Deodand - a new one to me.

"A deodand is a thing forfeited or given to God, specifically, in law,
an object or instrument that becomes forfeited because it has caused a
person's death.

The English common law of deodands traces back to the 11th century and
was applied, on and off, until Parliament abolished it in 1846. Under
this law, a chattel (i.e. some personal property, such as a horse or a
haystack) was considered a deodand whenever a coroner's jury decided
that it had caused the death of a human being. In theory, deodands were
forfeited to the Crown, which was supposed to sell the chattel and then
apply the profits to some pious end.

The term deodand derives from the Latin phrase 'deo dandum', which means
'to be given to God.' In reality, the juries who decided that a
particular animal or object was a deodand also appraised its value, and
the owners were expected to pay a fine equal to the value of the deodand" -

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deodand>

Hibou <vpaereru-unmonitored@yahoo.com.invalid> wrote:

> Deodand - a new one to me.
>
> "A deodand is a thing forfeited or given to God, specifically, in law,
> an object or instrument that becomes forfeited because it has caused a
> person's death.
>
> The English common law of deodands traces back to the 11th century and
> was applied, on and off, until Parliament abolished it in 1846. Under
> this law, a chattel (i.e. some personal property, such as a horse or a
> haystack) was considered a deodand whenever a coroner's jury decided
> that it had caused the death of a human being. In theory, deodands were
> forfeited to the Crown, which was supposed to sell the chattel and then
> apply the profits to some pious end.
>
> The term deodand derives from the Latin phrase 'deo dandum', which means
> 'to be given to God.' In reality, the juries who decided that a
> particular animal or object was a deodand also appraised its value, and
> the owners were expected to pay a fine equal to the value of the deodand" -
>
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deodand>

A christianisation of much older customs.
Old Germanic and Old English has 'wergeld',
which was a price put on the dead man's life.
It had to be paid to the family of the dead man.
The payment bought off revenge killings,
(or at least made them illegal)

Jan

On Friday, February 16, 2024 at 2:13:56 PM UTC-7, J. J. Lodder wrote:
> Hibou <vpaereru-u...@yahoo.com.invalid> wrote:
>
> > Deodand - a new one to me.
> >
> > "A deodand is a thing forfeited or given to God, specifically, in law,
> > an object or instrument that becomes forfeited because it has caused a
> > person's death.
> >
> > The English common law of deodands traces back to the 11th century and
> > was applied, on and off, until Parliament abolished it in 1846. Under
> > this law, a chattel (i.e. some personal property, such as a horse or a
> > haystack) was considered a deodand whenever a coroner's jury decided
> > that it had caused the death of a human being. In theory, deodands were
> > forfeited to the Crown, which was supposed to sell the chattel and then
> > apply the profits to some pious end.
> >
> > The term deodand derives from the Latin phrase 'deo dandum', which means
> > 'to be given to God.' In reality, the juries who decided that a
> > particular animal or object was a deodand also appraised its value, and
> > the owners were expected to pay a fine equal to the value of the deodand" -
> >
> > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deodand>
>
> A christianisation of much older customs.
> Old Germanic and Old English has 'wergeld',
> which was a price put on the dead man's life.
> It had to be paid to the family of the dead man.

Maybe deodand was more like murdrum, which was paid to the king.

> The payment bought off revenge killings,
> (or at least made them illegal)

If the survivors accepted it.

(I just finished reading /Mother of Queens/, by Poul Anderson, a novelization
of saga versions of the life of Gunnhild, the wife of the well-known humanitarian
Eirik Blood-Axe. Whether people accept wergild or insist on revenge shows up a
couple of times.)

--
Jerry Friedman