The Parliament held a very different line of policy from that adopted by

the Châtelet, which only took a political part in the religious troubles

of Protestantism and the League with a view to serve and defend the cause

of the people. In spite of its fits of personal animosity, and its

rebellious freaks, Parliament remained almost invariably attached to the

side of the King and the court. It always leaned to the absolute

maintenance of things as they were, instead of following progress and

changes which time necessitated. It was for severe measures, for

intimidation more than for gentleness and toleration, and it yielded

sooner or later to the injunctions and admonitions of the King, although,

at the same time, it often disapproved the acts which it was asked to

sanction.

[Illustration: Fig. 316.--Seal of King Chilpéric, found in his Tomb at

Tournay in 1654.]

Secret Tribunals.

The Old Man of the Mountain and his Followers in Syria.--The Castle of

Alamond, Paradise of Assassins.--Charlemagne the Founder of Secret

Tribunals amongst the Saxons.--The Holy Vehme.--Organization of the

Tribunal of the _Terre Rouge_, and Modes adopted in its

Procedures.--Condemnations and Execution of Sentences.--The Truth

respecting the Free Judges of Westphalia.--Duration and Fall of the

Vehmic Tribunal.--Council of Ten in Venice; its Code and Secret

Decisions.--End of the Council of Ten.

During the Middle Ages, human life was generally held in small respect;

various judicial institutions--if not altogether secret, at least more or

less enveloped in mystery--were remarkable for being founded on the

monstrous right of issuing the most severe sentences with closed doors,

and of executing these sentences with inflexible rigour on individuals who

had not been allowed the slightest chance of defending themselves.

While passing judgment in secret, they often openly dealt blows as

unexpected and terrible as they were fatal. Therefore, the most innocent

and the most daring trembled at the very name of the _Free Judges of the

Terre-Rouge,_ an institution which adopted Westphalia as the special, or

rather as the central, region of its authority; the _Council of Ten_

exercised their power in Venice and the states of the republic; and the

_Assassins_ of Syria, in the time of St. Louis, made more than one

invasion into Christian Europe. We must nevertheless acknowledge that,

terrible as these mysterious institutions were, the general credulity, the

gross ignorance of the masses, and the love of the marvellous, helped not

a little to render them even more outrageous and alarming than they really

were.

Marco Polo, the celebrated Venetian traveller of the thirteenth century,

says, "We will speak of the Old Man of the Mountain. This prince was named

Alaodin. He had a lovely garden full of all manner of trees and fruits, in

a beautiful valley, surrounded by high hills; and all round these

plantations were various palaces and pavilions, decorated with works of

art in gold, with paintings, and with furniture of silk. Therein were to

be seen rivulets of wine, as well as milk, honey, and gentle streams of

limpid water. He had placed therein damsels of transcendent beauty and

endowed with great charms, who were taught to sing and to play all manner

of instruments; they were dressed in silk and gold, and continually walked

in these gardens and palaces. The reasons for which the Old Man had these

palaces built were the following. Mahomet having said that those who

should obey his will should go to paradise, and there find all kinds of

luxuries, this prince wished it to be believed that he was the prophet and

companion of Mahomet, and that he had the power of sending whom he chose

to paradise. No one could succeed in entering the garden, because an

impregnable castle had been built at the entrance of the valley, and it

could only be approached by a covered and secret way. The Old Man had in

his court some young men from ten to twenty years of age, chosen from

those inhabitants of the hills who seemed to him capable of bearing arms,

and who were bold and courageous. From time to time he administered a

certain drink to ten or twelve of these young men, which sent them to

sleep, and when they were in deep stupor, he had them carried into the

garden. When they awoke, they saw all we have described: they were

surrounded by the young damsels, who sang, played instruments together,

caressed them, played all sorts of games, and presented them with the most

exquisite wines and meats (Fig. 317). So that these young men, satiated

with such pleasures, did not doubt that they were in paradise, and would

willingly have never gone out of it again.

