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GCSE History · key term
Protection from arrest offered to someone taking refuge in a church or other recognised religious place.
Used by Edexcel and OCR
Paper 1
Protection from immediate arrest offered to an accused person who took refuge in a church or recognised holy place, normally for up to 40 days.
Revise: Case Study: The Influence of the ChurchSanctuary allowed an accused person to take refuge in a church or recognised holy place and avoid immediate arrest. The sheriff could not simply enter and seize someone who had claimed this protection.
Paper 1, Paper 2
A religious area dedicated to a god or goddess, which could contain temples, altars and offerings.
Revise: The Periclean Building Programme and the AcropolisThe Persians burned its sanctuaries in 480 BC. Rebuilding therefore meant more than replacing damaged structures. It honoured the gods, demonstrated recovery from invasion and allowed Athens to display the wealth and skills it possessed as leader of an empire.
Protection sought in a sacred place, such as a temple, where violence was regarded as an offence against the gods.
Paper 1
Protection offered by the Church to someone seeking refuge from arrest, normally allowing forty days to choose between facing trial and leaving the country.
Revise: Enforcing law and orderThe Church also offered sanctuary. Someone who claimed sanctuary in a church could not legally be dragged out by force. They normally had forty days to decide whether to face trial or leave the country.
Distinguish sanctuary, which delayed arrest, from benefit of clergy, which changed the court in which someone was tried.
Benefit of clergy meant access to a Church court; sanctuary meant temporary protection from arrest. Neither simply meant being declared innocent.
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