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How has the Elizabethan Justice system different from todays?

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How has the Elizabethan Justice system different from todays?

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The court had many trials throughout the Elizabethan period, and so has our current way of holding trials. This is one of the few similarities that our modern justice system and the gruesome justice system of the Elizabethan period share. The differences are much more obvious. Although there is an argument that our justice system can be biased and discriminatory, but the court of the Elizabethan  era, there was obvious bias. The higher class nobleman were known to support the queen and would often get much less punishment than if a peasant were to commit the same crime. In this way we can see that the elizabethan court system exercised routine discrimination.

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How has the Elizabethan Justice system different from todays?

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How has the Elizabethan Justice system different from todays?

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The justice system is a prominent feature in all societies, and can tell someone alot about how the community functions. In the case of the Elizabethan Era, the dark, twisted ways of dealing with punishment reflected the dark ages while also developing the more formal court that we use still today. While there are some similarities, the court from the Elizabethan era is still very different from the court we are used to today. The main difference is the outcomes of trials. In this modern era, the worst punishment is death, but is usually the most humane that it can be. Punishment in the Elizabethan era, however, were very different. They were often severe and included many forms of torture. They were also open to the public, and were even considered to be a fun night out. The execution of Anne Boleyn was reportedly… “restricted to the Upper Classes and Nobility and only several hundred spectators!” (Alchin, L.K)

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Picard, Liza. “Crime and Punishment in Elizabethan England.” The British Library, The British Library, 17 Feb. 2016, www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/crime-and-punishment-in-elizabethan-england.
Alchin, Linda K. “Elizabethan Crime and Punishment.” Elizabethan Crime and Punishment, 16 May 2012, www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-crime-and-punishment.htm.

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How was the Elizabethan justice system unconventional?

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How was the Elizabethan justice system unconventional?

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Another reason for deeming the Elizabethan justice system as unconventional is its unsettling habit of publicly displaying and promoting the deaths of the convicted criminals. On this matter Picard wrote, “The grisly details included cutting the prisoner down before he died from hanging, and disembowelling him. After various other horrors, the corpse was cut into four pieces and the head was taken off. The quarters were nailed up in various places in London, and the head was displayed on a pole...”(Picard). The officers of justice—and this term is used loosely—made it a point to flagrantly exemplify the mutilated remains of the deceased offender. Officers committed the act as a way to ensure that others stayed in line and obeyed the crown, but that could never excuse the horrific manner in which the accused was displayed. Punishers used the deceased criminals to solidify their hold over the common folk and blatantly disregarded all the moral atrocities they themselves promoted. In this way, the Elizabethan justice system was unconventional.

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How was the Elizabethan justice system unconventional?

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How was the Elizabethan justice system unconventional?

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From a modern standpoint, the Elizabethan justice system system appears unorthodox and rather unconventional. From its cruel punishments to its dramatic flare, the justice system of Elizabethan England can be reasonably regarded as harsh, unforgiving, and inhumane. In Liza Picard’s article, “Crime and punishment in Elizabethan England,” Picard wrote, “There was a curious list of crimes that were punishable by death, including buggery, stealing hawks, highway robbery and letting out of ponds, as well as treason,”(Picard). Quite a few of the crimes listed in the quote appear, for the most part at least, as harmless. In no way do these crimes merit the brutal murder of the accused offender. The only crime that possibly deserved severe punishment was treason, and even then the brutalities of the court were horrific and greatly undeserved. Because of its dramatic punishments for rather mild crimes, the Elizabethan justice system can be regarded as unconventional.