Medieval Mayhem: Europe's Wildest Punishments
Beyond the Rack: Unearthing Europe’s Most Bizarre & Brutal Medieval Punishments You Won’t Believe Were Real Imagine a courtroom scene not from a fantasy novel, but meticulously documented history: a pig, standing trial, formally accused of murder, with legal counsel and a judge presiding. This wasn’t some isolated village superstition, but a legitimate legal proceeding in medieval Europe. In 1457, in Savigny-sur-Etampes, France, a sow and her piglets faced charges for attacking and killing a five-year-old child. While the piglets were acquitted due to their youth and presumed lack of criminal intent, the sow was unequivocally found guilty of homicide and met the same fate as any human felon: she was sentenced to be hanged by her hind legs. ...