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40 Unusual Laws in History

Tim Flight November 14, 2019 27 min

Cruel Treatment of Cattle Act 1822 - Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals — A donkey appears in court during the trial of Bill Burns, prosecuted for animal cruelty in 1822, in a painting by P. Mathews, 1838. Wikimedia Commons

22. Trial by combat was widely practiced in the middle ages

A medieval duel imagined in an 1870 depiction. Medievalists

Remember that bit in Game of Thrones when Tyrion escaped execution by having Bronn fight on his behalf? Well, it’s a real thing taken from history. From the middle of the 1^st millennium in Europe, you could fight to prove your innocence rather than face trial. Depending on what you’d been accused of, you could either fight personally or nominate a deputy, like Tyrion. The logic behind this said God would grant victory to the innocent. Incredibly, you could still demand trial by combat until 1819 in England, and it’s still technically allowed in the US…

Written by

Tim Flight

I am a freelance historical and literary writer based in West Yorkshire, UK. I read for a funded PhD in English at the University of Oxford (Magdalen College) and graduated in 2016. I am a former lecturer in Medieval English Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London. My publications include peer-reviewed articles in academic publications, and pieces in mainstream magazines such as History Today and Fortean Times. For more information, please see www.drflight.co.uk