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Religion was important in England from c.1000 to c.1500. The Church and religious beliefs played an important role in law and order. Clergy were often the most educated members of the community. It was often the responsibility of the Church to decide whether an individual was guilty of a crime. This had a significant impact on definitions of crime.

Offering sanctuary

A criminal who was trying to escape capture could go to a church to claim sanctuary.

• Sanctuary was only available in important churches - often those on a pilgrimage route or those linked to an important religious event.
• A bell was rung to alert the people in the village that the criminal was in sanctuary.
• Once inside the church, the criminal was under the Church’s protection and the sheriff was not allowed to arrest them.
• The criminal had 40 days to either attend trial or leave the country. If they chose to leave the country, they had to walk barefoot while carrying a cross to the nearest port. There they would leave by ship.
• Anyone who did not leave within 40 days was considered an outlaw.
• Offering sanctuary ended in 1536, during the reign of Henry VIII.

Church courts

Church courts were introduced in Norman England. All churchmen who were accused of a crime were tried in a Church court, which was overseen by a local bishop. Church courts also heard a range of moral crimes, such as failure to attend church, drunkenness and playing games on a Sunday.

The punishments given by a Church court were not as harsh as those given by a manor or royal court. The Church courts did not sentence people to death. Instead they used punishments such as forced pilgrimage, confession and apology at Mass.

Benefit of the clergy

Although the right to be tried in a Church court was intended for priests, it was often extended to anyone who was connected to the Church. To claim ‘benefit of the clergy’, an individual had to read a verse from Psalm 51 in the Bible. In medieval England it was only priests and churchmen who could read. However, non-churchmen were able to get around this by learning a verse from the Bible, which they would recite. This became known as the ‘neck verse’ because it often saved people’s neck from the hangman’s noose.