Law Order & Punishment in Medieval Times
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- čas přidán 8. 12. 2023
- Delve into the intricate world of law, order, and punishment in medieval times with this fascinating video. Kevin Hicks uncovers how medieval society in England upheld order through laws, trial by ordeal, trial by jury and of course some of the punishments that would befall anyone falling foul of the common law of medieval England.
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A key point about not entering a plea is that if your conviction would have been a foregone conclusion, by not entering a plea and dying under the door, you didn’t die as a convict and your family would get your property - not the crown.
Yes, that's right 👍🏻
Wow! Very interesting - thank you
The Salem witch trials have an example of this. Giles Corey refused to enter a plea, simply requesting more weight each time he was pressed for an answer, ultimately dieing but preserving his estate.
So the royal buggers had a motivation to torture good people for made up bullsheet just to get "legal" authority over their wealth and valuables? Sons of biscuits!
So these royal bug gers had a motivation in torturing good people in order to gain "legal" authority over their wealth and valuables? Sons of biscuits!
I was a Police Constable back in 1970 and can recall even then some of the old historical offences. One of my first was a peeping tom, arrested and charged under a law from the 14th century. Dont know how my sergeant found it 😂.
Great informative video. Thanks.
Would that even be applicable considering it’s an entirely different government now?
@@Straightforward-iPhone-Tips England's government is the same monarchy, the same crown legally speaking, that it has been since England was unified as a nation.
They don't arrest peeping toms nowadays. Now they hound the victims for daring to complain!
@pm8465, And if you were a PC today you would be arresting someone for misgendering someone. LOL
If your British sergeants are anything like the ones we have in the colonies, he found that law at some point and has just been itching for a chance to use it
Punishable by fine means legal for a fee.
In Scandinavia, before we had official laws, you could challenge someone who wronged you to a duel, known as a 'holmganga'. It wasn't always a fight to the death, but if you lost or didn't show up to it, the other person was considered legally right by default.
Depends what you mean by official laws, written ones? Vendel and Viking age judiciary were dictated by councils of eldermen, jarls and other local noteworthy persons in oral tradition. The following centuries saw Sweden’s first written laws who mostly followed what was already established orally. It’s first with our christianisation that bishops, magnates (stormän) and noble lawmen took over this practice in regional scale. National laws came some time later but holmgång remained up until the 1600’s when dueling was banned, it merely adapted throughout the eras
Likewise, the killing of an man was something which could be resolved by paying *weregild* ("man gold"), the amount dependent on the rank of the victim. Otherwise, reciprocal violence and sometimes long-lasting feuds could result. Of course, just paying the weregild wasn't necessarily sufficient to end the bad blood resulting from a murder. ='[.]'=
It does explain why the vikings were large. All the smaller guys had long been dispatched in legal disputes. 'Oh no, here comes Bjorn the Litigious!' ;-)
I'm 1/4 Norwegian, so I'm all in favour of bringing that one back.
"Might makes right" is definitely the dumbest legal system we've come up with, and that's a low bar to begin with.
It's blowing a gale outside, it's cold, it's dark, but how wonderful it is to be cozy inside by the fire with another one of your fantastic videos; thank you so much!
My pleasure
Enjoy the fireplace. They are trying to block people being able to heat themselves with their electricity. But I am not surprised
gonna pepper in “had it on their toes” into casual conversations. Thanks a million!
A fishing boat from Weymouth caught a sturgeon in their nets. It was still alive when the net was brought in. They offered the fish to the Queen, and the palace said “Her majesty would be pleased if the fish is released unharmed” it was in the sea life centre at Weymouth for a time until it was released.
Wonderful, thanks for that comment!
Do you know when this was roughly - My hubbie worked in the sea life centre in Weymouth in the early 90's x
"Well I don't bloody want it tell them to chuck it back in"...
Of all my 66 years of life you tell history the best I have ever heard. ❤ Brilliant. Thank you!
Wow, thanks very much, I appreciate that. 👍🏻
Hello, I’m a 29 year old woman and I LOVE your videos!! You’re such a great storyteller. Thank you so much for sharing your love of history!!!
Thank you so much. I’m glad you enjoy them 👍
Sure you are ……
@@buttercxpdraws8101 what a weird thing to not believe.
Don't get drawn in, we read some pretty odd stuff on here 😉@@Chanceisafoodie 👍🏻
@@buttercxpdraws8101what you even mean by that,why would someone lie their age or gender for nothing lol
One rule for them and one rule for us. You are correct, nothing has changed although the saying seems to be 'depends on how rich or who you are"
This is the best explanation of Common Law I've heard so far.
