Medieval Crime And Punishment Essay

Crime and Punishment in the Medieval Period

The Middle Ages or Medieval Period lasted from 476 CE to the 1453 CE. It began with the fall of the Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. The Middle Ages is divided into three main periods, the Dark Ages, the High Middle Ages and the Late Middle Ages. To a significant extent the nature of crime and punishment, it was very different between social classes during the Medieval Period. This can be seen through the significant groups that were involved in medieval crime and punishment, the effects of a person’s social class on crime and punishment and the punishments given out to different social classes between the Medieval Period and today.

During the Medieval Period,

During the Medieval Period, the punishment one received depended on the severity of the crime. Also, more crimes were committed during this time because it was hard to find jobs at the time, the poor had hardly any choice but to steal to survive [S5]. However, people today usually get a fine for most crimes, such as speeding or stealing. Serious crimes, like murder or rape, people get sent to jail for a certain amount of time depending on the severity of the crime. The way we punish today is very different to the way people were punished in medieval times. While we prefer life in jail, they preferred death.

To conclude, a significant extent of the nature of crime and punishment changed between social classes and over the years since the Medieval Period. This is seen through the significant groups that were involved in medieval crime and punishment, the effects of a person’s social class on crime and punishment, the sort of crime each punishment was used for and the difference between crime and punishments between the Medieval Period and today. The Medieval Period lasted from 476 CE to 1453 CE, with different punishments for each crime committed by different social