"At the end of four or five days, the Old Man sent them to sleep again,

and had them removed from the garden in the same way in which they had

been brought in. He then called them before him, and asked them where they

had been. 'By your grace, lord,' they answered, 'we have been in

paradise.' And then they related, in the presence of everybody, what they

had seen there. This tale excited the astonishment of all those who heard

it, and the desire that they might be equally fortunate. The Old Man would

then formally announce to those who were present, as follows: 'Thus saith

the law of our prophet, He causes all who fight for their Lord to enter

into paradise; if you obey me you shall enjoy that happiness.' By such

words and plans this prince had so accustomed them to believe in him, that

he whom he ordered to die for his service considered himself lucky. All

the nobles or other enemies of the Old Man of the Mountain were put to

death by the assassins in his service; for none of them feared death,

provided he complied with the orders and wishes of his lord. However

powerful a man might be, therefore, if he was an enemy of the Old Man's,

he was sure to meet with an untimely end."

[Illustration: Fig. 317.--The Castle of Alamond and its

Enchantments.--Fac-simile of a Miniature in "Marco Polo's Travels,"

Manuscript of the Fifteenth. Century, in the Library of the Arsenal of

Paris.]

In his story, which we translate literally from the original, written in

ancient French, the venerable traveller attributes the origin of this

singular system of exercising power over the minds of persons to a prince

who in reality did but keep up a tradition of his family; for the Alaodin

herein mentioned is no other than a successor of the famous Hassan, son of

Ali, who, in the middle of the eleventh century, took advantage of the

wars which devastated Asia to create himself a kingdom, comprising the

three provinces of Turkistan, Djebel, and Syria. Hassan had embraced the

doctrine of the Ishmaelian sect, who pretended to explain allegorically

all the precepts of the Mahometan religion, and who did away with public

worship, and originated a creed which was altogether philosophical. He

made himself the chief exponent of this doctrine, which, by its very

simplicity, was sure to attract to him many people of simple and sincere

minds. Attacked by the troops of the Sultan Sindgar, he defended himself

vigorously and not unsuccessfully; but, fearing lest he should fall in an

unequal and protracted struggle against an adversary more powerful than

himself, he had recourse to cunning so as to obtain peace. He entranced,

or fascinated probably, by means analogous to those related by Marco Polo,

a slave, who had the daring, during Sindgar's sleep, to stick a sharp

dagger in the ground by the side of the Sultan's head. On waking, Sindgar

was much alarmed. A few days after, Hassan wrote to him, "If one had not

good intentions towards the Sultan, one might have driven the dagger,

which was stuck in the earth by his head, into his bosom." The Sultan

Sindgar then made peace with the chief of the Ishmaelians, whose dynasty

lasted for one hundred and seventy years.

The Castle of Alamond, built on the confines of Persia, on the top of a

high mountain surrounded with trees, after having been the usual residence

of Hassan, became that of his successors. As in the native language the

same word means both _prince_ and _old man_, the Crusaders who had heard

the word pronounced confounded the two, and gave the name of _Old Man of

the Mountain_ to the Ishmaelian prince at that time inhabiting the Castle

of Alamond, a name which has remained famous in history since the period

when the Sire de Joinville published his "Mémoires."

Ancient authors call the subjects of Hassan, _Haschichini, Heississini,

Assissini, Assassini_, various forms of the same expression, which, in

fact, has passed into French with a signification which recalls the

sanguinary exploits of the Ishmaelians. In seeking for the etymology of

this name, one must suppose that Haschichini is the Latin transformation

of the Arabic word Hachychy, the name of the sect of which we are

speaking, because the ecstacies during which they believed themselves

removed to paradise were produced by means of _haschisch_ or _haschischa_.

We know that this inebriating preparation, extracted from hemp, really

produces the most strange and delicious hallucinations on those who use

it. All travellers who have visited the East agree in saying that its

effects are very superior to those of opium. We evidently must attribute

to some ecstatic vision the supposed existence of the enchanted gardens,

which Marco Polo described from popular tales, and which, of course, never

existed but in the imagination of the young men, who were either mentally

excited after fasting and prayer, or intoxicated by the haschischa, and

consequently for a time lulled in dreams of celestial bliss which they

imagined awaited them under the guidance of Hassan and his descendants.

[Illustration: Fig. 318.--The Old Man of the Mountain giving Orders to his

Followers.--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the "Travels of Marco Polo,"

Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century (Library of the Arsenal of Paris).]

