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Were the middle ages lawless and violent

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Introduction

Many people believed that the middle ages were lawless and violent, whereas others believe that there was law and justice in the middle ages. In this short essay I will evaluate both sides of the argument and by using an array sources, come to my own conclusion about the whether or not the middle ages were lawless and violent. The middle ages are considered to be lawless and violent for a range of different reasons. The punishments of the time were cruel and horrid. Many women were suspected of witchcraft, this was because of the significance of religion in daily life. People believed that due witchcraft, their crops failed or some other tragedy happened. ...read more.

Middle

There were also the crusades which were a series of military campaigns during the time of Medieval England against the Muslims of the Middle East. In 1076, the Muslims had captured Jerusalem - the most holy of holy place in Christianity so Pope Urban II with the aid of French and Italian Knights started a series of military campaigns to capture the Holy Land. There were nine crusades which cost Christendom several millions of lives (from 2,000,000 to 6,000,000 according to different estimates). Also the struggle for power between nations caused a lot of war because more land meant more power, and gaining land meant invasions. The middle Ages were not lawless and violent because 7/9 of crimes committed were non violent robberies. ...read more.

Conclusion

The policing was left to villagers, constables were chosen from leading villagers. Coroners and sheriffs investigated major crimes and brought them before the royal judges. The royal courts held fair trails where juries whether or not the offender was guilty. Special cases were referred to the monarchy who ultimately decided the outcome. To conclude, I think the middles ages were violent but not lawless. The violence was evident in the punishments which were designed to cruel and slow to increase the suffering. The amount of murder also implies that the middle ages were violent and half of the murders were committed because of arguments. The middle ages weren't lawless as there was policing and fair trails throughout medieval Britain, some of whom were even referred on to the monarchy. ?? ?? ?? ?? Were the Middle Ages lawless and violent? Zain Tahir ...read more.

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