those of us who have never heard of flogging, flogging refers to “beating with a whip or strap or rope as a form of punishment” (“Flogging” 1). Throughout the 1600s, flogging was utilized by “Boston’s Puritan Forefathers” (Jacoby 1) as a method of corporal punishment for various crimes.
However there are some countries around the globe that still take part in these medieval, horrific punishments. In Iran, if you commit murder, kidnap or rape you will be hanged publicly to show what happens when you do the wrong thing. . Thankfully due to the effect of the medieval period on our lives this is a rare practice and that mankind has developed in their treatment of crime and punishment. As in Australia the death penalty is abolished and the penalty of freedom has taken its place as if you commit murder, kidnap or rape you will be confined to a small space for a long period of time therefore keeping the modern society
Early in European history, punishment for crimes was cruel and usually performed in public and for entertainment. As time progressed, the views of capital and corporal punishment progressed with it. People began to hate any kind of capital punishment, and many began to speak out against punishment, including major philosophes and prison reformers. Many eyewitnesses saw the delight of people watching the executions, and became disgusted. The factors that lead to this punishment also changed, going from absurd to more reasonable crimes.
"Today's system, where imprisonment is a common penalty for most crimes, is a historical newcomer." Many crimes during 1718 and 1776 were punishable by death. This was usually done by hanging, sometimes by stoning, breaking on the rack and burning at the stake. Towards the end of the 1700's people realized that cruel punishment did little to reduce crime and their society was changing the population grew and people started to move around more frequently. There had to be a search for new punishments. "New punishments were to rely heavily on new ideas imported from Europe in the writing of such social thinkers of the Enlightenment as the baron de Montesquieu, Voltaire, Thomas Pain and Cesare Beccaria". These thinkers came to believe that criminals could be rehabilitated."
Another well used practice was ‘The Chair of Torture’ or also known as Judas Chair. This torture or punishment was to also extract confessions. Someone with five hundred to one thousand spikes being split into their skin, while the rupturing of the skin is not greatly entered. Meaning not hitting any vital organs, but also the wounds closed to delay blood loss, causing the victim to bleed, slowly and finally die in about a week or so.
When the our criminal justice system introduced punishments, sanctions for criminal behavior tended to be public events which were designed to shame the person and deter others. These punishments included ducking stool, the pillory, whipping, branding and the stocks. As years progressed, these punishments have slowly started disappear from our penology and capital punishment was introduced. According to Kronenwetter,
The aim of this lesson will be to develop students understanding of crime and punishment in Medieval Europe. As outlined in AUSVELS, this will include investigating different kinds of crime and punishment utilised and the ways the nature of crime and punishment has either stayed the same throughout history, or changed over time.
Back in early days of human civilization, the monarchy of one's society would punish the foul criminal with a cruel unforgiving punishment that usually either resulted in the prisoner disabled or dead. One of the most famous and well known torture mechanisms is the rack, which was around in the Medieval era in Britain. The rack was torture mechanism used to slowly dislocate all of one's joints then rip their limbs off leaving them in pain as they bleed to death. The rack was a very common punishment for prisoners that disobeyed the laws set out by their monarchies. Another widely known device for the convicted is the Guillotine; a later invention for the use of eliminating criminals from off the street. This device, used in France and in many places of the world, was most well known as the more humane way of eliminating criminals. The guillotine was designed to end a prisoners life with a swing of a knife, letting the committed end in a more peaceful manner instead of having all their limbs ripped from their body. Death sentences have clearly come along way just as human civilization has progressed , and many places have established the most humane way of killing criminals. Albeit, so many more completely abolished the idea of a death sentence; So many argue against the idea of getting back death sentences because of how “unethical” it is but seeing
It was also later used by the Germans and the Britain. Roman citizens were rarely crucified; slaves and lower class peoples were naturally worst type criminals. Therefore, they were main subjected to crucifixion as their punishment. The citizen class of Roman society were never subject to capital punishments; instead, they were fined or exiled. A prime example of the practice of crucifixion is Jesus. Through religious speculation of the Pharisees, Jesus was then crucified by Roman law. Following crucifixions would be a Roman flogging until the victim’s blood began to flow. Then the Romans designed the act of crucifixion to be slow and painful. The person would be tortured to the point of humiliation. The Romans used crucifixion as a punishment and a universal warning to future lawbreakers. The excruciating pain of the flogging, the condemned person would be required to carry his stake across public roads to the place of execution usually a public place. If a crossbeam is used, the victim was forced to carry it on his shoulders, which would have been torn open by a brutal scourging, to the place of execution. The criminal would then be fastened to the beam with are outspread, usually roped, in some cases nails. In Roman times iron was expensive; thus, nails from a crucifixion were usually removed from the dead body and reused over and over to cut the costs. The body was
Punishing the unlawful, undesirable and deviant members of society is an aspect of criminal justice that has experienced a variety of transformations throughout history. Although the concept of retribution has remained a constant (the idea that the law breaker must somehow pay his/her debt to society), the methods used to enforce and achieve that retribution has changed a great deal. The growth and development of society along with an underlying, perpetual fear of crime are heavily linked to the use of vastly different forms of punishment that have ranged from public executions, forced labor, penal welfarism and popular punitivism over the course of only a few hundred years.
person knew that a particularly painful punishment was in-store for them, they would not commit the crime. This led to the creation of such punishments as beatings, torture, banishment, death, fines, and public humiliation.