The Haschischini, whom certain contemporary historians describe to us as

infatuated by the hope of some future boundless felicity, owe their

melancholy celebrity solely to the blind obedience with which they

executed the orders of their chiefs, and to the coolness with which they

sought the favourable moment for fulfilling their sanguinary missions

(Fig. 318). The Old Man of the Mountain (the master of daggers, _magister

cultellorum_, as he is also called by the chronicler Jacques de Vintry),

was almost continually at war with the Mussulman princes who reigned from

the banks of the Nile to the borders of the Caspian Sea. He continually

opposed them with the steel of his fanatical emissaries; at times, also,

making a traffic and merchandise of murder, he treated for a money payment

with the sultans or emirs, who were desirous of ridding themselves of an

enemy. The Ishmaelians thus put to death a number of princes and Mahometan

nobles; but, at the time of the Crusades, religious zeal having incited

them against the Christians, they found more than one notable victim in

the ranks of the Crusaders. Conrad, Marquis of Montferrat, was

assassinated by them; the great Salah-Eddin (Saladin) himself narrowly

escaped them; Richard Coeur de Lion and Philip Augustus were pointed out

to the assassins by the Old Man, who subsequently, on hearing of the

immense preparations which Louis IX. was making for the Holy War, had the

daring to send two of his followers to France, and even into Paris, with

orders to kill that monarch in the midst of his court. This king, after

having again escaped, during his sojourn in Palestine, from the murderous

attempts of the savage messengers of the Prince of Alamond, succeeded, by

his courage, his firmness, and his virtues, in inspiring these fanatics

with so much respect, that their chief, looking upon him as protected by

heaven, asked for his friendship, and offered him presents, amongst which

was a magnificent set of chessmen, in crystal, ornamented with gold and

amber.

The successors of Hassan, simultaneously attacked by the Moguls under

Houlayon, and by the Egyptians commanded by the Sultan Bibars, were

conquered and dispossessed of their States towards the middle of the

thirteenth century; but, long after, the Ishmaelians, either because their

chiefs sought to recover their power, or because they had placed their

daggers at the disposal of some foreign foe, continued notorious in

history. At last the sect became extinct, or, at least, retired into

obscurity, and renounced its murderous profession, which had for so long

made its members such objects of terror.

We have thus seen how a legion of fanatics in the East made themselves the

blind and formidable tools of a religious and political chieftain, who was

no less ambitious than revengeful. If we now turn our attention to

Germany, we shall here find, almost at the same period, a local

institution which, although very different from the sanguinary court of

the Old Man of the Mountain, was of an equally terrible and mysterious

character. We must not, however, look at it from the same point of view,

for, having been founded with the object of furthering and defending the

establishment of a regular social state, which had been approved and

sanctioned by the sovereigns, and recognised by the Church, it at times

rendered great service to the cause of justice and humanity at a period

when might usurped right, and when the excesses and the crimes of

shameless evil-doers, and of petty tyrants, entrenched in their

impregnable strongholds, were but too often made lawful from the simple

fact that there was no power to oppose them.

The secret tribunal of Westphalia, which held its sittings and passed

sentence in private, and which carried out its decrees on the spot, and

whose rules, laws, and actions were enveloped in deep mystery, must

unquestionably be looked upon as one of the most remarkable institutions

of the Middle Ages.

[Illustration: Figs. 319 and 320.--Hermensul or Irmensul and Crodon, Idols

of the Ancient Saxons.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in the "Annales Circuli

Westphaliæ," by Herman Stangefol: in 4to, 1656.--The Idol Hermensul

appears to have presided over Executive Justice, the attributes of which

it holds in its hands.]

It would be difficult to state exactly at what period this formidable

institution was established. A few writers, and amongst these Sebastian

Munster, wish us to believe that it was founded by Charlemagne himself.

They affirm that this monarch, having subjugated the Saxons to his sway,

and having forced them to be baptized, created a secret tribunal, the

duties of which were to watch over them, in order that they might not

return to the errors of Paganism. However, the Saxons were incorrigible,

and, although Christians, they still carried on the worship of their idols

(Figs. 319 and 320); and, for this reason, it is said by these authorities

that the laws of the tribunal of Westphalia were founded by Charlemagne.

It is well known that from the ninth to the thirteenth century, all that

part of Germany between the Rhine and the Weser suffered under the most

complete anarchy. In consequence of this, and of the increase of crime

which remained unpunished, energetic men established a rigorous

jurisdiction, which, to a certain extent, suppressed these barbarous

disorders, and gave some assurance to social intercourse; but the very

mystery which gave weight to the institution was the cause of its origin

being unknown. It is only mentioned, and then cursorily, in historical

documents towards the early part of the fifteenth century. This court of

judicature received the name of _Femgericht_, or _Vehmgericht_, which

means Vehmic tribunal. The origin of the word _Fem_, _Vehm_, or _Fam_,

which has given rise to many scientific discussions, still remains in

doubt. The most generally accepted opinion is, that it is derived from a

Latin expression--_vemi_ (_vae mihi_), "woe is me!"

