Crime And Punishment In The Elizabethan Era
England in 1588 was welcoming a new queen, Queen Elizabeth I. Coming in to reign at a time when the Renaissance was in full swing, Elizabeth's reign is often described as the golden age in England’s history. In this time period, theatre flourished, there was peace between the protestants and catholics, and England was doing very well financially, compared to other European countries. Although this Elizabethan era may be marked by plenty of good things, it was still not perfect. There was a very noticeable problem with the way the law handled crime and punishment. That problem was that the rich aristocracy were treated very differently from the poor in regard to what crimes they committed, why they committed the crimes they did and how they
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Although there was all types of crimes committed across the board, such as blasphemy, theft or rape, there were a few laws more frequently broken by a certain group. The well off citizens of England, at the time, had to pay donations to the poor, these laws were designed to keep beggars off the streets. If a person refused to pay the fine they were often imprisoned or tortured . The wealthy were often fined if they failed to pay donations to the poor (Swisher 44). Other than this crime, the rich people of England tended to commit crimes such as heresy or treason(Crime and Punishment in). These crimes were taken extremely seriously by the law and the punishment for these crimes was often death. Aside from heresy and treason, all the citizens of England, no matter how wealthy committed the same amount of violent crimes. In fact, in Elizabethan England violent crimes against people were much more common than crimes against property (Crime and Punishment in). The poor however committed a lot of crimes against property. Bands of thieves roamed the countryside stealing to survive (Crime and Punishment in). Also, considering the poor had a significantly less amount of money then the aristocrats they often failed to pay fines and were thrown in jail for it. Finally, rural England faced the problem of families who used violence to get whatever they wanted in their town. These families were often not so wealthy as they needed violence to get the things they wanted or needed to survive
Although there was all types of crimes committed across the board, such as blasphemy, theft or rape, there were a few laws more frequently broken by a certain group. The well off citizens of England, at the time, had to pay donations to the poor, these laws were designed to keep beggars off the streets. If a person refused to pay the fine they were often imprisoned or tortured . The wealthy were often fined if they failed to pay donations to the poor (Swisher 44). Other than this crime, the rich people of England tended to commit crimes such as heresy or treason(Crime and Punishment in). These crimes were taken extremely seriously by the law and the punishment for these crimes was often death. Aside from heresy and treason, all the citizens of England, no matter how wealthy committed the same amount of violent crimes. In fact, in Elizabethan England violent crimes against people were much more common than crimes against property (Crime and Punishment in). The poor however committed a lot of crimes against property. Bands of thieves roamed the countryside stealing to survive (Crime and Punishment in). Also, considering the poor had a significantly less amount of money then the aristocrats they often failed to pay fines and were thrown in jail for it. Finally, rural England faced the problem of families who used violence to get whatever they wanted in their town. These families were often not so wealthy as they needed violence to get the things they wanted or needed to survive