ABSTRACT
When five-year-old Jehan Martin was murdered in 1457, the culprits were quickly apprehended, imprisoned and brought to trial. The case followed the normal procedure for such a serious crime, except in one important respect: the accused were pigs. Following the customs of the Burgundian court that dealt with the matter, the pigs’ owner was invited to make representations “concerning the punishment and execution of justice” against the animals. He waived this right, and the prosecutor demanded the death penalty. The judgment that followed was unusually tricky, since one of the animals appeared to be more culpable than the others. The child was killed by a sow in the presence of her six piglets. These were stained with blood at the scene of the crime, but there was no “positive proof that they had assisted in mangling the deceased”. After consulting with local experts, the judge ruled that the sow should be executed. A hangman was brought from a neighbouring town to hang the beast by its hind legs from an oak tree. The verdict on the piglets was less severe. They could return to their owner if he was prepared to vouch for their future behaviour and present them in court “should further evidence be forthcoming to prove their complicity in their mother’s crime”. The owner refused these terms, and the pigs were forfeited to a local noblewoman. It appears that their subsequent conduct was blameless, and no further punishments were needed.1