The special dominion over which the Vehmic tribunal reigned supreme was

Westphalia, and the country which was subjected to its laws was designated

as the _Terre Rouge_. There was no assembly of this tribunal beyond the

limits of this Terre Rouge, but it would be quite impossible to define

these limits with any accuracy. However, the free judges, assuming the

right of suppressing certain crimes committed beyond their territory, on

more than one occasion summoned persons living in various parts of

Germany, and even in provinces far from Westphalia, to appear before them.

We do not know all the localities wherein the Vehmic tribunal sat; but the

most celebrated of them, and the one which served as a model for all the

rest, held its sittings under a lime-tree, in front of the castle-gate of

Dortmund (Fig. 321). There the chapters-general of the association usually

assembled; and, on certain occasions, several thousands of the free judges

were to be seen there.

Each tribunal was composed of an unlimited number of free judges, under

the presidency of a free count, who was charged with the higher

administration of Vehmic justice. A _free county_ generally comprised

several free tribunals, or _friestuhle_. The free count, who was chosen by

the prince of the territory in which the tribunal sat, had two courts, one

secret, the other public. The public assizes, which took place at least

three times a year, were announced fourteen days beforehand, and any

person living within the _county_, and who was summoned before the free

count, was bound to appear, and to answer all questions which might be put

to him. It was required that the free judges (who are generally mentioned

as _femnoten_--that is to say, _sages_--and who are, besides, denoted by

writers of the time by the most honourable epithets: such as, "serious

men," "very pious," "of very pure morals," "lovers of justice," &c.)

should be persons who had been born in lawful wedlock, and on German soil;

they were not allowed to belong to any religions order, or to have ever

themselves been summoned before the Vehmic tribunal. They were nominated

by the free counts, but subject to the approval of their sovereigns. They

were not allowed to sit as judges before having been initiated into the

mysteries of the tribunals.

[Illustration: Fig. 321.--View of the Town of Dortmund in the Sixteenth

Century.--From an Engraving on Copper in P. Bertius's "Theatrum

Geographicum."]

The initiation of a free judge was accompanied by extraordinary

formalities. The candidate appeared bareheaded; he knelt down, and,

placing two fingers of his right hand on his naked sword and on a rope,

he took oath to adhere to the laws and customs of the holy tribunal, to

devote his five senses to it, and not to allow himself to be allured

therefrom either by silver, gold, or even precious stones; to forward the

interests of the tribunal "above everything illumined by the sun, and all

that the rain reaches;" and to defend them "against everything which is

between heaven and earth." The candidate was then given the sign by which

members of the association recognised each other. This sign has remained

unknown; and nothing, even in the deeds of the Vehmic archives, leads one

even to guess what it was, and every hypothesis on this subject must be

looked upon as uncertain or erroneous. By one of the fundamental statutes

of the Terre Rouge, a member convicted of betraying the secrets of the

order was condemned to the most cruel punishment; but we have every reason

for asserting that this sentence was never carried out, or even issued

against a free judge.

[Illustration: Fig. 322.--The Landgrave of Thuringia and his

Wife.--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the Collection of the Minnesinger,

Manuscript of the Fourteenth Century.]

In one case alone during the fourteenth century, was an accusation of

this sort made, and that proved to be groundless.

It would have been considered the height of treason to have given a

relation, or a friend, the slightest hint that he was being pursued, or

that he had been condemned by the Holy Vehme, in order that he might seek

refuge by flight. And in consequence of this, there was a general mistrust

of any one belonging to the tribunal, so much so that "a brother," says a

German writer, "often feared his brother, and hospitality was no longer

possible."

The functions of free judges consisted in going about the country seeking

out crimes, denouncing them, and inflicting immediate punishment on any

evil-doer caught in the act (Figs. 323 and 324). The free judges might

assemble provided there were at least seven in number to constitute a

tribunal; but we hear of as many as three hundred assisting at a meeting.

[Illustration: Figs. 323 and 324.--Free Judges.--Fac-simile of two

Woodcuts in the "Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster: in folio, 1552.]

