Elizabethan Era
The Golden Age
From fashion defining what your social status is to being punished for being in love. The Golden age has inspired us in many ways with its wise leaders. magnificant writers and bold people of its time. All this influnce is from The Golden Age or Elizabethan Era. The Elizabethan Era (1558-1603) was a time of cruel punishments, riveting people, such as Arabella Stuart, and fashion statements.
Crimes in the Elizabethan Era were not taken lightly, and the punishment was usually meant to teach the public a lesson. Common crimes such as theft, adultery, forgers, and fraud could result in a death sentence. Even stealing bird eggs out of a bird nest could result in death (Elizabethan Crime). The Elizabethan government soon made begging a crime. If someone was caught begging , as their punishment they would be beaten until they reached the rocks that marked the town parish boundary (Elizabethan Crime).
To be hung was the most common punishment for a crime, but other methods were used for punishment such as being burned alive. The criminal was put on a stake for the excruciating death. Sometimes the executioners showed mercy on their victims by placing gunpowder at the base of the stake making death quicker and less painful (Elizabethan Crime). The only alternative to the agonising pain of being burned was to be killed by suffocation though smoke inhalation and lack of oxygen.
Since the punishments were used to teach not only the criminal but the public as well, these punishments were often shown to the public. The crowds would range from lower classes and up. A common one to see was beheading. The criminal would have his head chopped off in front of the crowd. The head would be lifted by its hair and shown to its own body, and then the crowd to be reminded of the consequences.
One of the most dreadful punishments for a criminal was the combination of being hung, drawn and quartered. This punishment is described by William Harrison as: “
From fashion defining what your social status is to being punished for being in love. The Golden age has inspired us in many ways with its wise leaders. magnificant writers and bold people of its time. All this influnce is from The Golden Age or Elizabethan Era. The Elizabethan Era (1558-1603) was a time of cruel punishments, riveting people, such as Arabella Stuart, and fashion statements.
Crimes in the Elizabethan Era were not taken lightly, and the punishment was usually meant to teach the public a lesson. Common crimes such as theft, adultery, forgers, and fraud could result in a death sentence. Even stealing bird eggs out of a bird nest could result in death (Elizabethan Crime). The Elizabethan government soon made begging a crime. If someone was caught begging , as their punishment they would be beaten until they reached the rocks that marked the town parish boundary (Elizabethan Crime).
To be hung was the most common punishment for a crime, but other methods were used for punishment such as being burned alive. The criminal was put on a stake for the excruciating death. Sometimes the executioners showed mercy on their victims by placing gunpowder at the base of the stake making death quicker and less painful (Elizabethan Crime). The only alternative to the agonising pain of being burned was to be killed by suffocation though smoke inhalation and lack of oxygen.
Since the punishments were used to teach not only the criminal but the public as well, these punishments were often shown to the public. The crowds would range from lower classes and up. A common one to see was beheading. The criminal would have his head chopped off in front of the crowd. The head would be lifted by its hair and shown to its own body, and then the crowd to be reminded of the consequences.
One of the most dreadful punishments for a criminal was the combination of being hung, drawn and quartered. This punishment is described by William Harrison as: “