Street+Fighting+and+Justice

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Street Fighting and Justice


 * ﻿The image of the night on horseback has captured our imagination. Most of Shakespeare’s written street fighting passages had involved a knight on horseback in some way, shape or form.
 * Knight is an old Anglo-saxon word that means servant, or boy, Knights were usually the ones to engage in hand to hand combat, known as street fighting.
 * [] (Check out this podcast for some more cool information!)
 * Fights were common in the streets of London because it was common fashion of the day for men to be able to carry daggers and swords. Also, since water was not of high quality back then, a lot of people used beer as a substitute for water. This would lead to many many people in the streets of London carrying daggers, swords, and being drunk and full of themselves. As you can see, this wouldn't have lead to a happy ending for most people.
 * The italian culture had a lot of influence with the fact of street fighting ans the weapons that were mostly chosen to use were usually those of italian origion.
 * The Italians also wrote a book describing all the methods of a successful street fight.
 * Attitude that happened towards the crime of street fighting (yes, it was a crime), there was am almost paranoid concern for order in society, and a close association between crime and sin.
 * When people committed crimes in Elizabethan times in England, there were many different forms of punishment that could take place. Political prisioners were imprisoned in the tower of London, even though their quarters were usually quite comfortable. Nobles condemned to death were usually beheaded, and the speeches they gave before death left people in awe because they were so full of courage. Common people that committed crimes or firefighting were usually hanged, drawn, or quartered.
 * A cool fact is that in most of shakesperes plays, urban crime occured very litte.
 * Elizebethian people were not shy of ligitation. Much of what was written into Shakespere's plays came from records of law suits.

Please take a look at this video about Rapiers and Elizebethian Street Fighting! media type="youtube" key="dvoNQgy2yEQ" height="315" width="420" align="left"

This information was collected and researched by; Jacob Ponulak _ ORDEAL BY FIRE: The accused person had to hold a red hot iron bar and walk three paces. His hands were then bandaged up and left for three days, if their hands were starting to heal they were innocent otherwise they were guilty. 

ORDEAL BY WATER: The person was tied up and thrown into the ocean, if they floated they were innocent if they sunk, they were guilty. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 80%; text-align: left;"> <span style="color: #2049e3; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 150%;">ORDEAL BY COMBAT: This was normally used for the nobility. The noble who was accused would fight with the person who accused him/her. The winner was right, the loser was most probably dead by the end of the figh t. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 80%; text-align: left;">

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 80%; text-align: left;">This information was collected and researched by; Alex Varas _

__ Nobles condemned to death were usually executed by beheading __

__ Political prisoners were frequently imprisoned in the Tower of London __

__ Many political corruptions __

__ They would be hung until they were half dead and then they would, be quartered alive __

__ If they committed a crime they would be hung __

__This information was collected and researched by; Michael Leone.__ __


 * 1) There was a lot of political corruption.
 * 2) Religion and law was not separate making many decisions unfair.
 * 3) Justice was based on what the bible said what was right and wrong.
 * 4) Execution was done mainly by beheading
 * 5) Many philosophers that were wrong were thrown into the dungeon for false information.

Religion controlled most of the 1600’s. They gave people hope so that caused most the rules based on the religion. This causes a biases information and gave the high priests corruption to cause a horrible justice system. The people they executed a lot were philosophers because the information that was wrong gave people a false sense of information causing a stir up in the nations.

This information was collected and researched by; Mark Wimsatt.


 * <span style="color: #e93232; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">Hamlet was bassed off of violence during the his time period - []
 * <span style="color: #e93232; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">Tournaments provided a show of national unity, military power and the wealth of the monarchy - []
 * <span style="color: #e93232; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">More money was spent on tournaments in the Elizabethan period than on masques, plays, or pageants. []
 * <span style="color: #e93232; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">The tournament, introduced into England from France []
 * <span style="color: #e93232; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">legalized by Richard I in 1194 []

This information was researched and collected by; Kevin Meizans

. Information for how the Romeo and Juliet Cartoon relates to our research;
 * Street Fighting
 * Stopped by Law
 * Sometimes, street fights would get so bad and be so filled with hate, that they sometimes lead to opponents killing each other.
 * There were quick marriages
 * Priests and the Church were used to make marriages official, much like they are now.
 * Romeo falls in love fast.
 * Banishment for killing people in street fighting.
 * Romeo gets advice on what to do from the priest.
 * Fake death by poisoning.