Abjure |
To renounce on oath. |
Arson |
The act of willfully and maliciously setting fire to property.
|
Assize court |
A court of justice, sitting at intervals
in each county of England and Wales to administer the civil and criminal
law. |
Beadle |
A parish officer similar to a constable. |
Benefit of clergy
|
A system whereby the clergy could claim immunity in a civil court
on a felony charge.
|
Chattels |
Property and possessions. |
Counterfeiting
|
Made in imitation of that which is genuine; imitated, forged.
|
‘The dark
figure’ |
The number of unreported crimes. |
Exacted
|
Called upon to appear in court. |
Eyre court |
Court of itinerant justices who traveled
in circuit. |
False presentment
|
A mistake. |
Familiar |
The devil’s less important demons
who took the form of an animal. |
Feudal |
Land given ultimately by the king,
in exchange for services. |
The ‘first
finder’ |
The first person who found the body.
|
Guardian of the
Peace |
An earlier name for a Justice of
the Peace. |
Headboroughs |
A deputy constable. |
Heresy |
Holding a religious belief contrary
to that of any religious system considered as orthodox. |
Highwaymen |
One who frequents the highway for the purpose of robbing passengers;
esp. one who does this on horseback.
|
Hue and Cry |
Loud cry made by those pursuing a
suspected wrongdoer. |
Hulks |
Disused warships used as prisons.
|
Hundred |
A district or area of a county. |
Impotent poor |
People too old, disabled or sick to
work. |
JP |
Justice of the Peace. |
Jury |
A body of people sworn to render a ‘verdict’ based
on questions officially submitted to them.
|
Juvenile delinquency
|
Young offenders. |
Multiple stores
|
Department stores. |
The Ordinary |
Prison Chaplain. |
Outlawed |
Put outside the law – banished and exiled.
|
Over mighty subjects |
Lords who used their private armies
to terrorise local villages. |
Pestilence |
Plague. |
Petty Constables
|
A local official elected to arrest
criminals and to carry out instructions passed down form the Justice
of the Peace or the County Assize Justices. |
Poaching |
Stealing wild creatures –
birds, animals or fish, from those who own the land or water they
live in. |
The posse comitatus |
"The force of the county".
A body of men raised by the king’s county official, the sheriff,
to chase a criminal. |
Recidivists |
People who offended repeatedly.
|
Sanctuary |
Safety and protection given by
the church. |
Shaming punishment
|
A punishment which humiliated the
offender: example; ducking stool and the stocks. |
Sheriff |
King’s official in charge
of a county or shire. |
A social crime
|
An activity which the government
has defined as a crime but the population at large, does not agree
that it is a crime. |
Statutes |
A law or decree made by a sovereign or a legislative authority.
|
Sturdy rogues/beggars
|
People who could work, but did
not. |
Tenant in chief
|
Someone who held land directly
from the king. |
Tithing |
A group of ten people. |
Treason |
Trying to overthrow the government.
|
Vagabonds |
Those people who did not have a
regular job or a fixed home. |
Ward |
An area of a town.
|
Witchcraft |
The use of supernatural means for
harmful or evil ends. |