It has been erroneously stated that the sittings of the Vehmic tribunals

were held at night in the depths of forests, or in subterranean places;

but it appears that all criminal business was first heard in public, and

could only be subjected to a secret judgment when the accused had failed

either publicly to justify himself or to appear in person.

When three free judges caught a malefactor in the very act, they could

seize him, judge him, and inflict the penalty on the spot. In other cases,

when a tribunal considered that it should pursue an individual, it

summoned him to appear before it. The summons had to be written, without

erasures, on a large sheet of vellum, and to bear at least seven

seals--that of the free count, and those of six free judges; and these

seals generally represented either a man in full armour holding a sword,

or a simple sword blade, or other analagous emblems (Figs. 325 to 327).

Two free judges delivered the summons personally where a member of the

association was concerned; but if the summons affected an individual who

was not of the Vehmic order, a sworn messenger bore it, and placed it in

the very hands of the person, or slipped it into his house. The time given

for putting in an appearance was originally six weeks and three days at

least, but at a later period this time was shortened. The writ of summons

was repeated three times, and each time bore a greater number of seals of

free judges, so as to verify the legality of the instrument. The accused,

whether guilty or not, was liable to a fine for not answering the first

summons, unless he could prove that it was impossible for him to have done

so. If he failed to appear on the third summons, he was finally condemned

_en corps et en honneur_.

[Illustration: Fig. 325.--Seal of Herman Loseckin, Free Count of Medebach,

in 1410.]

[Illustration: Fig. 326.--Seal of the Free Count, Hans Vollmar von Twern,

at Freyenhagen, in 1476-1499.]

[Illustration: Fig. 327.--Seal of Johann Croppe, Free Count of Kogelnberg,

in 1413.]

We have but imperfect information as to the formalities in use in the

Vehmic tribunals. But we know that the sittings were invested with a

certain solemnity and pomp. A naked sword--emblematical of justice, and

recalling our Saviour's cross in the shape of its handle--and a

rope--emblematical of the punishment deserved by the guilty--were placed

on the table before the president. The judges were bareheaded, with bare

hands, and each wore a cloak over his shoulder, and carried no arms of any

sort.

[Illustration: Fig. 328.--The Duke of Saxony and the Marquis of

Brandenburg.--From the "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum sive Tabula veteris

Geographiae," in folio. Engraved by Wieriex, after Gérard de Jode.]

The plaintiff and the defendant were each allowed to produce thirty

witnesses. The defendant could either defend himself, or entrust his case

to an advocate whom he brought with him. At first, any free judge being

defendant in a suit, enjoyed the privilege of justifying himself on oath;

but it having been discovered that this privilege was abused, all persons,

of whatever station, were compelled to be confronted with the other side.

The witnesses, who were subpoened by either accuser or accused, had to

give their evidence according to the truth, dispassionately and

voluntarily. In the event of the accused not succeeding in bringing

sufficient testimony to clear himself, the prosecutor claimed a verdict in

his favour from the free count presiding at the tribunal, who appointed

one of the free judges to declare it. In case the free judge did not feel

satisfied as to the guilt, he could, by making oath, temporarily divest

himself of his office, which devolved upon a second, a third, or even a

fourth free judge. If four free judges were unable to decide, the matter

was referred to another sitting; for judgment had to be pronounced by the

appointed free judge at the sitting.

The various penalties for different crimes were left to the decision of

the tribunal. The rules are silent on the subject, and simply state that

the culprits will be punished "according to the authority of the secret

bench." The _royale, i.e._ capital punishment, was strictly applied in all

serious cases, and the manner of execution most in use was hanging (Figs.

329, 330).

A person accused who did not appear after the third summons, was out-lawed

by a terrible sentence, which deprived him of all rights, of common peace,

and forbad him the company of all Christians; by the wording of this

sentence, his wife was looked upon as a widow, his children as orphans;

his neck was abandoned to the birds of the air, and his body to the beasts

of the field, "but his soul was recommended to God." At the expiration of

one year and a day, if the culprit had not appeared, or had not

established his common rights, all his goods were confiscated, and

appropriated by the King or Emperor. When the condemnation referred to a

prince, a town, or a corporation (for the accusations of the tribunal

frequently were issued against groups of individuals), it caused the loss

of all honour, authority, and privileges. The free count, in pronouncing

the sentence, threw the rope, which was before him, on to the ground; the

free judges spat upon it, and the name of the culprit was inscribed on the

book of blood. The sentence was kept secret; the prosecutor alone was

informed of it by a written notice, which was sealed with seven seals.

