Patibular fork

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Patibular forks on a hill, after 1480. Hausbuch Wolfegg 11r Saturn.jpg
Patibular forks on a hill, after 1480.

A patibular fork was a gallows that consisted of two or more columns of stone, with a horizontal beam of wood resting on top. Placed high and visible from the main public thoroughfare, it signalled the seat of high justice, the number of stone columns indicating the holder's title. [1]

Contents

Those condemned to death were hanged from the wooden beam, their bodies left on the gallows for passers-by to see and for crows to devour.

Although sometimes used in the singular, the term "patibular forks" is usually written in the plural.

Etymology

From the Latin patibulum ("cross", "gallows", "pole").

The origin of the term [2] comes from the forks used by the Romans to punish slaves. After stripping the slaves of their clothes, the slaves' head was passed through a fork and their body was attached to the same piece of wood to be beaten with sticks.

Patibular forks should not be confused with patibular ladders or patibular marks. [3]

History

The justice pillars (patibular forks) of Chateau de Kerjean (Finistere). Chateau de Kerjean 126 Piliers de justice.JPG
The justice pillars (patibular forks) of Château de Kerjean (Finistère).

Patibular forks first appeared at the beginning of the 12th century. In Touraine, ecclesiastical records and documents attest to their presence since the 13th century. [4] The most famous was that of the Provost of Paris: the Gibbet of Montfaucon, at the Porte de Paris (northeast of the city, near the present Place du Colonel-Fabien). The gallows had been installed under Philip the Fair at the instigation of his minister and advisor, Enguerrand de Marigny, who was hanged there himself after Philip the Fair's death.

The justice columns at Kergroadez in Plourin (Finistere). 396 Plourin colonnes de justice.JPG
The justice columns at Kergroadez in Plourin (Finistère).

Patibular forks were generally placed on high ground outside cities, towns, and villages, usually near a main road and in a place where travellers could see them, to inspire the horror of the crime.

Despite the macabre nature of these constructions and the foul smell they emitted, cabarets were often set up in the vicinity of the patibular forks, as hangings were a popular spectacle in the Middle Ages [5] (remains of a cabaret in Creuë).

Justice levels

In principle, high justiciars were required to have patibular forks "both as a sign and token of their high justice and for the execution thereof". [6]

But an older treatise, the Grand Coutumier de France, states that "many high justiciars do not have forks, but for this reason, the right of their justice cannot be weakened" [7] and even that "those who have average justice have the power to hang without dragging, and can only have forks with two pillars whose links are dedicated". [8]

Number of pillars

Only the king could have as many as he wished, and in principle, dukes had eight, counts six, barons four, chatelains three, and simple high justiciars two. [9] There were, however, many exceptions to this general rule, and these varied, for example, according to the customary law of the various provinces and the history of each seigneury:

The High Justice must obtain the King's authorization to erect new patibular forks, or to rebuild them if they have been down or destroyed for more than a year and a day. [6]

Principle

According to the thesis of Anne Lafran, quoted by Cécile Voyer of the Centre d'études supérieures de civilisation médiévale (Center of Advanced Studies in Medieval Civilization), the hanging and the disembowelment (by corvus) recall the death of Judas. [16]

Matthew's Gospel evokes suicide by hanging, while Luke's evokes disembowelment. Both versions can be found in the literature of the twelfth century.

According to the study of the Paris forks, the bodies of the tortured were removed as late as possible, even if this meant rehanging body parts that had fallen off. Indeed, forks lose their raison d'être as soon as they are no longer in use.

According to Vincent Chalet of the Centre d'études médiévales de Montpellier (Montpellier Medieval Studies Center), on the one hand, patibular forks were used, perhaps not often, but in any case not merely symbolically; on the other hand, they were intended to punish outsiders (vagrants, adventurers, rivals, etc.), unlike pillories, which were intended to punish insiders. [17]

Locations

See also

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References

  1. Viollet-le-Duc (1861 , p. 553)
  2. "PATIBULAIRE : Définition de PATIBULAIRE". cnrtl.fr (in French).
  3. Diderot, Denis; Le Rond d'Alembert, Jean. Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers (in French).
  4. Mauclair, Fabrice (2015-09-21). "Un objet d'histoire (presque) introuvable : les fourches patibulaires dans les sources tourangelles (xiiie-xviiie siècles)". Criminocorpus. Revue d'Histoire de la justice, des crimes et des peines (in French) (5). doi: 10.4000/criminocorpus.3024 . ISSN   2108-6907.
  5. Viollet-le-Duc (1861 , p. 560)
  6. 1 2 Bacquet, Jean; Ferrière, Claude de (1744). Les Oeuvres de Me Jean Bacquet, avocat du Roy en la Chambre du tresor (in French). Vol. 1.
  7. d'Ableiges, Jacques (1868). Le grand coutumier de France (in French). Paris: A. Durand. p. 638.
  8. d'Ableiges, Jacques (1868). Le Grand Coutumier de France (in French). Paris: A. Durand. p. 643.
  9. Viollet-le-Duc (1861 , p. 554)
  10. Ordonnance des Rois de France de la troisième race (in French). Paris: Impr. royale. 1840. p. 534.
  11. La famille Cachet de Montézan des Comtes de Garnerans (in French). Marseille: Société anonyme de l'imprimerie marseillaise. 1885. p. 7.
  12. Lecler, Abbé A. (1895). Généalogie de la Maison de Lambertie (in French). Limoges: Vve H. Ducourtieux. pp. 115 (CXV).
  13. Traité des fiefs sur la Coutume de Poitou (in French). Harcher. 1762. p. 243.
  14. Jacquet, Pierre (1764). Traité des justices de seigneur et des droits en dépendants (in French). Lyon: J.-B. Reguilliat. p. 413.
  15. Ferrière, Claude de (1744). Les Oeuvres de Me Jean Bacquet, avocat du Roy en la Chambre du tresor (in French). Vol. 1. Lyon: Les freres Duplain. p. 49.
  16. Voyer, Cécile (2015-09-21). "Fourches patibulaires et corps suppliciés dans les enluminures des XIVe-XVe siècles". Criminocorpus. Revue d'Histoire de la justice, des crimes et des peines (in French) (5). doi:10.4000/criminocorpus.3098. ISSN   2108-6907.
  17. Challet, Vincent (2015-09-21). "Les fourches sont-elles vraiment patibulaires ? Les fourches et leur contraire à partir de quelques exemples languedociens". Criminocorpus. Revue d'Histoire de la justice, des crimes et des peines (in French) (5). doi: 10.4000/criminocorpus.3033 . ISSN   2108-6907.

Bibliography

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