‘The role of local communities was the most important factor affecting law enforcement during
the middle ages.’ How far do you agree? Explain your answer (20 marks)
In the middle ages there was no real police force in England and so law and order were mostly
maintained by harsh punishments to deter crimes even happening in the first place or by local
communities policing themselves. Anglo-Saxons were warriors and farmers who valued loyalty and
so these self-policing methods were heavily based on loyalty. There were many methods of villages
and communities policing themselves specifically the ‘Hue and Cry’, the ‘Tithings’ and the ‘parish
constable’ which all played a very important role in keeping England safe but also had some issues.
Firstly, local communities like the hue and cry could be regarded as the most important factor
affecting law enforcement during the middle ages because they were very affective at preventing
and stopping crime. The hue and cry meant that if a victim of a crime raised an alarm by calling out
for help everyone in the village would have to stop what they were doing and all hunt down the
criminal. This made it fairly easy to catch a criminal as local communities were always close by and
could react very quickly to something happening in their neighbourhood. Also, if they didn’t help the
whole village had to pay a hefty fine given by the local court. This made it very encouraging for
everyone to join the hunt making it easier to find the criminal as the whole community was looking
for him. Lastly because the whole community got involved, they would know the character of the
person/people accused and the likelihood of guilt further making the system efficient. This made it
very important as it reduced crime rates as earlier criminals were often caught deterring others from
trying.
Another reason why local communities could have been the most important factor affecting law
enforcement was because of another self-policing system called a tithing. A tithing was made up of
10 men above the age of 12, each being responsible for each other’s behaviour therefore being
based on loyalty. If a man in a tithing broke the law, the others had to bring him to court, or all pay a
fine. It was a very effective method as nobody wanted to pay a fine for someone else’s crime which
consequently meant that these men would make sure the men in their tithing obeyed the law and
didn’t break it essentially self-policing each other. This made it important as it again reduced crime
as if one broke the law the others were forced to hand him over as they often could not afford the
hefty fine, they’d receive.
However, there was one major flaw with local communities policing themselves which could lead to
them not have being the most important factor affecting law enforcement. The major flaw was that
since local communities were often close and friendly with each other meaning they could have
banded together and blamed someone they didn’t like or an outsider and punished him for crimes
they didn’t commit. This could have been to avoid paying a fine when they couldn’t catch a criminal
using the hue and cry or tithings method or just because they didn’t like that person. A major flaw
like this could have caused injustice and punished innocent people for crimes they didn’t commit
just because a community didn’t like them therefore suggesting that local communities might not
have been the most important factor affecting law enforcement in the middle ages.
Finally, the last reason why local communities may not have been the most important factor was
because of religious reasons. Anglo-Saxons were always religious, and the church played a big role in
deciding whether one was guilty, not guilty and what sort of punishment they should receive if they
were found guilty. There were even church courts for churchmen introduced by the Normans. These
religious beliefs encouraged the idea that God would indicate someone’s guilt at the trial of ordeal.
This was usually taken by women and it consisted of the accused carrying a piece of red-hot iron for
three metres. Her hand would then be bandaged up and if after three days the wound was healing,
she was innocent but if it wasn’t God had indicated that she was guilty. This was an important factor
the middle ages.’ How far do you agree? Explain your answer (20 marks)
In the middle ages there was no real police force in England and so law and order were mostly
maintained by harsh punishments to deter crimes even happening in the first place or by local
communities policing themselves. Anglo-Saxons were warriors and farmers who valued loyalty and
so these self-policing methods were heavily based on loyalty. There were many methods of villages
and communities policing themselves specifically the ‘Hue and Cry’, the ‘Tithings’ and the ‘parish
constable’ which all played a very important role in keeping England safe but also had some issues.
Firstly, local communities like the hue and cry could be regarded as the most important factor
affecting law enforcement during the middle ages because they were very affective at preventing
and stopping crime. The hue and cry meant that if a victim of a crime raised an alarm by calling out
for help everyone in the village would have to stop what they were doing and all hunt down the
criminal. This made it fairly easy to catch a criminal as local communities were always close by and
could react very quickly to something happening in their neighbourhood. Also, if they didn’t help the
whole village had to pay a hefty fine given by the local court. This made it very encouraging for
everyone to join the hunt making it easier to find the criminal as the whole community was looking
for him. Lastly because the whole community got involved, they would know the character of the
person/people accused and the likelihood of guilt further making the system efficient. This made it
very important as it reduced crime rates as earlier criminals were often caught deterring others from
trying.
Another reason why local communities could have been the most important factor affecting law
enforcement was because of another self-policing system called a tithing. A tithing was made up of
10 men above the age of 12, each being responsible for each other’s behaviour therefore being
based on loyalty. If a man in a tithing broke the law, the others had to bring him to court, or all pay a
fine. It was a very effective method as nobody wanted to pay a fine for someone else’s crime which
consequently meant that these men would make sure the men in their tithing obeyed the law and
didn’t break it essentially self-policing each other. This made it important as it again reduced crime
as if one broke the law the others were forced to hand him over as they often could not afford the
hefty fine, they’d receive.
However, there was one major flaw with local communities policing themselves which could lead to
them not have being the most important factor affecting law enforcement. The major flaw was that
since local communities were often close and friendly with each other meaning they could have
banded together and blamed someone they didn’t like or an outsider and punished him for crimes
they didn’t commit. This could have been to avoid paying a fine when they couldn’t catch a criminal
using the hue and cry or tithings method or just because they didn’t like that person. A major flaw
like this could have caused injustice and punished innocent people for crimes they didn’t commit
just because a community didn’t like them therefore suggesting that local communities might not
have been the most important factor affecting law enforcement in the middle ages.
Finally, the last reason why local communities may not have been the most important factor was
because of religious reasons. Anglo-Saxons were always religious, and the church played a big role in
deciding whether one was guilty, not guilty and what sort of punishment they should receive if they
were found guilty. There were even church courts for churchmen introduced by the Normans. These
religious beliefs encouraged the idea that God would indicate someone’s guilt at the trial of ordeal.
This was usually taken by women and it consisted of the accused carrying a piece of red-hot iron for
three metres. Her hand would then be bandaged up and if after three days the wound was healing,
she was innocent but if it wasn’t God had indicated that she was guilty. This was an important factor