When the condemned was present, the execution took place immediately, and,

according to the custom of the Middle Ages, its carrying out was deputed

to the youngest of the free judges. The members of the Vehmic association

enjoyed the privilege of being hung seven feet higher than those who were

not associates.

The Vehmic judgments were, however, liable to be appealed against: the

accused might, at the sitting, appeal either to what was termed the

imperial chamber, a general chapter of the association, which assembled at

Dortmund, or (and this was the more frequent custom) to the emperor, or

ruler of the country, whether he were king, prince, duke, or bishop,

provided that these authorities belonged to the association. The revision

of the judgment could only be entrusted to members of the tribunal, who,

in their turn, could only act in Westphalia. The condemned might also

appeal to the lieutenant-general of the emperor, or to the grand master of

the Holy Vehme, a title which, from the remotest times, was given to the

Archbishop of Cologne. There are even instances of appeals having been

made to the councils and to the Popes, although the Vehmic association

never had any communication or intercourse with the court of Rome. We must

not forget a very curious privilege which, in certain cases, was left to

the culprit as a last resource; he might appeal to the emperor, and

solicit an order which required the execution of the sentence to be

applied after a delay _of one hundred years, six weeks, and one day_.

[Illustration: Figs. 329 and 330.--Execution of the Sentences of the

Secret Tribunal.--Fac-simile of Woodcuts in the "Cosmographie Universelle"

of Munster: in folio, Basle, 1552.]

The chapter-general of the association was generally summoned once a year

by the emperor or his lieutenant, and assembled either at Dortmund or

Arensberg, in order to receive the returns of causes judged by the various

Vehmic tribunals; to hear the changes which had taken place among the

members of the order; to receive the free judges; to hear appeals; and,

lastly, to decide upon reforms to be introduced into the rules. These

reforms usually had reference to the connection of imperial authority with

the members of the secret jurisdiction, and were generally suggested by

the emperors, who were jealous of the increasing power of the association.

From what we have shown, on the authority of authentic documents, we

understand how untrue is the tradition, or rather the popular idea, that

the _Secret Tribunal_ was an assembly of bloodthirsty judges, secretly

perpetrating acts of mere cruelty, without any but arbitrary laws. It is

clear, on the contrary, that it was a regular institution, having, it is

true, a most mysterious and complex organization, but simply acting in

virtue of legal prescriptions, which were rigorously laid down, and

arranged in a sort of code which did honour to the wisdom of those who had

created it.

It was towards the end of the fourteenth and the beginning of the

fifteenth centuries that the Vehmic jurisdiction reached its highest

degree of power; its name was only pronounced in a whisper and with

trembling; its orders were received with immediate submission, and its

chastisements always fell upon the guilty and those who resisted its

authority. There cannot be a doubt but that the Westphalian tribunal

prevented many great crimes and public misfortunes by putting a wholesome

check on the nobles, who were ever ready to place themselves above all

human authority; and by punishing, with pitiless severity, the audacity of

bandits, who would otherwise have been encouraged to commit the most

daring acts with almost the certainty of escaping with impunity. But the

Holy Vehme, blinded by the terror it inspired, was not long without

displaying the most extravagant assumption of power, and digressing from

the strict path to which its action should have been confined. It summoned

before its tribunals princes, who openly denied its authority, and cities,

which did not condescend to answer to its behests. In the fifteenth

century, the free judges were composed of men who could not be called of

unimpeachable integrity; many persons of doubtful morals having been

raised to the dignity by party influence and by money. The partiality and

the spirit of revenge which at times prompted their judgments, were

complained of; they were accused of being open to corruption; and this

accusation appears to have been but too well founded. It is known that,

according to a feudal practice established in the Vehmic system, every

new free judge was obliged to make a present to the free count who had

admitted him into the order; and the free counts did not hesitate to make

this an important source of revenue to themselves by admitting, according

to an historian, "many people as _judges_ who, in reality, deserved to be

_judged_."

[Illustration: Fig. 331.--View of Cologne in the Sixteenth Century.--From

a Copper-plate in the "Theatrum Geographicum" of P. Bertius. The three

large stars represent, it is supposed, the Three Persons of the Trinity,

and the seven small ones the Electors of the Empire.]

