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more questions (fwd)




Poster: clevin@ripco.com (Craig Levin)

Kari Kyst:

> Here are some other questions I have if anyone has answers :)
> 1)  Other than stocks, pillories,  hangings and decapitation, what other
> tortures were publically used
> during the reign of Henry VII through Eliz I?

In England, or in other places? England's not exactly a
torture-prone kingdom. On the other hand, England had trial by
jury-but you had to _want_ it. If you didn't consent to trial by
jury, you could be "convinced" by a treatment known as peine
forte et dure. This was not exactly done in public. Essentially,
they made the accused lie on a table, put a board on top of him,
and piled weights on him until he agreed that trial by jury was a
good idea.

> 2)  How were women of all class levels treated during this period?  Virtual
> slaves, decoration or as an intellegent human?

As usual, trying to get something as nebulous as the status of
all women is something you can't do. The power and liberty
available to the milkmaid are going to be very different from the
power and liberty available to the milkmaid's employer. By and
large, women were second-class citizens, in the eyes of the law,
but, as anyone familiar with the name of Bess of Hardwick Hall
can attest, determination and gall will often overcome the law.

> 3)  How many gaurds do you SUPPOSE a prisoner in the Tower of London would have
> assigned to them if they were allowed to roam about?  Or, would they have been
> given no gaurds and been trusted to stay within the Tower?

The Tower was, actually, just another royal residence. In theory,
it still is, just like Westminster Palace (Halls of Parliament).
It was, back then, just another reasonably secure place. If a
person got chucked into the Tower, there's a strong likelihood that
they would have been watched-the Tower, when it was used as a
prison, was used for important people, who'd have had people
outside willing to help them.

In light of your other questions, might I recommend Rowse's
Eminent Elizabethans as further reading material. It was not
unusual for a promient person in court to spend a night or two in
the Tower.

Pedro
-- 
http://pages.ripco.com:8080/~clevin/index.html 
clevin@ripco.com
Craig Levin
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