Thanks for the chuckles to start my day Kevin.
“How do you plead?…..I’m not going to”😂
Hey Pat, thanks for the SUPER again, I'm glad you enjoyed a chuckle, this one was fun to do.
@@thehistorysquad The fact you were having fun, came through in your presentation. 👏👏👏.
Making it all the more fun for us.
The idea of going back centuries to understand how modern laws have evolved is fascinating! I live in Louisiania, and lawyers or people learning the law are required to learn Napoleonic Code, which is based off the legal traditions of both the Spanish and French back when they ruled my state. I've always thought that was neat, but it's cool to find out more places use that exact same idea when it comes to teaching.
Sanctuary was only for 40 days and nights after which you either had to give yourself up for judgment or abjure the realm by a specified port. In most places you had to be in physical contact with the church building, the only exception I know of is Beverley. At Beverley you only needed to be within 1 mile of the Minster church.
Great additions here Neil thanks.... you should be making history documentaries 👍🏻
@@thehistorysquad I wish I had the time. I'm too busy researching and writing my first novel set in the reign of Richard I and featuring a certain Yorkshire outlaw.
Excellent, let me know when you publish 👍🏻@@neiloflongbeck5705
I'm from Beverley, that's hilarious! It's only a minster and not a cathedral so it's interesting that such a unique law applied to it, but it is very large and pretty!
@@SamuelHallEngland try looking up the Beverley Sanctuary Crosses or Stones. Even the Minster's own web pages mention them and your ignorance will be removed.
If Wal-Mart had a rule where they could "fine" its shoppers for having "wobbley-bottoms," then Wal-Mart would have more money than every bank on Earth COMBINED
🤣
They’d then promptly get taxed into oblivion lol
😂😂 I didn't know British people knew about Walmart, that's hilarious! Funny videos at Walmart all over the Internet
As a fantasy writer, I find videos like this very helpful in getting ideas for medieval settings and how they might handle law and order.
Great vid as usual-many thanks. Coin "clippers" were sometimes organised children. Hence the term "Nippers". (Nippers term used in Northern England at least. Maybe elsewhere? WOW in medieval times we plebs had to be kept in our place. I didn't realise the WEF had been around that long!!
Interesting about the term nippers 👍🏻
Coin clipping and scraping were a real threat to economies. A holdover from that is the ridges around the outer circumference of many modern coins: if a coin is scraped, the ridges go with the metal and the coin is no longer legal tender. We LOVE The History Squad!
Yay! Thank you 👍🏻
I have hidden my front door and all the stones I could find. Just an amazing bit of history. Again thanks for doing these.
🤣
My pleasure!
That's okay @michaelpage4199, we'll bring our own to get the truth out of ye!
🤣👍
@@tyree9055 I work in a Theatre, so I could bring some stage weights if Michael won't talk! 🤣🤣🤣.
Dave.
You made me laugh @michaelpage4199!! Have you watched Kev's video of Margaret Clitheroe and her being pressed to death? If it's not bad enough to be pressed until you make a plea, you'd probably get home (if you lived!) to find that while your door was off, all your stuff got nicked!! 🤣🤣.
Dave.
If the Mrs asks about a rockery, best dissuade her 😆👍🏻
How enjoyable to listen to medieval punishment as I sit at the table and fill out my Christmas cards. You are a treat Kevin, and it was fun to learn the origins for the word posse.
Kevin is a wonderful story teller, full of information. It’s easy to see how ancient British laws have been adapted to the US. Simply look at our congress today; the upper rich who are never punished for even murder, whereby the general population is held accountable for everything. Our colonial period also employed stocks and pillories as well as hanging, though I’ve not heard about the more brutal punishments.
I just cant get over how incredibly talented you are at making learning fun and interesting. You should be in charge of the school systems, no joke.
Thanks 👍🏻
😂@@fulcrum3007
I like how eventually trial by combat was ended in certain areas with one of the reasons being they realized they couldn't just get God to make a miracle whenever they wanted a court outcome. There was one really interesting one in France when a dog duelled against a man that murdered its former owner and won a confession from the accused.
I think the trial by ordeal was so frightening that people confessed rather than go through with it.
Love your enthusiasm, kind Sir! it really brings to life the grim realities of medieval life
I once worked as an officer of my country's version of a gendarmerie. Wealthy politicians often used our units in their jurisdictions as private armed retainers. It was corruption at the highest level. Thanks for this video, Sir. It tells me we have not really changed all that much, have we?
