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Medieval Crime And Punishment In The Middle Ages

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Medieval crime and punishment serve as a strong reminder of how difficult life was for the average person. The middle ages, or roughly 500 CE to 1400–1500 CE, are a time period in European history. Crimes and punishments were different and more severe back then than they are today. Crimes against the church, treason, and witchcraft were frequent offenses. Trials by torture and humiliation, such as compurgation, combat, and ordeal punishment, were used in western European courts.

Witchcraft was a common charge in the Middle Ages and played a key role in crime and punishment. Only women were ever accused of being witches, and those accused were often difficult, rebellious, or older women. To determine if a woman was really a witch or not, she would be drowned; if she survived, she would then be confirmed as a witch and be properly punished. If a woman were a witch, she would be burned at the stake in a public display as punishment. Witches were blamed for natural disasters, animal and/or people being sick, murder, and sending disease. Hence, witchcraft was a common charge and played a key role in crime and punishment. …show more content…

Trials were under way to prove the innocence or guilt of those accused of crimes like treason, canon law, and torture. Men would always carry out trials; there were different trials that could be carried out, e.g., trial by compirgation, trial by combat, trial by ordeal, and trial by jury. Witnesses were often used, though they weren't always reliable, so trials weren't always fair. With this in mind, trials and torture played a key role in crime and

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