ABSTRACT
Judge John Biggs traces the origins of the defense of insanity in English law to the reign of Henry III. In the historical summary that follows borrow heavily from Judge Biggs’ scholarship. By the reign of Edward I complete madness became acceptable as a defense to a criminal charge. Then, the life of an insane criminal could be saved only by a pardon from the king. According to Judge Biggs, “knowledge of good and evil” as a test of criminal responsibility originated with this reference by Lambard. For the next seventy-five years, or until the end of the eighteenth century, English courts grafted the test of knowledge of good and evil and the concept of insanity with ever increasing firmness. With the dawning of the ninteenth century, however, a case arose that challenged, at least temporarily, the relationship between insanity and knowledge of good and evil.
