View source for Crime

A '''crime''' is an act which violates [[law]].  Crimes change as [[laws]] change, but certain things are always considered crimes, such as [[theft]], [[rape]] and [[murder]].  Note that the definitions of of all these things changed depending on the culture and time period.

In period, certain crimes could be atoned for with cash payments, such as the [[Norse]] practice of ''[[weregild]]'', the payment of a blood-price when someone was killed, thus preventing a [[feud]].  Other offences, primarily [[religious]] ones, could be atoned for by going on a [[pilgrimage]].

===Punishment===
Many (if not most) of the  punishments employed by the law in [[period]] would be considered ''cruel and unusual'' today.  Imprisonment in dark, enclosed [[dungeon]]s (or worse, an [[oubliette]]), the use of [[stocks]] or the [[tumbril]], [[exile]], [[torture]], [[maim]]ing and [[execution]] were all commonly used punishments.

===Crime and Punishment in the SCA===
Participants at [[SCA]] [[events]] are expected to obey all the twenty-first-century laws of their country, even if such laws would not have been period.  Over and above the general issues of respect for fellow [[SCAdian]]s, if the SCA is held even partly responsible for an offense, insurance rates (and hence [[site fee]]s) would skyrocket and ruin the [[game]] for many.

Punishments in the SCA for criminal behaviours are limited, but can include [[banishment]] in serious cases.

[[category:crime]]