Crime and Punishment Society

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In the Middle Ages, the most serious crimes were considered to be murder, incest, counterfeiting money, witchcraft, robbery, and major theft. Lesser but still officially addressed offences included disorderly conduct, public drunkenness, fraud, non-payment of debts, slander, and defamation.
Some offences against public order were punished by pillorying—public display and ridicule in the stocks in the town square. Worse than the pillorying itself was the loss of honor for the convicted, which would follow them and their family for the rest of their lives.
For capital crimes, punishment included hanging (the most common execution for men, especially for repeat offenders) or beheading (reserved for nobility). For robbery-murder, execution by breaking on the wheel was used, leaving the body displayed as a warning. Other execution methods included burning (for heretics and counterfeiters), tearing apart by horses, quartering, or impalement. Women were most often drowned or, as punishment for infanticide, buried alive.
Some offenses could be redeemed. The fine would go to the city treasury or partly as compensation to the injured party. Even murder could be redeemed if the perpetrator compensated the survivors and erected a reconciliation cross.
A special type of punishment was branding, considered one of the harshest penalties. Branded individuals had difficulty finding “respectable” work, as they had a permanent reminder on their body that they had been involved in a crime.
The nobility was practically untouchable, even if they committed serious crimes. Only the king could condemn and punish them (which often did happen).

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