Methods of Punishment

Early Middle Ages (c.500-1066)

Punishments were often related to the severity of the crime and the offender’s status in society.
Physical violence and retribution were common, including mutilation or death.
Evidence of compensation fines known as wergild - this was paid to the victim or their family as a form of recompense.
Public punishments were used to humiliate the offender and deter others from committing similar crimes.

Late Middle Ages (1066-1500)

Punishments became more extensive and systematic with the influence of Norman law.
Introduction of the Ordeal by Fire and Ordeal by Water for determining guilt - this was based on the belief that God’s intervention would reveal the truth.
Punishments for serious crimes included hanging, drawing and quartering.
Pilgrimages, a religious journey to a sacred place, could be imposed as a form of punishment for certain crimes.

Early Modern Period (1500-1700)

Punishment for witchcraft often involved public executions by burning.
Crimes against the state such as treason were met with harsh punishments like being hanged, drawn and quartered.
Lesser crimes, such as theft or vagrancy, could result in time in the stocks or pillory for public humiliation.
Indentured servitude, or transportation to the colonies, emerged as a form of punishment for various crimes.

Industrial Revolution (1700-1900)

Capital punishments or death penalty was still applied for serious crimes like murder and treason.
Transportation to Australia became a common punishment for convicted criminals.
Introduction of prison sentences and the idea of reform through punishment.
End of public punishments and begins the period of prison expansion.

20th Century Present (1900-Present)

Abolition of capital punishment for murder in 1965.
Shift towards rehabilitative measures and away from harsh, punitive methods.
Introduce of community service and probation as alternatives to imprisonment.
Restorative justice programs increasingly recognised as a form of punishment and reconciliation process between offenders and victims.
Increasing use of technology in punishments, such as electronic tagging, and surveillance in prisons.