Officers of the Law
Overview
Para1During the early modern period, England had various types of law enforcement and enforcers.
An officer’s reach of power during the 16th and 17th centuries depended mainly on
their rank. The title of sheriff, undersheriff, bailiff, or justice of the peace gave
these men charge of law and order, keeping town and community peace, and other various
regulations within their local jurisdiction.
Sheriff
Para2Sheriff was by far the most recognized law enforcer during England’s 16th and 17th
centuries. During the reign of William I the Conqueror, starting in 1066, the ecclesiastical
and secular courts were separated. This left the sheriff as the head of office in
secular law enforcement. The sheriff led military forces, investigated criminal accusations,
and arrested or detained the people accused of crime. The sheriff was also responsible
to truthfully represent all information regarding the region or county which they
oversaw to the Crown and its representatives.
Undersheriff
Para3The undersheriff was second in command directly after the sheriff. Their job was to
oversee law enforcement issues if the sheriff was unavailable. Like the sheriff, the
undersheriff represented the Crown and delivered all relevant information regarding
the county which they served to the Crown if need arose.
Bailiff
Para4When the role of bailiff was created, the title was respected. But because their primary
responsibility was collecting fares and fees (taxes), the reputation of bailiffs declined
over time. Additionally, some bailffs worked privately for a nobleman, to oversee
estate land or property and accompanying buildings. Outside of property and personal
roles, bailiffs also oversaw the protection of those in court while the court was
in session and assisted with legal processes.
Justice of the Peace
Para5The justice of the peace was an appointed position from the Crown for a county. It
was a rank given mainly to local gentlemen. They primarily oversaw small criminal
cases in a magistrate’s court or petty session as the need arose, delivering larger
matters to the judges of the assizes or the quarter sessions (see below for more on
these courts). The position arose from the Justice of the Peace Act of 1361 in England
and Wales. Their duties included:
keeping of the peace
restraining offenders, rioters, and barators (“brawlers”)
pursuing, arresting, taking, and chastising offenders, rioters, etc., according to
their wrongdoings
Quarter Sessions
Para6In order to manage more major civil and criminal cases, counties held an assize court
session quarterly, sometimes in cooperation with neighboring counties. The introduction
of these court sessions began in 1327 under the rule of Edward III and were not abolished
until 1971. Each quarter session was overseen by two justices of the peace and a clerk
of the peace. During these hearings, the justices of the peace heard the evidence
regarding the accused and assigned punishments in consultation with a jury. All cases
reviewed during these sessions were non-capital crimes, ones not punished by the death penalty, such as theft, fraud, and assault.
Assizes
Para7The courts of assize dealt with capital crimes such as murder, burglary, highway robbery,
forgery, and rape, and with major civil cases regarding property and inheritance.
They were overseen by judges who came from outside the county, usually from London,
on a prescribed geographic circuit. They were held twice a year in provincial towns
to help spare litigants the expense and difficulty of traveling to London.
Examples in Shakespeare
Para8Officers of the law populate many plays of the period, including those by Shakespeare.
Para9Shakespeare’s Histories:
Henry IV—sheriff, justice of the peace (Robert Shallow)
Henry V—sheriff
History of King John—sheriff (minimal stage character)
Richard III—Sheriff of Wiltshire
King Lear—officers
Para10Shakespeare’s Comedies:
The Comedy of Errors—officer
Twelfth Night—officers
The Merry Wives of Windsor—Robert Shallow
Much Ado About Nothing—chief of police (Dogberry)
Para11The example of Dogberry is an interesting one. He is a chief of police in the play
Much Ado About Nothing. Often in Shakespeare’s plays, the role of officer helps the continuation of the
plot. However, Dogberry is not used as a plot device to help the more important characters
develop; instead, he is used as a tool for humor. Dogberry’s regular use of malapropism, the use of an incorrect word in place of another, similar sounding word) elevates
the humorous aspect of the play as well as helps to increase audience interaction.
Key Print Sources
Hartley A.J. Introduction: The Shakespeare Police. In: The Shakespearean Dramaturg. Palgrave Macmillan, 5 Nov. 2005.
Zurcher, Andrew. Shakespeare and Law. The Arden Shakespeare. 2009.
Key Online Sources
Best, Michael.
Officers of the Law: The Arrest.Shakespeare’s Life and Times. Internet Shakespeare Editions. University of Victoria. https://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/Library/SLT/history/crime%20and%20the%20law/officers.html. Accessed 12 Sep. 2018.
Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica.
Bailiff.Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 12 Apr. 2018. https://www.britannica.com/topic/bailiff. Accessed 19 Nov. 2018.
Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica.
Justice of the Peace.Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 12 Apr. 2018. https://www.britannica.com/topic/justice-of-the-peace. 19 November 2018.
Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica.
Quarter Sessions.Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 25 Jan. 2018. https://www.britannica.com/topic/quarter-sessions. Accessed 19 Nov. 2018.
Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica.