[Illustration: Fig. 332.--German Knights (Fifteenth Century).--From a

Plate in the "Life of the Emperor Maximilian," engraved by Burgmayer, from

Drawings by Albert Durer.]

Owing to the most flagrant and most insolent abuses of power, the ancient

authority of the institution became gradually more and more shaken. On one

occasion, for instance, in answer to a summons issued by the Imperial

Tribunal against some free judges, the tribunal of the Terre-Rouge had the

daring to summon the Emperor Frederick III. before it to answer for this

want of respect. On another occasion, a certain free count, jealous of one

of his associates, hung him with his own hands while out on a hunting

excursion, alleging that his rank of free judge authorised him to execute

summary justice. From that time there was a perpetual cry of horror and

indignation against a judicial institution which thus interpreted its

duties, and before long the State undertook the suppression of these

secret tribunals. The first idea of this was formed by the electors of the

empire at the diet of Trèves in 1512. The Archbishop of Cologne succeeded,

however, in parrying the blow, by convoking the chapter-general of the

order, on the plea of the necessity of reform. But, besides being

essentially corrupt, the Holy Vehme had really run its course, and it

gradually became effete as, by degrees, a better organized and more

defined social and political state succeeded to the confused anarchy of

the Middle Ages, and as the princes and free towns adopted the custom of

dispensing justice either in person or through regular tribunals. Its

proceedings, becoming more and more summary and rigorous, daily gave rise

to feelings of greater and greater abhorrence. The common saying over all

Germany was, "They first hang you, and afterwards inquire into your

innocence." On all sides opposition arose against the jurisdiction of the

free judges. Princes, bishops, cities, and citizens, agreed instinctively

to counteract this worn-out and degenerate institution. The struggle was

long and tedious. During the last convulsions of the expiring Holy Vehme,

there was more than one sanguinary episode, both on the side of the free

judges themselves, as well as on that of their adversaries. Occasionally

the secret tribunal broke out into fresh signs of life, and proclaimed its

existence by some terrible execution; and at times, also, its members paid

dearly for their acts. On one occasion, in 1570, fourteen free judges,

whom Kaspar Schwitz, Count of Oettingen, caused to be seized, were already

tied up in bags, and about to be drowned, when the mob, pitying their

fate, asked for and obtained their reprieve.

The death-blow to the Vehmic tribunal was struck by its own hand. It

condenmed summarily, and executed without regular procedure, an inhabitant

of Munster, who used to scandalize the town by his profligacy. He was

arrested at night, led to a small wood, where the free judges awaited him,

and condemned to death without being allowed an advocate; and, after being

refused a respite even of a few hours, that he might make his peace with

heaven, he was confessed by a monk, and his head was severed from his

body by the executioner on the spot.

[Illustration: Fig. 333.--Interior Court of the Palace of the Doges of

Venice: Buildings in which are the Cells and _the Leads_.--From Cesare

Vecellio.]

Dating from this tragical event, which excited universal indignation, the

authority of the free judges gradually declined, and, at last, the

institution became almost defunct, and merely confined itself to

occasionally adjudicating in simple civil matters.

We must not omit to mention the Council of Ten of Venice when speaking on

the subject of arbitrary executions and of tyrannical and implacable

justice. In some respects it was more notorious than the Vehmic tribunal,

exercising as it did a no less mysterious power, and inspiring equal

terror, though in other countries.

This secret tribunal was created after a revolt which burst on the

republic of Venice on the 15th of June, 1310. At first it was only

instituted for two months, but, after various successive prorogations, it

was confirmed for five years, on the 31st of January, 1311. In 1316 it was

again appointed for five years; on the 2nd of May, 1327, for ten years

more; and at last was established permanently. In the fifteenth century

the authority of the Council of Ten was consolidated and rendered more

energetic by the creation of the Inquisitors of State. These were three in

number, elected by the Council of Ten; and the citizens on whom the votes

fell could not refuse the functions which were thus spontaneously, and

often unexpectedly, assigned to them. The authority of Inquisitors of

State was declared to be "unlimited."

In order to show the power and mode of action of this terrible tribunal,

it is perhaps better to make a few extracts from the code of rules which

it established for itself in June, 1454.

This document--several manuscript copies of which are to be found in the

public libraries of Paris--says, "The inquisitors may proceed against any

person whomsoever, no rank giving the right of exemption from their

jurisdiction. They may pronounce any sentence, even that of death; only

their final sentences must be passed unanimously. They shall have complete

charge of the prisons and _the leads_ (Fig. 333). They may draw at sight

from the treasury of the Council of Ten, without having to give any

account of the use made of the funds placed in their hands.

