The criminals could be jailed for indefinite periods of time, or executed depending on the severity of their crime.

Without police officers or law regulators, medieval towns had high crime rates. Because of this, it was thought that the only way to instill good habits in people was to threaten them with harsh punishments.

When a crime was committed, the criminal had to go through different ordeals (refer to slide #4) to prove or disprove their innocence.

If one was guilty, they were punished in a plethora of barbaric ways that were often disproportionate to their crime.

Humiliation and torture were popular forms of discipline.