Bismarck daily tribune., 1908-08-28
TRIALS |. R for ANIMALS.
Curious Custom That Prevailed
In the Middle Ages. ,,,, { 4.

In the Middle Ages.
PROSECUTED FOR HOMICIDE.
A Bull That Killed a Man Found
Guilty, Sentenced to Death and Exc
~ cuted--Fate Of a Cock That Was
H Charged With Having Laid an Egg.
Among. the many curious customs of
the past is recorded a singular feature
Of the jurisprudence Of the middle
injuries inflicted upon human beings.
The custom was not abolished in
France until the middle of the eight
eenth century, and the French court
records show that at least ninety-two
trials took place between 1120 and
1741,. ! :. II 2n@s r
There is some Biblical precedent for
these proceedings, for in the twenty
first chapter of Exodus one finds, "If
an OK gore man or woman that
they die, then the OK shall be stoned
and his flesh shall not be eaten" 3'S
An early instance Of the custom was
in 1914, when a bull escaped from a
farmyard in village in France in the
duchy of Valois and gored a man to
death. The Count Of Valois, being in
formed Of the case directed that the
bull be captured and formally prose
cuted for homicide. This was done,
and evidence was given by persons
who had seen the man attacked and
killed. The bull was thereupon SEN
fenced to suffer death, which was in
ficted by strangulation, after which
the carcass was suspended from a
tree by the hind legs.
In 1886 SOW was executed in the
square Of Falaise for having caused
the death of a child. and three years
later horse was condemned to death
at Dijon for having killed man. In
1857 SOW and her six young ones
were tried at Lavegny on the charge
Of having killed and partially eaten a
child. The SOW was convicted and
condemned to death, but the little ones
| NSAS eiNNdiiICu oh thC SAoOAu VI luSA
extreme youth and inexperience, the
bad example Of their mother and the
| absence Of direct evidence of their
baving partaken of the atrocious feast.
| One Of the most grotesque Of these
| trials took place in Basel when q
| farmyard cock was tried on the alb
surd charge Of having laid an egg. It
was contended in support Of the prose
cution that eggs laid by cocks were of
| inestimable worth for use in certain
magical preparations, that a sorcerer
would rather possess cocks egg than
the elixir Of life and that Satan EN-.
ployed witches to hatch such eggs
from which proceeded winged serpents
most dangerous to mankind.
The prisoners advocate admitted the
facts of the case, but contended that
no evil intention had been proved and
that no evil result had taken place
Besides, the laying Of an egg was ar
involuntary act and as such was not
punishable by law; also there was nc
record of the devil having made com
pact with an animal. The public pros
ecutor stated in reply that the evil one
sometimes entered into animals. as in
the case Of the swine which drowned
themselves in the sea Of Galilee
So the poor creature was convicted
not as cock. but as sorcerer or per
haps the devil in the form of a cock
whereupon the bird and the egg that
was attributed to it were solemnly
burned at the stake.
Even stranger than this were the
proceedings instituted in 1445 and 1887
t havoc in the vineyards Of st. Julian.
Advocates were named on behalf of
the vine growers and the beetles re.
spectively, but by singular coinci.
dence the insects disappeared when
cited to answer for the mischief they
had done, and the proceedings were In
consequence abandoned.
That was in 1445. In 14S7, how.
ever. they reappeared. and a complaint
was thereupon addressed to the vicar
general of the bishop of Maurienne
who named judge and also an advo
cate to represent the beetles. A com
promise was finally agreed upon
wherein the vine growers consented tt
cede the beetles certain fields to theil
exclusive use. Some time after the
beetles, through their attorney, pro
i tested that there was a right Of way
through these fields which would be
to their detriment. Consequently the
case had to begin again, but how II
ended is not known, owing to the mutt
! lation Of the records.-F. G. Evans II
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