French History
Abstract
Rigueur de justice: Crime, Murder and the Law in Picardy, Fifteenth-Sixteenth Centuries
by David Potter
French History, Volume 11 no. 3 (Sept. 1997)
In the light of the development of studies of criminality in early modern France and the renewed interest in the letters of remission issued by the royal chancellery for cases of homicide in the late middle ages and sixteenth century, this study aimed to throw light on the general trends by concentrating on the border province of Picardy. After first setting out the framework of courts and jurisdictions in the area, it goes on to examine in depth the letters of remission issued for crimes in Picardy during the period from 1523 to 1550, when an almost complete sequence is preserved, while making some comparisons with the late fifteenth century. The format of the letters is similar to that for the small number of cases surviving from the judgments of local courts; both shared common assumptions about the presentation of events leading to murder. The vast mass of such cases were claimed to be for involuntary homicide for which, if the parties concerned were in agreement and local courts verified them by the detailed examination of witnesses, they provided a means whereby the accused could be reintegrated into society. The usual circumstances were supposed to be of confrontation involving sudden quarrels in taverns and over drink. A number of themes were isolated which show that Picardy in this period was the scene of an unusually high homicide rate in comparison with other parts of France. The main reason for this was the fact that the region was highly militarised and the population both routinely armed and ready to use weapons. There was a high proportion of soldiers involved in periods when the garrison of the province was augmented during wartime but the main conflicts took place between soldiers, conflicts between soldiers and civilians being incidental to wartime disturbances. There was a surprising incidence of priests involved in the conflicts and, while women were seldom perpetrators of murder, they were frequently involved in the events leading to them, especially in murders within families. In general, a picture emerges of a judicial system which was surprisingly discriminating in terms of the use of the death penalty and closely concerned with the mutual settlement of disputes, while maintaining the role of the crown as the supreme dispenser of justice.