Sheriff.Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 11 Apr. 2018. https://www.britannica.com/topic/sheriff. Accessed 19 Nov. 2018.
Hasted, Edward.
General history: The Office of Sheriff.The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: vol 1. Canterbury, W Bristow, 1797, pp. 168–176. British History Online. 20 Nov. 2018. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol1/pp168-176. Accessed 19 Nov. 2018.
Justices of the Peace Act 1361.Legislation.gov.uk. 15 Jul. 2017. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/aep/Edw3/34/1. Accessed 19 Nov. 2018.
William Shakespeare – Introduction—Law and Justice.Shakespearean Criticism, Ed. Kathy D. Darrow, vol. 49. Gale Cengage, 2000. eNotes.com. https://www.enotes.com/topics/william-shakespeare/criticism/law-and-justice/introduction. Accessed 13 Sep. 2018.
Prosopography
Alyssa Hubbert
Alyssa Hubbert was a student at Utah Valley University.
Kate McPherson
Kate McPherson is Professor of English and Honors Program Director at Utah Valley
University (Orem, UT, USA). In 2015, she began working to redevelop Shakespeare’s Life and Times, created by Michael Best, into the Early Modern England Encyclopedia. Her other publications include commentary on Pericles and The Comedy of Errors for the New Oxford Shakespeare (2016); the co-edited volumes Stages of Engagement: Drama and Religion in Post-Reformation England with James Mardock (Duquesne University Press, 2014) and Shakespeare Expressed: Page, Stage, and Classroom in Shakespeare and His Contemporaries, with Kathryn M. Moncrief and Sarah Enloe (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press,
2013). With Kathryn M. Moncrief, Kate has also two edited collections, Performing Pedagogy in Early Modern England: Gender, Instruction, and Performance (Ashgate, 2011) and Performing Maternity in Early Modern England (Ashgate 2008). She has also published numerous articles on early modern maternity
in scholarly journals. Kate participated in the 2008 National Endowment for the Humanities
Institute,
Shakespeare’s Blackfriars: The Study, the Stage, the Classroom,at the American Shakespeare Center. She also served as Play Seminar Director, a public humanities position, for the Utah Shakespeare Festival in 2017 and 2018.
Leah Hamby
Leah Hamby is the primary encoder for the Early Modern England Encyclopedia. Aside from encoding, she also works as an editor for the project and contributed
several articles of her own. She has been working on the EMEE since February 2023. As of February 2026, she is soon to graduate with honours from
Utah Valley University with a major in history and a minor in creative writing. Her
other work with the LEMDO program includes remediating William Kemp’s Kemp’s Nine Day’s Wonder for the Digital Renaissance Editions.
Michael Best
Michael Best is Professor Emeritus at the University of Victoria, BC. He founded the
Internet Shakespeare Editions in 1996, and was Coordinating Editor until 2017, contributing two editions to the
ISE: King John and King Lear (the latter also available in print from Broadview Press). In print, he has published editions of works of Elizabethan magic and huswifery,
a collection of letters from the Australian goldfields, and Shakespeare on the Art of Love (2008). He contributed regular columns for the Shakespeare Newsletter on
Electronic Shakespeares,and has written many articles and chapters for both print and online books and journals, principally on questions raised by the new medium in the editing and publication of texts. He has delivered papers and plenary lectures on electronic media and the Internet Shakespeare Editions at conferences in Canada, the USA, the UK, Spain, Australia, and Japan.
Navarra Houldin
Training and Documentation Lead 2025–present. LEMDO project manager 2022–2025. Textual
remediator 2021–present. Navarra Houldin (they/them) completed their BA with a major
in history and minor in Spanish at the University of Victoria in 2022. Their primary
research was on gender and sexuality in early modern Europe and Latin America. They
are continuing their education through an MA program in Gender and Social Justice
Studies at the University of Alberta where they will specialize in Digital Humanities.
Orgography
LEMDO Team (LEMD1)
The LEMDO Team is based at the University of Victoria and normally comprises the project
director, the lead developer, project manager, junior developers(s), remediators,
encoders, and remediating editors.
University of Victoria (UVIC1)
https://www.uvic.ca/Metadata
| Authority title | Officers of the Law |
| Type of text | Critical |
| Publisher | University of Victoria on the Linked Early Modern Drama Online Platform |
| Series | Early Modern England Encyclopedia |
| Source |
By Alyssa Hubbert, inspired by Michael Best’s Shakespeare’s Life and Times, Internet Shakespeare Editions
|
| Editorial declaration | This document uses Canadian English spelling |
| Edition | Released with Early Modern England Encyclopedia 1.0a |
| Sponsor(s) |
Early Modern England EncyclopediaAnthology Leads: Kate McPherson and Kate Moncrief.
|
| Encoding description | Encoded in TEI P5 according to the LEMDO Customization and Encoding Guidelines |
| Document status | published, peer-reviewed |
| Funder(s) |
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Mitacs Globalink Research Internship Utah Valley University |
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