New crimes in Norman England

In 1066 William, Duke of Normandy, invaded England. After his victory at the Battle of Hastings, he became known as King William I. This marked the end of Anglo-Saxon England and the beginning of Norman England.

New crimes

William had been tough on crime in Normandy as he believed that all people in his land should be protected from crime.
Instead of seeing crimes as acts against individual people, William saw unlawful acts as challenges to the peace that he was responsible for ensuring.
After becoming king, William faced from the Anglo-Saxon people. He wanted to establish his power and confirm his authority. Norman soldiers

William continued with many Anglo-Saxon laws. However, he did introduce some new laws in Norman England:

Law	Description
Murdrum	Norman soldiers were not welcomed by the Anglo-Saxon people in England. William introduced a law saying that if a Norman was killed and the murderer was not captured and executed, then the people of that region had to collectively pay a murdrum fine.
Forest laws	The cutting down of trees was forbidden. People in the forest were not allowed to own dogs or a bow and arrow. People were also not allowed to hunt deer and were punished by having their first two fingers cut off so that they could no longer use a bow and arrow. Repeat offenders were blinded. The forest laws were not popular because activities that were allowed on common land in Anglo-Saxon England were made illegal. However, some people still broke the forest laws because they felt they were unfair and they saw them as more of a social crime. Therefore, local communities often didn’t report people who hunted or collected firewood from the forest.
Women	Norman laws were harsher on women than the laws of the past. Women had been treated equally to men in Anglo-Saxon England.

Law	Murdrum
Description	Norman soldiers were not welcomed by the Anglo-Saxon people in England. William introduced a law saying that if a Norman was killed and the murderer was not captured and executed, then the people of that region had to collectively pay a murdrum fine.

Law	Forest laws
Description	The cutting down of trees was forbidden. People in the forest were not allowed to own dogs or a bow and arrow. People were also not allowed to hunt deer and were punished by having their first two fingers cut off so that they could no longer use a bow and arrow. Repeat offenders were blinded. The forest laws were not popular because activities that were allowed on common land in Anglo-Saxon England were made illegal. However, some people still broke the forest laws because they felt they were unfair and they saw them as more of a social crime. Therefore, local communities often didn’t report people who hunted or collected firewood from the forest.

Law

Forest laws

Description

The cutting down of trees was forbidden. People in the forest were not allowed to own dogs or a bow and arrow. People were also not allowed to hunt deer and were punished by having their first two fingers cut off so that they could no longer use a bow and arrow. Repeat offenders were blinded. The forest laws were not popular because activities that were allowed on common land in Anglo-Saxon England were made illegal. However, some people still broke the forest laws because they felt they were unfair and they saw them as more of a social crime. Therefore, local communities often didn’t report people who hunted or collected firewood from the forest.

Law	Women
Description	Norman laws were harsher on women than the laws of the past. Women had been treated equally to men in Anglo-Saxon England.

“Women’s authority nil. Let her in all things be subject to the rule of men.”

— A Norman legal text

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Crime and punishment in medieval England, c.1000-c.1500 - EdexcelNew crimes in Norman England