Forgery and the End of the ‘Bloody Code’ in Early Nineteenth-Century England
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8959148 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Phil Handler (University of Leicester, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2005 |
| Volume | 48 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 683-702 |
| Publication date | 2005-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Historical Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0018-246X • E-ISSN: 1469-5103 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0018246x05004620 |
| OpenAlex | W2132524833 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 10 |
Penal reformers in the 1810s and 1820s condemned the English criminal law as a ‘bloody code’: a monolithic mass of draconian statutes inherited from a former, less civilized age. This overwhelmingly negative image underpinned the dramatic and unexpected repeal of the capital statutes in the 1830s and survived to define a whole era of criminal justice history. This article explores the conditions that enabled the reformers to establish such a powerful critique of the law in such a short space of time. It contends that a key to their success was their ability to exploit contemporary scandals to argue that the law had lost touch with public opinion. Forgery aroused more controversy than any other species of capital crime in the 1820s and became the focal point for opposition to the capital laws. By analysing how reformers used the scandal surrounding forgery to foster the notion that the law was a ‘bloody code’, this article presents a new perspective on the early nineteenth-century penal reform debate
Capital (architecture · Criminal Code · Criminal justice · Criminal law · Opposition (politics · Political science · Politics · Repeal · Statute · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Historical and Scientific Studies · Historical Economic and Social Studies · History · Law
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| Unique citing works | 10 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,53 |
| Citation span | 2007 - 2024 (18) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 10 |