Animals on Trial: Unraveling a Bizarre Historical Practice
From a 1522 trial of mice in Autun to numerous medieval condemnations, historical records reveal a peculiar practice: the legal prosecution of animals. This article explores why animals faced judgment, their alleged crimes, and the societal beliefs that underpinned these bizarre proceedings.
Why Were Animals Judged and Condemned?
Modern legal frameworks recognize animals as sentient beings but acknowledge their lack of moral capacity, thus exempting them from judicial accountability. Historically, this was not the case; animals were routinely prosecuted and sentenced.
Ancient Roots: Cleansing the Community
Animal trials were not exclusive to the Middle Ages. Records from ancient Greece indicate animals were judged in Athens, often at the Acropolis’s open-air criminal court. “Guilty” animals faced exile, a practice aimed at removing the “contamination” of the crime from the community. Not just animals, but even inanimate objects, could be tried if they caused harm or death, reflecting a belief that no criminal act should go unpunished, regardless of the perpetrator. This highlights the concept of social expiation, where the “stain” of a crime required cleansing, prioritizing the act over the actor.
Human Dominion and Divine Order
A significant reason for animal trials, particularly in the Christian era, stemmed from the biblical premise of humanity’s primacy in divine creation. Medieval thinkers like Thomas Aquinas and Saint Augustine, influenced by Aristotle, posited that animals lacked rational souls, rendering them incapable of discerning good from evil. Consequently, animals were considered under human tutelage, often interpreted as mere possessions created by God for human service. An animal acting against its “owner” was thus perceived as a rebellion against the divine order and its very essence, constituting a grave offense against God’s law.
The Debate on Animal Salvation
More contentious were excommunications of “blasphemous” animals, which contradicted the idea of animals lacking rational souls. While figures in the 16th century argued animals could not be excommunicated as they were not baptized members of the Church, such practices persisted. Concurrently, a different interpretation arose from Saint Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, which stated, “the whole creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.” This passage fueled debates among scholars: could animals also be saved by Christ? Would they face the Final Judgment? If so, it implied they should be treated, and therefore judged, similarly to humans.
Demonic Influence and Possession
A third prevalent reason for animal trials in the Christian era was the widespread belief that the devil possessed creatures, compelling them to act against humanity. Since animals were thought to lack a rational soul for moral discernment, their violent or aggressive actions needed an external, intelligent explanation. Lucifer, the fallen angel, was often blamed for inciting animal rebellion. Numerous plagues, for instance, were attributed to demonic influence manipulating animals to destroy crops. In such cases, animals were often deemed instruments rather than primary culprits, though they still faced trials and likely excommunication.
Medieval Bestiaries and Anthropomorphism
The proliferation of Medieval Bestiaries also contributed to the rise of animal trials. These pseudoscientific compilations, more symbolic than naturalistic, assigned specific virtues or vices to various animals. This practice fostered anthropomorphism, attributing human ideals and behaviors to animals. This likely reinforced the view that animals could be held accountable for crimes requiring expiation. A notable example is the 1386 trial of a sow in Falaise, accused of killing and partially consuming a baby. The sow was tried, condemned to death, and brought to the gallows dressed in human clothes, even with a human mask, before being brutally executed.
Types of Animal Trials
In his 1906 work, “The Criminal Prosecution and Capital Punishment of Animals,” linguist E. P. Evans, an early animal rights advocate, categorized historical animal trials into two main types:
- Plague Trials: These cases, adjudicated in ecclesiastical courts, involved collective groups of animals (e.g., insects, rodents) accused of causing widespread harm, such as crop destruction, thereby depriving humans of sustenance.
- Individual Trials: Conducted in civil courts, these focused on specific animals, typically for “blood crimes” like attacking or killing individuals. Instances of pigs, oxen, or dogs injuring or fatally attacking people were common.
All these trials adhered to formal legal procedures, including witness testimonies, defense counsel, and the public reading of sentences to the accused animals. During the late Middle Ages and early modern period, particularly amidst the backdrop of religious conflicts, trials for heresy or blasphemy also emerged. Examples include a dog tried for barking during a procession or a cat “daring” to hunt mice on a Sunday. The escalating religious animosity between Catholics and Protestants further intensified these trials, reflecting a period of growing religious psychosis.
Animal trials were recurrent from antiquity, peaking between the 13th and 17th centuries. The reasons were multifaceted, stemming from a blend of ancient beliefs about crime expiation, the Aristotelian idea of animals lacking rational souls, human perceived ownership over creation, theological debates on animal salvation, and the pervasive belief in demonic possession. Additionally, moralizing Bestiaries fostered anthropomorphism, and animals became vehicles for expressing religious hatred during tumultuous times. The last recorded animal execution occurred in 1903, when a circus elephant accused of killing three men was hanged.
