Fetch the thumb screws

In 1991 Kevin Costner gave us his version of the legend of Robin Hood, but sadly, it was, like earlier versions, a complete myth. The legends passed down are just that, legends.

So what was crime and punishment like in Medieval England? Surprisingly until the Norman Invasion of 1066, remarkably peaceful. Many Anglo Saxon towns policed themselves and violence, and crime was low. There was even a system called compensation and it was a money maker. Say you hit your neighbor with a sword and cut off his ear, that was 12 shillings. Damage his nose, 6 shillings, mangle or cut off his foot or damage his eye, 50 shillings. Knock out his four front teeth and you'd get dinged 6 shillings per tooth and four shillings for each after that going down in price the more teeth you removed from his head.

We often hear of the "Merry Men" who followed Robin Hood on his adventures. Yes, there were gangs, but none were that merry. One of of gangs roaming about the countryside, terrorizing nobleman and peasant alike were actually a noble family of brothers named Folville and they were about as far removed from Robin Hood as one could get. Robberies, murder, pilaging and raping, these brothers set the stage for crime.

After William the Conqueror came ashore and reformed the legal code, things got harder and it wasn't as easy to go hunting in the forest for something for dinner anymore either. The penalty for poaching under Richard I was removal of the eyes and testicles....Ouch!

Actually being an outlaw was a rather serious thing and something most people were loathe to become as it was the equivalent of being banished, and it meant a life always on the run, and if you were to get caught, you would be forced to stand trial. Failure to meet your court appearance three times would get you sent to prison, and how you were treated there depended on how much money you had.

Most of us remember the Sherrif of Nottingham, in the legend of Robin Hood as a very bad man, a man driven by greed, lust for power and lust for the fair maid Marian. But in truth, a sheriff spent so much time dealing with bureaucartic matters it left little time to go searching Sherwood Forest.

Think America in the late 20th and early 21st centuries was letigious? It's nothing compared to England during the Middle Ages. The legal system was overloaded with case after case of people suing other people for the most mundane things imaginable, like a hedgerow that over grew into your neighbors yard.

Seriously muck it up, and you'd best be on your way to the town of Beverly, which was known for being a sanctuary for criminals. But that was only good for forty days when you would be forced to leave the country.

There is so much to touch on, but the rest of the documentary covers that, so hopefully you'll stick it out and watch this, the seventh installment of Medieval Lives.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9GsccLoLvY&feature=PlayList&p=GXxQQqRaQHA