How did Anglo-Saxon justice work? What should we do to Edgar?

What is happening here?

This was only one of several ways of dealing with crime This was only one of several ways of dealing with crime. You are going to find out 5 others today. But I’m not going to tell you them. You are going to create a short play which explains to the rest of the group what your punishment was. We’ll then look at a case of a man called Edgar who lived in the 7th century. You’ll be told his crime and then work out how he was punished.

The tithing

Criminals paid compensation to their victims Criminals paid compensation to their victims. This was called wergild - the blood price. It would be paid even if someone had killed one of your relatives. Very few offences carried the death penalty (e.g. treason against the king). Wergild

Raising the Hue and Cry

Blood feud If someone was murdered, the family had the right to track down and murder the killer. But this led to just more bloodshed.

Punishment Fine Edgar? Fair? 12 shillings Eye ‘put out’: knocked out of its socket 50 shillings Wound to the belly 12 shillings Broken Arm 6 shillings Foot cut off Thumb cut off Nose split up the middle Ear ripped off 50 shillings 20 shillings 6 shillings 25 shillings Edgar? 12 shillings Fair?

So what were the main Saxon ideas? Revenge e.g. Loyalty e.g.

Your job - textbook illustrator To create a double-page spread of at least 6 illustrations showing features of Anglo-Saxon justice. You choose what you want to draw. Make sure each picture has a heading. Then give each picture a mark out of 10 for how effective you think each method was in keeping crime under control in Anglo-Saxon England.

Credits We are grateful to Jim Belben from Hodder Education for permission to use the images (shown on slides 4-12) from Crime and Punishment by R.McFahn, C. Culpin and I.Dawson (2010)