Tea at Trianon: Collaborating on Crime in the 14th Century

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Thursday, June 9, 2022

Collaborating on Crime in the 14th Century

From Crime Reads:

Murder: In a time of plague and war, murder was common, and much of it was committed by those driven to stealing for survival. As with most laws in this era, the punishment was death since prisons didn’t exist for the most part, although dungeons were widely used for temporary incarceration while waiting for trials to occur. And trials certainly did take place (when it was possible to find the culprits), presided over by representatives of the crown. On rare occasions, when two noblemen accused each other of a foul crime, a trial by combat was authorized by His Majesty. One of the unusual details we learned was that the solemn affair of a judicial duel was conducted in complete silence under pain of death, far from the raucous cheering that accompanied the jousting tournaments that often took place. Only when one knight was victorious and the other was dead did the king let the audience applaud the winner.

Kidnapping: Abduction, especially of nobles, was a common occurrence in the Middle Ages and even a source of income because of the vast ransoms that could be demanded for their return. Kings, dukes, and knights captured in battle were often freed only after their subjects or loved ones paid the required sum. Ransom was even a feature of the tournament melees where knights would go at each other with blunted lances and swords for honor and the enjoyment of the spectators. If a knight was disarmed and captured, he would have to give his word that his ransom would be promptly paid before he was allowed to leave the field. That’s where we get the legal term “parole,” French for “word.” It was considered a great dishonor for a knight to give his parole in exchange for freedom and then not pay up.

Embezzlement: Precise accounting practices were just starting to take hold in the medieval era. Clerics, or clerks, employed by the Church kept track of the vast sums coming in from their various land holdings, tithes, and donations from wealthy parishioners. Likewise, nobles had to know how much money they needed to collect for the expensive wars they were undertaking. Horses, arms, armor, ships, food, and soldiers’ wages could all cost an exorbitant amount, and if there was sloppy accounting, it wouldn’t have been hard to skim some of those coins off the top. The only thing that kept it from being more rampant was because of the fear of execution by legal decree or damnation by the Church.

Bribery: For the most part, bribery was simply a way of life in the Middle Ages. If one wanted better treatment from a lord or government official, a few extra coins was the surest way to get it. Unless you were willing to make your way as a destitute pilgrim, traveling in medieval times could be quite expensive. City gates and bridges were where many tolls were collected to allow traders and merchants to cross with their wares. To get contraband through, greasing the right palms was all that was needed. Of course, the collectors also abused their powers if they thought someone could be squeezed for extra money, so it was a sought-after position. (Read more.)