Renaissance Crime And Punishment

A critical time period in British history was the Renaissance, dating from 1558 to 1603.The Renaissance introduced new ideas and methods that continue to influence our way of life. The renaissance made major advancements in subjects such as math, astronomy, medicine, and law. This was a time of development in the legal systems, particularly the judicial system. The Renaissance, in the legal aspect, was a very harsh time due the crimes committed, the punishments received, and poorly restricted judicial system.
The Renaissance was filled with crime, most of which were similar; however, the causes of crime varied. The main cause of crime among the common man was poverty. After the medieval era ended, many people became very poor due to the fall …show more content…
Misdemeanors, which were the lowest form of crime, resulted in a fine or whipping. On the contrary, felonies such as treason, grand larceny, manslaughter, and arson resulted in a death sentence (Baker 43). If one were accused of such crime, the courts turned to torture to elicit information. In terms of torture, women were typically excluded. Punishment and torture varied among classes. If the nobility committed a crime that had a mandatory death sentence, they were beheaded. If the lower class committed the same crime as the nobility, they endured much more gruesome punishment. Such punishments included “Hanging ,Burning, Whipping, Branding, Pressing, Ducking Stools, The Wheel, Starvation in a public place, The Gossip's Bridle or the Brank, The Drunkards Cloak, Cutting off various items of the anatomy - hands, ears etc., and Boiling in oil water or lead” (Alchin, “Crime” 3). Most forms of punishment were reserved for certain types of crimes. For example, pressing was reserved for those who did not speak in court. The gossip’s Bridle was used on the town gossips. This was a contraption that was worn around the head with a spike that would go in the mouth, resulting in major mouth damage if the person attempted to speak (“Crime and Punishment” 2). According to “Elizabethan England Life”: Torture was regularly practiced, and as a result crime lowered in numbers. The most common forms of torture included stretching, burning, beating and drowning (2). Torture was used as a way to get information from the accused. Most times the injuries were so severe the accused would die. To make matters worse for the accused, nearly all punishments and torture were public. Public punishments were a form of entertainment for the townspeople, who gathered by the hundreds to watch an execution. Although most were done in the center of the town, some were a bit

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