We are getting worse by the day.
Same here in the UK. The rich pay off the police and get away with anything, and once paid, the police then hound the victims. They just love going for single women, the elderly, the disabled. Cops are also involved with organized crime.
Back to Old Blighty and its bloody, gloomy medieval times, eh Kevin ? Glad to enjoy again some of these stories we all love to hear you tell us with such volubility and passion !
Haha, cheers Laurent!
Hi Kevin, 57 yrs ago, when I was 10, I wrote a paper for school detailing various forms of trial by ordeal. Also a few years later I wrote another report on medieval punishment.
I could seriously listen to you talk about history all day, everyday and be perfectly happy!
How lovely, thank you!
This, reminds me of my first serious history class in College. I had forgotten some of these trials by ordeals.
The battle between St Thomas Beckett blessed martyr and Henry II would be great for another video.
I love this mans voice and story telling skills! I want to watch more!
As it happens, the Founding Fathers of the United States tried to make everyone equal under the law but even to this day, if you have money, you have a better chance at getting away with a crime. If you have money, you can afford a better lawyer. I'm not saying English law (the system now used by the UK and the US) is bad, because it is actually about as good as you can get, but it's not perfect.
Sorry to say but this system is not about punishing. it´s about revenge.as cruel as can be.
@@michaelpielorz9283revenge,or deterrent? Primary reason for punishment is deterrent.
@@michaelpielorz9283If you commit a crime you should accept the punishment.
Not quite everyone equal at that time....some 18th/19th century uprooted west africans would like a word
@@Ukraineaissance2014 They meant equal as humans not animals.
I spent most of my working life working for the town or state and have to say we are in trouble. I worked for both parties in the U.S. and all I will say the only difference between the mafia and politicians is the mafia had a code of honor!
I agree 100% on that HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
@@oneshotme thank you for your comment,but I didn’t say it for laughs.I’m very serious!
The government likes it's monopoly on extortion and violence.
...and mafia guys can all at least cook.
@@toldyouso5588are you talking about Frankie Delissio?
I always love the way you tell History like a Story. Great Job Kevin!
Thanks for listening
It's so very interesting to learn of the early origin of words and phrases that apply to our current laws, titles, and procedures. Here in the USA I know much if not all of it came over from the UK to keep law and order in the early settlements. Your entire teaching was riveting! Thank you for every bit of it!
You're most welcome 👍🏻
Fascinating video, sir.
Fun fact: back then, if an animal killed a human within a human settlement, say a pig or dog, for example, it could actually be tried as a human. As in it would be dragged into a courthouse and made to stand before a judge.
The Hour of the Pig, a great film 👍🏻
I once read an allegedly true story about a man who was killed when a statue fell on him, they put the statue on trial for murder.
You re narrating, like you were there.
I very much enjoyed all of your videos.
Educating, entertaining and spiced up with a very dark humor.
Please carry on.
Thanks, will do!
The Pillory was in use a few years ago at a politician's fund raiser.
No bricks allowed but it was a good laugh.
Learn something new every day! I never knew the connection between sheriff and shires before, great stuff.
I’ve been reading these law court accounts - both secular and church affairs from 1575 to 1601 in Essex. It’s shocking and sad and unexpectedly funny in places. A lot of people got in trouble for bowling in their backyard. A lot of women were sent to the ducking stool. I also enjoyed the excuses people made when they were caught poaching - a lot of dogs slipped off their leashes so they had to go catch them in the deer park.
Yes, one of my ancestors pleaded not guilty to poaching because when the bird took off, it was on his land. He was fined a shilling and the newspapers reported that he left the magistrates court in tears of laughter.
One of the funniest things ive read from the era is when some soldiers discovered guy fawkes guarding the gun powder he claimed his name was 'john johnson'. Great quick thinking.
Nobody can make history sound as entertaining as this man you literally are spellbound by his undoubted knowledge and effortless way of explaining things kudos sir !!
I may be wrong, but I believe the correct term is "Sumptuary laws" not "sumptous laws."
Such a good storyteller! Perfect for this content, keeps it enjoyable while keeping true to the grim reality when needed.
love your channel, Kevin the Archer😊
Cheers 👍🏻
@@thehistorysquadYou've forgotten to mention breaking on the wheel...? 🤔
Yes, that was a horrible punishment. I'll maybe take a look at that and some of the others in another video. Thanks @@NobleKorhedron
Love your content my friend! I hope the history squad channel grows.
Woah. I didn't know coin clipping was treason and punished so severely. I didn't know most of what's in this video, but that was particularly striking.
