*Please note- This site search does not include the Vic. & Tas. BMD's, Lots o' Links & Worth a Look Books
|
Now truth more than fiction is strange,
as customs and laws they have changed;
There're things quite absurd
that we've never heard
and some of them seem quite deranged
as customs and laws they have changed;
There're things quite absurd
that we've never heard
and some of them seem quite deranged
lOONEy LAWS
& other interesting tit bits
Scutage
Scutage, also called shield money, was payment made by a knight to commute the military service that he owed his lord. A lord might accept from his vassal a sum of money (or horse etc.) in lieu of service on some expedition. Scutage existed in various countries, including France and Germany, but was most highly developed in England, where it was first mentioned in 1100. |
King John signs the Magna Carta
|
It seems to have been levied, at first, on ecclesiastical tenants in chief, who had difficulty in finding their full quota of knights for the king’s army. It soon became a general tax on knights’ estates, and by the 13th century the rates were standardized. Though the crown could demand scutage, tenants could not refuse to perform military service if required to do so. From the time of Richard I (1189–99), however, special fines (payments larger than the routine scutage) were accepted from tenants in chief in lieu of service on a particular campaign. From the time of Richard I (1189–99) special fines (larger than scutage) were accepted from tenants in chief in lieu of service. As a result of the frequent and heavy scutages exacted by King John (Magna Carta) in 1215, forbade the levy of scutage without the consent of a great council. By the 14th century, however, scutage had become obsolete.
http://www.britannica.com/topic/scutage |
Walking sticks
During the 18th century in London, a license was required to carry a walking stick. http://www.blitzmag.net/training/weaponry/270-give-em-a-caning |
Animals on Trial
In Medieval Germany, animals were put on trial for their crimes. In 1499, a bear was charged with terrorizing villages in Germany. In order to give the bear a fair trial, defense lawyers stated that the bear should be tried by a jury of its peers. (I hope they were Care Bears) http://blog.elliottfox.com/?p=333 |
The Age of Marriage Act 1929
Before 1929, Scots law followed Roman law in allowing a girl to marry at twelve years of age & a boy at fourteen, without any requirement for parental consent. The Age of Marriage Act 1929 (applying in Scotland, England & Wales but not in Northern Ireland, made void any marriage between persons either of whom was under the age of sixteen. Sixteen remains the lower age-limit today. http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/regscot/getting-married The church ceremony in the middle ages took place outside the church door before entering for a nuptial mass.
|
Scold's Bridle
A law passed in 1585, making it illegal for women to “cause a nuisance with abusive or argumentative language”. A woman guilty of scolding had to wear a scold's bridle, or metal cage, enclosing her head. The Criminal Law Act of 1967 finally abolished the punishment, and women may now scold freely. 1967?, it took them a long time to abolish the law, it hasn't been used in 200 years thank goodness! Website also includes an interactive tour of Lancaster Castle and Judge's Lodgings, a convict Database and many other interesting facts |
Voting by Secret Ballot
On March 19th 1856 Victoria, Australia, introduced voting by secret Ballot. By 1884, most U.S. States, had adopted the same way of voting. 1856 Vic secret ballot voting http://foundingdocs.gov.au/item-did-84.html Soap Tax
During the Middle Ages, European governments placed a tax on soap. It remained in effect for a very long time. Great Britain didn't repeal its soap tax until 1835.
Forty years later, as French writer Luc Ferry relates in his book, The New Ecological Order, the weevils had returned. Again they were sued and a new counsel was appointed to represent them. He too, after shenanigans, led his colony to victory.
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/splashing-the-cash-20090404-9si7.html Hat Tax
England introduced a tax on hats in 1784. Hat-makers stopped calling their creations "hats", to avoid the tax, which lead to a tax on all headgear by 1804. The tax was removed in 1811 Wallpaper Tax
In 1712, England imposed a tax on printed wallpaper. Builders avoided the tax by hanging plain wallpaper and then painting patterns on the walls. Candle Tax
In 1789, England introduced a tax on candles. People had to have a licence before they could make their own candles and then paid taxes on the candles that they made. The tax was removed in 1831 and candles became more popular again.
Window Tax
In 1696, England implemented a window tax, taxing houses based on the number of windows they had. That led to many houses having very few windows in order to avoid paying the tax. Eventually this became a health problem and ultimately led to the tax’s repeal in 1851. Brick Tax
In the 1700’s, England placed a tax on bricks. Builders soon realized that they could use bigger bricks (and thus fewer bricks) to pay less tax. Soon after, the government caught on and placed a larger tax on bigger bricks. Brick taxes were finally repealed in 1850.
