Medieval & Early Modern Animal Trials
Stuff You Missed in History Class
00:00
Trials of the Unlikely: Animal Justice in History
This chapter investigates the bizarre historical practice of animal trials, particularly a notable case of a rooster accused of sorcery. It explores the intersection of law, religion, and superstition in medieval Europe, highlighting the serious consequences animals faced in these surreal legal proceedings.
Transcript
Play full episode
Transcript
Episode notes
There are some parallels between historical witch trials and trials of non-human animals in the same period, with a lot of the same procedures as were used when human beings were charged with a crime.
Research:
- Sonya. “When Societies Put Animals on Trial.” JSTOR Daily. 9/13/2017. https://daily.jstor.org/when-societies-put-animals-on-trial/
- Simon, Matt. “Fantastically Wrong: Europe's Insane History of Putting Animals on Trial and Executing Them.” Wired. 9/24/2014. https://www.wired.com/2014/09/fantastically-wrong-europes-insane-history-putting-animals-trial-executing/
- MacGregor, L., (2019) “Criminalising Animals in Medieval France: Insights from Records of Executions”, Open Library of Humanities 5(1), 15. doi: https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.319
- Macías, Francisco. “Animals on Trial: Formal Legal Proceedings, Criminal Acts, and Torts of Animals.” 2/9/2016. Library of Congress Blogs. https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2016/02/animals-on-trial/
- Beirnes, Piers. “The Law is an Ass: Reading E.P. Evans’ ‘The Medieval Prosecution and Capital Punishment of Animals.’” Society and Animals. Vol. 2, No. 1. https://www.animalsandsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/beirnes.pdf
- net. “Medieval Animal Trials.” 9/2013. https://www.medievalists.net/2013/09/medieval-animal-trials/
- MacGregor, Lesley Bates. “Criminalising Animals in Medieval France: Insights from Records of Executions.” Open Library of Humanities, Vol.5 (2019). https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/4552/
- Chambers, R. “The Book of Days: A Miscellany of Popular Antiquities in connection with the Calendar.” London & Edinburgh. W&R Chambers. Vol. 1. 1879. https://archive.org/details/b22650477_0001/
- McWilliams, James. “Beastly Justice.” Slate. 2/21/2013. https://slate.com/human-interest/2013/02/medieval-animal-trials-why-theyre-not-quite-as-crazy-as-they-sound.html
- Humphrey, Nicholas. “Bugs and Beasts Before the Law.” The Public Domain Review. 3/27/2011. https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/bugs-and-beasts-before-the-law/
- Lee, Alexander. “Pigs Might Try.” History Today. Vol. 70, Issue 11, November 2020. https://www.historytoday.com/archive/natural-histories/pigs-might-try
- Girgen, Jen. “The Historical and Contemporary Prosecution and Punishment of Animals.” Animal Law Review at Lewis & Clark Law School. Vol. 9:97 (2003). https://www.animallaw.info/article/historical-and-contemporary-prosecution-and-punishment-animals
- Friedland, Paul. “Beyond Deterrence: Cadavers, Effigies, Animals and the Logic of Executions in Premodern France.” Historical Reflections / Réflexions Historiques , Summer 2003, Vol. 29, No. 2. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41299274
- Leeson, Peter T. “Vermin Trials.” The Journal of Law & Economics , Vol. 56, No. 3 (August 2013). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/671480
- Ewald, Willam. “Comparative Jurisprudence (I): What Was It like to Try a Rat?” University of Pennsylvania Law Review , Jun., 1995, Vol. 143, No. 6. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3312588
- Sykes, Katie. “Human Drama, Animal Trials: What the Medieval Animal Trials Can Teach Us About Justice for Animals.” Animal Law Review, Vol. 17, No. 2, p. 273, 2011. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1999081
- Srivastava, Anila. “’Mean, dangerous, and uncontrollable beasts’: Mediaeval Animal Trials.” Mosaic: An Interdisciplinary Critical Journal , March 2007. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44030162
- Soderberg, Bailey. “Reassessing Animals and Potential Legal Personhood.” Vermont Journal of Environmental Law, Winter 2022, Vol. 24, No. 2. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/27201415
- Carson, Hampton L. “The Trial of Animals and Insects. A Little Known Chapter of Mediæval Jurisprudence.” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society , 1917, Vol. 56, No. 5. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/984029
- Hyde, Walter Woodburn. “The Prosecution and Punishment of Animals and Lifeless Things in the Middle Ages and Modern Times.” University of Pennsylvania Law Review and American Law Register, May, 1916, Vol. 64, No. 7. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3313677
- Evans, E.P. “The Criminal Prosecution and Capital Punishment of Animals.” London : W. Heinemann. 1906. https://archive.org/details/criminalprosecut00evaniala/
- Andersson, Ebba. “Murderous Pigs and Ex-Communicated Rats: Edward Payson Evans’ Handbook of Animal Trials.” Retrospect Journal. 3/7/2021. https://retrospectjournal.com/2021/03/07/murderous-pigs-and-ex-communicated-rats-edward-payson-evans-handbook-of-animal-trials/
- Frank, Colin. “The pig that was not convicted of homicide, or: The first animal trial that was none.” Global Journal of Animal Law. Vol. 9. 2021. https://ojs.abo.fi/ojs/index.php/gjal/article/view/1736
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The AI-powered Podcast Player
Save insights by tapping your headphones, chat with episodes, discover the best highlights - and more!
