Anglo-Saxon Capital Punishment Laws

The Anglo-Saxon legal system functioned as a combination of local custom and royal decree similar to many other systems throughout medieval Europe (Davis and Fouracre 1986, seen in Reynolds 2009:8). Evidence of law codes prior to the 10th Century AD is sparse since law codes were less frequently written down before then (Davis and Fouracre 1986, seen in Reynolds 2009:8). The following is by no means an exhaustive list but is meant to give a general impression of the types of crimes that resulted in capital punishment.

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Capital punishment first appears in the laws of Ine (I 5) likely produced between AD 688-92 (Wormald 1999, as seen in Reynolds 2009:23, 251). Crimes resulting in capital punishment included: fighting in the king’s house, traveling unannounced, and being a runaway slave (I 6, 20, and 24, as seen in Reynolds 2009:251)

• 6. If anyone fights in the king's house, he shall forfeit all his property, and it shall be for the king to decide whether he shall be put to death or not.
• 20. If a man from afar, or a stranger, travels through a wood of the highway and neither shouts nor blows a horn, he shall be assumed to be a thief, and as such may be either slain or put to ransom.
• 24. If an Englishman living in penal slavery absconds, he shall be hanged, and nothing shall be paid to his lord.​​

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The exact date of the law codes of AEthelstan is unknown but they are likely later than Ine.​ AEthelstan's codes contain a variety of laws concerning capital punishment. Individuals over the age of twelve caught in the act of stealing were subject to execution (II As 1, as seen in Reynolds 2009:24, 253). Later the minimum age for the death penalty was raised to fifteen (VI As 12.1, as seen in Reynolds 2009:254). AEthelstan IV outlines various death penalties for thieves (IV As 6, 6.5, and 6.7, as seen in Reynolds 2009:254)

• II.1 First, no thief shall be spared, who is seized in the act, if he is over 12 years and [if the value of the stolen goods is] more than 8 pence.
• IV. 6 And if there is a thief who has committed theft since the council was held at Thundersfield, and is still engaged in thieving, he shall in no way be judged worthy of life, neither by claiming the right of protection nor by making monetary payment, if the charge is truly substantiated against him—whether it is a freeman or a slave, a noble or commoner, or, if it is a woman, whether she is a mistress or a maid—whosoever it may be, whether taken in the act or not taken in the act, if it is known for a certainty—that is, if he shall not make a statement of denial—or if the charge is proved in the ordeal, or if his guilt becomes known in any other way.
• IV. 6.5. In the case of a male slave, sixty and twenty slaves shall go and stone him. And if any of them fails three times to hit him, he shall himself be scourged three times.
• IV. 6.7. In the case of female slave who commits an act of theft anywhere except against her master or mistress, sixty and twenty female slaves shall go and bring three logs each and burn that one slave; and they shall pay as many pennies as male slaves would have to pay, or suffer scourging as has been stated above with reference to male slaves.
• VI. 12.1 Now again the king has been addressing his councillors at Whittlebury, and has sent word to the archbishop by Bishop Theodred, that he thinks it cruel to put to death such young people and for such slight offences, as he has learnt is the practice everywhere. He has declared now that both he himself and those with whom he has discussed the matter are of the opinion that no one should be slain who is under 15 years old, unless he is minded to defend himself, or tries to escape and refuses to give himself up. Then, he shall be struck down whether his offence be great or small—whichever it may be. But if he will give himself up he shall be put in prison, as was declared at Grately; and he shall be liberated on the same conditions [as were laid down there].

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The law codes of Edmund promulgated  at London in AD 942/944-6 refer not to capital punishment but to crimes that result in exclusion from burial in consecrated ground (I Edm 1 and 4, as seen in Reynolds 2009:256).

• I. 1. This is their first injunction: that those in holy orders whose duty is to teach God's people by the example of their life should observe the celibacy befitting their estate, whether they be men or women. If they fail to do so, they shall incur that which is ordained in the canon, and they shall forfeit their worldly possessions and burial in consecrated ground.
• I. 4. He who has intercourse with a nun, unless he make amends, shall not be allowed burial in consecrated ground any more than a homicide. We have decreed the same with regard to adultery.

Several laws from Aethlred dating to before AD 1013 refer specifically to decapitation as the form of capital punishment (I Ath 1.6 and 2.1; II Ath 6, as seen in Reynolds 2009:257-8)

• I. 1.6. And on the second occasion (ordeal) he (a freeman) shall not be able to make any amends except by his head.
• I.2.1. And on the second occasion (ordeal) he (a slave) shall not be able to make any amends except by his head.
• II. 6. If the breach of the truce takes place inside a town, the burghers themselves shall go and take the slayers alive or dead—the nearest relatives [of the slain men] shall take head for head. If they fail to do so, the ealdorman shall act; if he fails to do so, the king shall act; if he fails, that earldom shall be excluded from the provisions of this truce. (return to Walkington Wold study)