Law Enforcement in Early Modern England (Edexcel GCSE History)

Law Enforcement in Early Modern England - Timeline & Summary

Change and Continuity in Early Modern Law Enforcement

Policing

• Still largely relied on ordinary people in the local community

• Many medieval systems and roles continued, including

  • Hue and cry

  • Coroners

  • Parish constables 

• Urbanisation led to some changes

  • Crimes increased

  • Ordinary people were given more power to deal with crimes themselves 

    • They could obtain an arrest warrant from a Justice of the Peace (JP)

    • This allowed them to catch a criminal and deliver them to the constable

    • They were given rewards for this (usually money)

    • Reward payments could be as high as a year’s income (for a typical middle-class family)

  • Wealthier households joined together to hire armed guards

    • This gave protection to a person’s family and property

    • This was a precursor to a paid police service

  • Some theft victims hired professional thief takers 

    • They were tasked with reclaiming the victim’s stolen property

    • They then received a portion of the recovered property

    • They delivered criminals to the authorities

  • This was open to corruption 

    • Thief takers were sometimes criminals themselves

Trials

• Most trials still took place locally

• JPs:

  • Introduced in medieval England

  • Took on a greater role in early modern England

  • Attended quarter sessions four times a year, JPs met with other JPs across England to judge more serious crimes

    • JPs met with other JPs across England four times a year, to judge more serious crimes 

    • They had the power to give criminals the death sentence

  • Judged manor court cases

    • These continued to handle local, minor crimes (like drunkenness and selling underweight bread)

  • Assisted by the constable

Types of punishments given by Justices of the Peace

• Royal judges 

  • Continued to visit each county twice a year to judge the most serious crimes

    • These became known as country assizes

• The Habeas Corpus Act, 1679 

  • Prevented authorities from locking people up indefinitely

  • Those who were arrested had to, within a certain time, do one of the following:

    • Appear in court

    • Stand trial 

    • Be released

  • Habeas corpus is still in effect today

How did the Role of the Church in Law Enforcement Reduce in Early Modern England?

• Church courts continued to be used to try 

  • Clergy 

  • Those who could claim benefit of clergy

    • By the early modern era, more people could read

    • This meant more people could recite the ‘neck verse’

    • Edward VI changed the law on this

    • People could no longer claim benefit of clergy for serious crimes, like murder

• From the late 16th century, Church courts could only try moral crimes

  • Everyone, including clergy, now had to be tried in secular courts for criminal acts

• Sanctuary was also restricted before it was eventually abolished

• Overall, the Church lost some of its power in law enforcement

• The justice system became more secular

Local Early Modern Law Enforcement: Town Watchmen

• Larger towns began to use town watchmen 

Local Early Modern Law Enforcement: Town Constables

• Town authorities appointed town constables