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 & Summary

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

Examples of 'moral' crimes

Law Enforcement: Church Courts, Sanctuary & 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

Alternative punishments

• 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