And that bit about the baker's dozen? Just excellent. I had no idea!
This channel seriously never disappponts. You're like an encyclopedia of incredible history. I would've given anything to have a history teacher like you back in school!
Tampering, defacing and counterfeiting currency was and still is a serious crime. An economy based on a finite currency as opposed to bartering or trading in pure precision metals is utterly reliant on that currency holding its value. Meddling with this system could completely undermine the economy. Back in the old days coinage was valued on the amount of precious metal it contained by weight. People would clip, file or sand the edges of coins and collect the silver dust. In colonial America and the early days of the USA, mints would press deep serrations into the edge of a coin so that it would be easy to tell if it had been filed. Often times people would put the silver coins in a leather bag and shake it to cause the coins to abrade on one another and form silver dust. The serrations and specific designs pressed into the coin acted as a tamper indicator.
Later on post civil war, counterfeit currency was a serious problem with paper money to the point it was severely impacting the economy. The US Secret Service was actually founded under the department of the treasury to track and destroy counterfeit bills in circulation, prior to it becoming the presidential security detail.
Ah, cheers Nick! @NickC_222
The moment I hit the like button was the moment Kevin applied this to our modern day. The "Walmart Shoppers Indecent Exposure Fine" sounds like a great idea. Thank you Kevin
😜
Thank you for another upload, Kevin! I look forward to your videos each week and the historical perspectives that you bring
Thanks for watching each time, I appreciate it.
Merry Xmas, Kevin & Julie, thank you for all of your wonderful stories!
Hi Pauline, that's so kind of you thank you. You have a wonderful Christmas too and we'll see what stories we can discover for 2024. All the best to you.
As always, well told, educational and entertaining! I love watching your videos. Learning, laughing on occasion, you have such a knack for holding our attention. Thank you! I was admiring your costume and the pin/brooch. What is it?
Thanks so much! The pin is a white boar, part of the coat of arms of Richard III.
What a fascinating channel. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Kevin was a MP and Police Officer?!? I always saw him as a retired criminal mastermind! LOL Seriously though, this is a great video and wonderful channel! thanks for doin it Mr. Hicks!
😜 my pleasure
I think he might have arrested me once lol
Man, I absolutely love your videos, Kevin. Your very good at delivering the story,
I appreciate that! Thanks
I've done a good deal of study into early laws, common, Dane law, Mercia etc and particularly King Alfred and his reforms: ending generational blood feuds in favor of compensation; wereguild, man-price,and the orginal cooling off peroid. If someone wronged you, you had to wait 10 days before retaliating. But mainly Saxon law I find fascinating in how secular it is by comparison to later law systems.
And recently been thinking of a discussion point: how would the tales of Robin Hood be different, or would we even have Robin at all, if England had remained under Saxon law? I think we would still have the stories but I think Robin may have become a Welshman; Alfred's reforms for all their progressivness, often gave the Welsh the short end; in the wereguild compensations if you killed an English churl the compensation was 200 shillings (about 20,000 pounds in modern money) but if you killed a Welshman it was 60 shillings, about 6,000 pounds.
Thanks for this Jodie 👍🏻
Love this channel! I wish I did something to do with history when I was a bit younger because I am so fascinated by it as an adult. It's like an endless puzzle that shapes the modern world and you really see why things are how they are
Another fascinating and informative video Kevin, thank you 🙏
An absolutely terrific video Kev!! Fascinating!! Some of those punishments were dreadful. I remember your video about Margaret Clitheroe. So you go through a terrible ordeal if you don't plead and if you plead guilty it's even worse! Keep these great videos coming mate.
My best to you and Julie.
Dave.
Glad you enjoyed it Dave, thanks!!
@@thehistorysquad I've been wanting to do another longbow shooting video for my pathetic little channel Kev but me range is full of flight cases!! 😕😕😂.
Dave.
Glad I was born a Scouser in this day and age, I feel like I've got off lightly 👍
Great vid, as always. One of the best historians around and love listening to your stories.
Thanks very much!
I really enjoy your videos! I have always been interested in medieval history and it’s a joy to find a channel that specializes in such things. I come away from them knowing so many more useful tidbits. Thanks for all you do!
As usual, really interesting. Thanks Kevin.
Entertaining and enjoyable, as is usual. Thanks.
Cheers Dave
Excellent!
History as it should be taught.
Just found your channel and I love it! I’m binge watching your videos lol!
A wonderful walk through medieval culture, crime snd punishment, thanks for this offering.
