During the Renaissance period many tragic and brutal events happened in the crime and punishment era. People committed crimes and there were many different ways of paying their consequences. Members of the town would all come together and watch as these actions were taking place. Today, crime and punishment is nowhere near as bad or brutal as it is today.Crime during the renaissance period led to unbearable punishments that changed some of the peoples lives forever. To start off, there were many degrees of crime that led to punishment. Different crimes paired with different punishments. There were minor crimes and major crimes and they were both dealt with in different ways. Different types …show more content…
The most common crimes committed by the nobility was murder, witchcraft, spying, and rebellion. If anyone of the nobility committed one of these crimes it would result in serious torture and punishment that will be discussed later on. Moving on to the next set of citizens there are the commoners. The most common crimes committed by them were theft, fraud, begging, and adultery. Even the smallest of stealing bird eggs could result in a death sentence. (Alchin). Many different crimes lead to many different punishments during the Renaissance. It all depended on which class you were in and how minor or major the crime was. Theft was a big crime that was committed and was the most common out of all the classes. Thefts were often stocked and whipped as their punishment. There were forms of violence extended from verbal insults to assault and murder (Brackett). Crimes that were against …show more content…
During the renaissance there were various ways of punishing and torturing citizens who committed their crimes. The “Greatest Punishment” was to be hung until you were half dead then taken down and quartered alive (“Crime and Punishment”). A popular way to get punished was punishment by burning. They would place the victims in a room and light all around it on fire leading them to inhale and die by lack of oxygen. A famous way of punishment by the upper class was by beheading. The executor's would often take an axe and give several swings until the head was fully off the body. Then even some of the heads were placed on the stakes and displayed in public areas such as the London Bridge (Alchin). Other minor punishments were being pressed to death by huge weights or by stretching the victims body.
Lastly, the impact on civilians. Civilians in this time era were very shocked to say the least at all of these graphic and horrible punishments. Some of the civilians agreed with the methods and some did not. It was all on their preference and what they thought was right. The punishments and executions were witnessed by hundreds of people (Alchin). The lower class found these events exciting and even the nobility found it entertaining to watch as well. It became almost like a ritual to come together as a town to watch these events take place