Guilt would be established, either through torture and a likely confession, or ducking (douking) and the Nor' Loch proved to be a perfect spot for this. In 1460 King James III ordered that the ground between the Old Town and Princes Street be flooded in an effort to strengthen the Castle's northern defences. A dam was built at the east end, where North Bridge now stands. Natural spring water flowing from the original St. Margaret's Well at the foot of the castle was used to flood what once was a forested valley.
Initially it was a picturesque and relaxing haven for the residents of Edinburgh, a beautiful sight reflecting the magnificent castle. Over the years, it became a convenient dump for all sorts of waste including human excrement (before proper sanitation) and became a stinking cesspool.
The law was passed in 1751 and implemented in 1752. Great Britain was actually an early-bird in the list of Protestant countries. Some countries delayed adopting the Gregorian Calendar till the 1900s. The Calendar Act addressed two major issues:
In the Julian calendar, every four years is a leap year, with a leap day added to the month of February. The 12 Months of the Year at the time, Leap Day was February 24, because February was the last month of the year. Eventually the Julian calendar became 24 days out of sync with the fixed dates for astronomical events like
equinoxes and solstices and important religious holidays, like Easter. http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/julian-calendar.html
In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII ordered the advancement of the calendar by 10 days and introduced a new corrective device to curb further error: century years such as 1700 or 1800 would no longer be counted as leap years, unless they were (like 1600 or 2000) divisible by 400. If somewhat inelegant, this system is undeniably effective, and is still in official use today. The Gregorian calendar year differs from the solar year by only 26 seconds—accurate enough for most mortals, since this only adds up to one day's difference every 3,323 years.
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/gregorian1.html http://europeanhistory.about.com/od/religionandthought/a/introgregcalend.htm http://www.hermetic.ch/cal_stud/cal_art.html Dates when each country adopted the Gregorian calendar.
The following shows the dates of the introduction of the new calendar for several territories. The days given are the last day of the Julian calendar and the first day of the new calendar. Italy, Portugal, Spain, Cath. parts of Poland 4 / 15 Oct 1582 France, Lotharingia 9 / 20 Dec 1582 Holland, Brabant, Flanders 21 Dec 1582 / 1 Jan 1583 Austrian Upper Alsace, Breisgau 13 / 24 Oct 1583 Austria, Bohemia 6 / 17 Jan 1584 Luzern, Uri, Schwyz, Zug, Freiburg, Solothurn 11 / 22 Jan 1584 Silesia, Lusatia 12 / 23 Jan 1584 Hungary§ 22 Jan / 2 Feb 1584 Straßburg city 5 / 16 Feb 1682 Protestant Germany, Denmark, Norway 18 Feb / 1 Mar 1700 Gelderland, Zutphen 30 Jun / 12 Jul 1700 Iceland 16 Nov / 28 Nov 1700 Pisa, Florence 20 Dec 1750 / 1 Jan 1751 Great Britain 2 / 14 Sep 1752 Sweden (with Finland) 17 Feb / 1 Mar 1753 Graubündenlocation-dependent from 1760 until 1812 Albania 1913 Bulgaria 31 Mar / 14 Apr 1916 Russia 31 Jan / 14 Feb 1918 Yugoslavia 14 / 28 Jan 1919 Greece 15 Feb / 1 Mar 1923 Greek Orthodox Church 10 / 24 Mar 1924 Romania 30 Sep / 14 Oct 1924 Ottoman Empire (tax year) 15 Feb / 1 Mar 1917 Turkey 1 Jan 1926 For full list, see website below http://www.ortelius.de/kalender/greg_en.php
A householder rated at £100 in a large town, or £50 in a small town, was qualified to be a special juror, while a householder rated at £30 in London and Middlesex, and £20 elsewhere, was qualified to be a common juror. There were various other qualifications for a special juror, such as if a man was entitled to be called "Esquire," or if he was a merchant or a banker, but in practice the special jury list was largely made up on the basis of rateable qualification (i.e. liability for local property tax in England).
The first statutory recognition of their existence occurs so late as in the Act 3 Geo. II. c. 25, but the principle seems to have been admitted in early times. We find in the year 1450 (29 Hen. VI.) a petition for a special Jury, that is jurors 'who dwell within the shire, and have lands and tenements to the yearly value of £20 to try a plea which it was supposed might be pleaded in abatement on a bill of appeal of murder. The special jury was used most extensively from 1770 to 1790, roughly during Lord Mansfield's tenure as Lord Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench, and declined thereafter. The first statutory requirements for special jurors were introduced in the Juries Act of 1825 (6 Geo. IV. c. 50), which required such jurors to be merchants, bankers, esquires, or persons of higher degree.The special jury abolished in England in 1949, except for the City of London special jury that remained available until 1971 for commercial trials in the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_jury
|