I really enjoy your channel and content and I never fail to learn something new . I was wondering that in the future you could explain the origins of the terms Peeler , Copper and Bobbie ? . Thank you for all the hard work you put into your videos . 👍👍 from Baltimore , Maryland
Great suggestion!
But to get you started, the first commissioner of police was Robert Peel 👍🏻
The first time ever! Thanks a bunch for your grand channel and your unique way of telling tales, Kevin🙃
I appreciate that, thank you for taking the time to comment 👍🏻
I watched a documentary on crime and punishment in the UK several years ago. I meant to watch about an hour but four hours went by and I finished it 😅. It's fascinating the ways society has come up with to punish others.
I see the background of many expressions we still use, even in the US, like, “hard pressed” “have it on your toes”
Perhaps we should bring back stocks and pillories?
Always interesting, Kevin.
Stocks or pillories would be even more effective in this age of social media.
At my town Halmstad here in Sweden we have a huge hill that's called Gallberget (Gallows mountain) were all the gallows were placed so the town could view them. The hill is now covered with a forest, but was bare in medieval times so would have been a nice view.^^' I have also read that being banished was called "carrying the wolf's head" and it's interesting to see how much people valued honour. Apparently your punishment could get an "upgrade" from being hanged to beheaded. They also viewed theft very seriously, since people had it difficult as it was to survive and it went against the ten commandments.
I also do believe laws were made on their view of how the world "should be", right vs wrong, order vs chaos and so on, not only "the rich suppressing the poor". :) Edit: for example destroying the body to hinder the afterlife.
Thanks for the insightful comment 👍🏻
@@thehistorysquad and thank you for another great video. :)
We have the same close to where i live in Arboga, but it's called 'Galgbacken' which means Gallows Hill
In the US,our forefathers who wrote the Declaration of Independence,and the Bill of Rights,took many ideas on how to structure our government,create our laws and freedoms,from the Magna Carta.
A good day when this channel uploads, great video as always :D
I love your enthusiasm! Great content.
Were you in the metropolitan police? 😀 What years did you work as a policeman? Did you ever experience any riots? For example the Tax poll riot? I would love a video about your time as a policeman in England.
No I was in Thames Valley from 85-92. My beat bordered the Met. I did experience localised riots but nothing big like those in Northern Ireland when I was in the army. Julie's been compiling a list of all my 'bobby' stories so one day I'll get to share them on video. 👍🏻
@@thehistorysquad Great. 😀 I look really forward to seeing that video, and hopefully some pictures of you as a bobby.
Thanks for another informative film Kevin !
Yet again, another brilliant explanation of history. Stuff that's never talked about. I can't wait for the next one. Love it, thanks again.
Your hard work in research is astounding.
Thanks so much. More to come!
Now a lot of terms and titles makes sense. Thanks for explaining them. Great video!
One man history squad... Kevin is more than up to it
It’s a community.
Led by Kevin Julie and Rupert. 😊.
Terrific episode. Thank you.
Thanks for sharing such fascinating history!
That was great! Very nicely done sir!!!
Another amazing vid Kevin. Absolutely brutal those times were. Things may be less brutal now, but nothing else has changed. The order of things and who gets punished remains the same and always will.
exactly
Nah it has changed massively: things are way better and fairer today.
Thanks for another fascinating insight into our heritage Kevin! . . Some very nicely placed subtlety subversive little quips in there too for good measure. . Keep up the great work!
😜 will do
you are a really good story teller, could listen to for hours
Great as always Kevin.
Absolutely brilliant video
❤ I just found your channel & love both history & your brilliant presentation of it!! You're a fabulous storyteller...thank U!!
Thank you for the awesome story. Takes me back to my Criminal Justice courses. Best classes I took in college that weren't history
Thanks for sharing! Everything so interesting and Gentlemanly classed.
Sincerely Grateful, HB
Brilliant once again, thanks Kevin.
Really enjoyed the video 😊
The Black Russian codpiece always terrified the clergy! ;) Thanks Kevin!
That was fantastic. Thank you
Excellent work
Great video and a perfect conclusion.
great video, and social commentary
Right on. Thanks for sharing.
I'm so looking forward to watching it!
I enjoy your videos, theyre always very fascinating and informative. Thanks for your time!
My pleasure!
Welldone Constable Kevih wonderful video as aways merry Christmas ❤
Thanks Carole 👍🏻
Love your videos! Interesting and entertaining :)
Legendary story teller right here Mr. Kevin Hicks
Thanks for watching Christopher 👍🏻