Crime & Punishment
Justice in medieval England: sheriffs, trial by ordeal and trial by combat, stocks and the pillory, prisons, and differences from courts in England today
What a learner can do afterwards
- Describe trial by ordeal and trial by combat as methods once used to decide guilt in medieval England
- Name at least two punishments used in medieval England and explain what they involved
- Compare one aspect of medieval justice with courts in England today
1 · Read
You have learned about kings and lords. In medieval England, the sheriff was the king's county officer and helped keep order. Local people helped too. Courts could hear witnesses. Some also used ordeals or combat. Methods varied and changed over time.
In some ordeals, the accused carried hot iron or took a stone from boiling water. A priest checked the wound after three days. Clean healing was taken as God's sign of innocence. In trial by combat, two sides fought, sometimes through fighters representing them. The court accepted the winning side as right. These tests did not prove what had happened. Never try these tests.
Stocks held a person's feet in wood. A pillory held the head and hands. Both were public punishments meant to shame people. Courts also used fines, payments of money. Prisons held people, often while they waited for trial. A castle prison might be called a dungeon. Punishments varied with the crime, the court and the period.
Courts in England today judge cases using evidence. They may hear witnesses, but never decide guilt by ordeal or combat. Medieval courts could hear witnesses too. To compare fairness, also consider a punishment's effects. A fine is a payment of money. The same fine can be harder for a poor person to afford than for a wealthy person.
Some medieval English courts used ordeals or combat. Stocks and pillories were public punishments. Courts in England today decide guilt using evidence, not those tests.
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More to read
What does a verdict tell us?
Imagine a made-up case in medieval England. A cloak has gone missing. A neighbour accuses a man of taking it. That accusation is a claim about what happened. It is not the same as a court finding him guilty.
Suppose the court uses combat and accepts the man's side after he wins. We can describe the court's decision without claiming that the fight revealed who took the cloak. Winning tells us who won the fight. It does not show who took the cloak.
Now suppose a different record says only that someone was held in prison. The lesson explains that prisons could hold people awaiting trial. Without a verdict, we cannot assume this person had already been found guilty.
When you read about a case, separate what someone claimed, what the court did and what the court decided.
2 · Watch
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