If the laws from the Middle Ages still existed today, a lot of people would have gone to prison without knowing why.
In a time when there were no electronics, Facebook, people seemed to have plenty of time to come up with ridiculous crimes and punishments. You can be arrested because you are not an aristocrat but play tennis, or you break the law because you accidentally die in the British Parliament building.
Let’s take a look at some of the rules that were unique to Medieval Europe.
Young people who were not from the aristocracy were not allowed to play tennis.
This law, written in 1495, states that young people who are not from the aristocracy (those who work as apprentices, or servants, or maids) are not allowed to play tennis. At the time, tennis was said to increase gambling and distract from work.
There is only one time of the year that this law is repealed, and that is Christmas. However, on this day, they can only play in the house, and in the yard of the owner.
There are many reasons for this story, but it is still unconfirmed.
In the book “The Book Of Strange And Curious Legal Oddities” there is recorded a rather strange incident. It was in 1200 that a village – consisting of serfs and commoners – was punished for ” failing to bathe the sheep of the landowner”. There are probably many reasons for this story, but it has not been confirmed yet.
When the whale carcass washed ashore, everyone assumed it belonged to royalty.
Why a whale? Because in the past, people eating everything from turtles to beavers and whales was also considered a delicacy, but only for kings and queens.
So when the whale carcass washed ashore, everyone assumed it belonged to royalty. Imagine, the fish head is for the king and the fish tail is for the queen. The commoners probably wouldn’t have the guts to touch the king’s food, right?
Football used to be very violent.
In the Middle Ages, football was not a king sport like it is now. That day, people kicked the ball like… fighting.
They play in densely populated areas, cause chaos in public order, then damage property and even cause many deaths.
Thus, in 1314, football was completely banned in England. The reason why, you understand.
Typical medieval court.
This law was enacted in 1241, but its origins are probably much older.
In those days, if you happened to see a dead body, you were assigned the title: “first finder”.
In the Middle Ages there was no legal officer or evidence collection, so the person who found the body was forced to appear in court to tell the whole story. If you break the law, not only you are in trouble, but the whole village is responsible for this.
It’s not your fault, it’s just black…
Sounds ridiculous doesn’t it? You can be arrested for being innocent in a riot. At that time, rebellion was common throughout Europe, but the law only intervened when someone was killed.
If the killer disappears in the crowd, the authorities (by law) will randomly select 7 people from a nearby area, and conduct several “tests” to identify the culprit.
The weirdest thing is that those “tests” are also completely… random, with nothing to do with proving what you did during the riot.