Animal trial

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As animal processes are judicial processes with animals as defendants in Europe from the 14th to the 17th century. This excludes trials against werewolves .

history

Sanctions for rape (Heidelberger Sachsenspiegel, 12 verso)

Until the 13th century, harmful animals were killed spontaneously for revenge or prevention without judicial proceedings. With this the “technical control”, the violence of the fittest, was carried out and humans and animals were seen at different levels. From the 14th to the 17th century there were legal processes against animals, for example against feral pigs that attacked children, dogs, wolves, cattle or horses that otherwise caused damage. They could be hanged , burned, drowned, strangled, or buried alive if convicted . But even a church action with a ban against large numbers of harmful insects such as cockchafer was possible, since these - like storm and hail - were viewed as a diabolical attempt to harm people. Sometimes, as in Bern in 1478, the citizens accused cockchafer larvae ( grubs ) and the insects actually received an advocate who was supposed to explain their concerns. It is unclear to what extent it was actually thought that the animals would understand the indictment and the verdict.

If a woman was raped in spite of a cry for help , the Sachsenspiegel recommended killing all the animals present in the act, as their “failure to provide help” was seen as an indication of the devil's influence. The demonic influence of the perpetrator could even settle on the place of the crime and the objects there, which is why the house in which such a crime took place should be demolished. This also applied to a castle in which an exile had found refuge, but especially to objects that were seen as animated, such as bells . If one was misused, for example to summon rebels, it could be smashed as corrupt.

backgrounds

The background of such views was, among other things, the European recession, increased persecution of heretics , the inquisition , integration of the official process , torture to establish the truth and the expansion of corporal punishment . Since the 14th century it was the hunt for leprosy , Jews and witches . Animal trials were increasingly carried out in France ; A large number of trials also took place in England and the Holy Roman Empire . Other countries were, for example, Italy , the Netherlands and Switzerland . In the early modern period they ran parallel to the witch trials . The number of victims is estimated at between 150 and a few thousand animals. Many remained a bad reputation from this period, some were also witch brought NTUM in conjunction.

Executions of animals for other reasons

Aggressive wolves were often thought to be humans in animal form. One example is Wolf von Ansbach , who was hanged around 1685 .

In some types of execution, animals found death together with humans. This applies, for example, to the Jewish penalty (hanging up by their feet together with dogs) or penalties for sodomy . Such procedures served not only to humiliate, but also to exacerbate, since the animals injured people. In the case of sodomy, sacrilege should be eliminated with the animal and with it the memory of the deed. In the latter sense, the ancient Roman provision should be understood to sacrifice the plowman and the ox to Jupiter Terminus if they had plowed a boundary stone.

Book of Exodus

In the book of Exodus (chapter 19, verses 12-13) God speaks to Moses :

So draw a line around the people and say: Beware of climbing the mountain (Sinai) or even touching its end! Anyone who touches the mountain must be killed. (13) No hand may touch him, otherwise he will have to be stoned or shot; whether animal or human, he must not stay alive. ( 2 Mos 19,12-13  ELB )

If a cow is responsible for the death of a person, chapter 21 verses 28–32 states:

If a beef kicks a man or a woman so that they die, the beef must be stoned and its meat not eaten; but the owner of the cattle should not be punished. However, if the cattle was previously offensive and its owner was warned, but has not kept it: If it then kills a man or a woman, the cattle should be stoned and its owner killed too. If an atonement is imposed on him, he should give everything that is imposed on him as a ransom for his life. Even if it hits a son or daughter, he should be dealt with according to this legal system. If the ox kills a slave, the owner shall give her master thirty shekels of silver, but the ox shall be stoned. ( 2 Mos 21,28-32  ELB )

doubt

It is not clear whether processes in which animals were treated as people and as guilty actually took place. The legal historian Eva Schumann, for example, makes it clear: "No legal sources from the Middle Ages have come down to us from the German-speaking countries that prove criminal proceedings against animals with subsequent criminal convictions and public execution [...]."
The historian Daniel Meßner also points out that there was no previous legal tradition for these processes, and that on the contrary, statements by rulers of the time have been handed down that animals cannot be guilty because they are not rational beings. He suspects exercises for budding lawyers to be the background for the traditional processes.

literature

Web links

Footnotes and individual references

  1. ↑ a b Peter Dinzelbacher: The foreign Middle Ages. Judgment and Animal Trial. Magnus Publishing House. Essen 2006. ISBN 978-3-88400-504-0
  2. ↑ a b Wolfgang Schild - The History of Jurisdiction , Hamburg: Nikol Verlagsgesellschaft 1997 (special edition) ISBN 3-930656-74-4 p. 66 License from: Verlag Georg DW Callwey, Munich 1980
  3. ↑ The Alien Middle Ages, pp. 145f.
  4. ^ Peter Dinzelbacher: Animal trials. In: Journal of interdisciplinary history. 2002
  5. ↑ Wolfgang Schild - The history of jurisdiction , Hamburg: Nikol Verlagsgesellschaft mbH 1997 p. 67 ISBN 3-930656-74-4 License from Verlag Georg DW Callwey, Munich 1980 ISBN 3-7667-0782-5
  6. ↑ Peter Dinzelbacher: The foreign middle ages - God's judgment and animal process , Magnus Verlag 2006 p. 125ff Chapter: Apparent analogies - animal punishment and belief in werewolf .
  7. ↑ foot of the mountain
  8. ↑ with an arrow or projectile
  9. ↑ Martin Rath: In the criminal case against dog, cat, cockchafer. In: Legal Tribune Online. September 18, 2011, accessed June 3, 2019 .
  10. ^ Daniel Meßner and Richard Hemmer: Animals in front of the court. In: Zeitsprung - Stories from History (Podcast). May 29, 2019, accessed June 3, 2019 .