The Influence of the Church on 13th Century On Crime & Punishment: Case Study (Edexcel GCSE History)

The Influence of the Church on Thirteenth-Century Crime and Punishment: Case Study - Timeline

The Influence of the Church on Thirteenth-Century Crime and Punishment: Case Study - Summary

Throughout the medieval period, the Church had immense power. In England, the Church owned one-fifth of the country’s wealth. It also collected one-tenth of all earnings through Church taxes.

Impressive churches and cathedrals were spread across the country. People regularly attended church services. Here, the clergy taught them religious ideas about good and bad behaviour. People believed that the Church could save their souls from hell.

The Church was also an important instrument of law enforcement. It operated an alternative justice system, separate from secular authorities.

How did the Church Define Crime in the Thirteenth Century?

• The Church was especially concerned with 'moral'crimes

• This reflected the importance it placed on being a good Christian

Law Enforcement: Church Courts, Sanctuary and Benefit of Clergy

Church courts

• The Church courts were given official standing in the Norman era

  • In the 11th century, William I encouraged them to deal with ‘moral’ crimes

• The Church courts:

  • Were responsible for trying clergy accused of crimes

  • Tried those accused of witchcraft (a minor crime in the medieval era)

  • Were overseen by a local bishop

• Church courts had a different attitude to punishment than other courts did. They:

  • Considered punishments motivated by retribution alone to be wrong

  • Believed that punishments should allow criminals to

    • Reflect on their crimes

    • Regret their actions

    • Reform themselves

  • Dealt more lenient punishments than other courts

  • Used alternatives to capital punishment

• The diagram below shows some of the punishments the Church used instead of the death penalty

• Henry II wanted a more standardised legal system

  • He saw separate Church courts as a challenge to his royal authority

  • He met with bishops at the Council of Clarendon to discuss the problem

  • The resulting Constitutions of Clarendon aimed to limit the Church’s power

    • One clause required clergy accused of serious crimes to be tried in secular courts

• By the 13th century, clergy accused of crimes were tried in

  • Church courts for their first offence

  • Secular courts for their second offence

Sanctuary

• Only available in important churches, such as those

  • On a pilgrimage route 

  • Linked to an important religious event

• Those accused of a crime could go to a church and claim sanctuary

  • The ringing of a bell alerted villagers that the criminal was in sanctuary

  • The sheriff was not allowed to arrest them

• The criminal in sanctuary then had 40 days to either

  • Attend their trial 

  • Leave the country

    • Those who chose this option had to walk to the nearest port, barefoot, carrying a cross

    • They would then leave by ship

• Anyone who refused both options became an outlaw

• Offering sanctuary ended in the early modern era, during the reign of Henry VIII

Benefit of clergy

• The ‘benefit of clergy’ allowed special treatment to clergy accused of crime

• It allowed clergy to be tried in more lenient church courts

• The benefit of the clergy had many flaws. These included:

  • It often extended to anyone connected to the Church

    • It was supposed to only be for priests

    • In reality, church doorkeepers and gravediggers could also claim it

  • It was unequal

    • Women were not allowed to be priests

    • As a result, they could not claim benefit of clergy

  • It was open to abuse

    • Illiterate laymen could claim benefit of clergy

• Reformers criticised sanctuary and benefit of clergy, especially in the later medieval era

• They believed it allowed criminals to escape punishment

• The Church’s role in offering protection began to decline

Punishments: Trial by Ordeal

• Trial by ordeal had been used since Anglo-Saxon times

• People believed that God had the power to both protect and judge people

• By the early 13th century, the Church’s attitude to it had changed

  • In 1215, Pope Innocent III ordered priests to stop helping to organise trials by ordeal

• In 1219, Henry III abolished trial by ordeal

• Trial by jury became more common