To Hang the Said Sow: Pig Execution in Medieval Burgundy

• In Event: Creaturely Chronicles: Histories of Animal-Human Relations

Abstract

In fourteenth and fifteenth century Burgundy, murder was a crime for which there was a singular appropriate punishment—execution. Remarkably, this penalty extended not only to human wrongdoers but also to domestic animals, most frequently pigs. Pigs could and did kill and consume young children, and the only acceptable outcome of these crimes was the execution of the offending swine. This paper examines these state-sanctioned and supported executions, exploring the implications of using execution methods designed for humans— typically hanging and immolation— to dispatch porcine bodies. Documentary evidence supports the notion that no changes in execution methodology was employed in the execution of pigs, a curious fact given the physiological differences between pigs and humans. How did medieval authorities physically dispatch these porcine offenders, and what unique challenges did such executions pose to executioners?
The blurring of species boundaries presented by these events is fundamental to our understanding of these executions, and the physicality of the bodies of the unfortunate pigs is an overlooked but nonetheless important aspect of these oft-sensationalized instances of medieval inter-species justice. The application of human notions of justice and punishment to the more-than-human community allows us unique insight into the complexities of the medieval world, forcing us to populate the medieval landscape with more-than-human actors whose actions shaped the shared physical and cultural environments.

Author

• Marissa Crannell-Ash, University of Rochester