"The proceedings of the tribunal shall always be secret; its members shall

wear no distinctive badge. No open arrests shall be made. The chief of the

bailiffs (_sbirri_) shall avoid making domiciliary arrests, but he shall

try to seize the culprit unawares, away from his home, and so securely get

him under _the leads_ of the Palace of the Doges. When the tribunal shall

deem the death of any person necessary, the execution shall never be

public; the condemned shall be drowned at night in the Orfano Canal.

"The tribunal shall authorise the generals commanding in Cyprus or in

Candia, in the event of its being for the welfare of the Republic, to

cause any patrician or other influential person in either of those

Venetian provinces to disappear, or to be assassinated secretly, if such a

measure should conscientiously appear to them indispensable; but they

shall be answerable before God for it.

[Illustration: Fig. 334.--Member of the Brotherhood of Death, whose duty

it was to accompany those sentenced to death.--From Cesare Vecellio.]

"If any workman shall practise in a foreign land any art or craft to the

detriment of the Republic, he shall be ordered to return to his country;

and should he not obey, all his nearest relatives shall be imprisoned, in

order that his affection for them may bring him to obedience. Should he

still persist in his disobedience, secret measures shall be taken to put

him to death, wherever he may be.

"If a Venetian noble reveal to the tribunal propositions which have been

made to him by some foreign ambassador, the agent, excepting it should be

the ambassador himself, shall be immediately carried off and drowned.

"If a patrician having committed any misdeed shall take refuge under the

protection of a foreign ambassador, he shall be put to death forthwith.

"If any noble in full senate take upon himself to question the authority

of the Council of Ten, and persist in attacking it, he shall be allowed to

speak without interruption; immediately afterwards he shall be arrested,

and instructions as to his trial shall be given, so that he may be judged

by the ordinary tribunals; and, if this does not succeed in preventing his

proceedings, he shall be put to death secretly.

"In case of a complaint against one of the heads of the Council of Ten,

the instructions shall be made secretly, and, in case of sentence of

death, poison shall be the agent selected.

"Should any dissatisfied noble speak ill of the Government, he shall first

be forbidden to appear in the councils and public places for two years.

Should he not obey, or should he repeat the offence after the two years,

he shall be drowned as incorrigible...." &c.

One can easily understand that in order to carry out these laws the most

careful measures were taken to organize a system of espionage. The nobles

were subjected to a rigorous supervision; the privacy of letters was not

respected; an ambassador was never lost sight of, and his smallest acts

were narrowly watched. Any one who dared to throw obstacles in the way of

the spies employed by the Council of Ten, was put on the rack, and "made

afterwards to receive the punishment which the State inquisitors might

consider befitting." Whole pages of the secret statutes bear witness that

lying and fraud formed the basis of all the diplomatic relations of the

Venetian Government. Nevertheless the Council of Ten, which was solely

instituted with the view of watching over the safety of the Republic,

could not inter-meddle in civil cases, and its members were forbidden to

hold any sort of communication with foreigners.

[Illustration: Figs. 335 and 336.--Chiefs of Sbirri, in the Secret

Service of the Council of Ten.--From Cesare Vecellio.]

The list of names of Venetian nobles and distinguished persons who became

victims to the suspicions tyranny of the Council of Ten, and of the State

inquisitors, would be very long and of little interest. We may mention a

few, however. We find that in 1385, Peter Justiniani, and, in 1388,

Stephen Monalesco, were punished for holding secret transactions with the

Lord of Padua; in 1413, John Nogarola, for having tried to set fire to

Verona; in 1471, Borromeo Memo, for having uttered defamatory speeches

against the Podestat of Padua. Not only was this Borromeo Memo punished,

but three witnesses of the crime which was imputed to him were condemned

to a year's imprisonment and three years' banishment, for not having

denounced the deed "between evening and morning." In 1457 we find the

Council of Ten attacking the Doge himself, by requiring the abdication of

Francis Foscari. A century earlier it had caused the Doge, Marino Faliero,

who was convicted of having taken part in a plot to destroy the influence

of the nobility, to be executed on the very staircase of the ducal palace,

where allegiance to the Republic was usually sworn.

[Illustration: Fig. 337.--Doge of Venice. Costume before the Sixteenth

Century. From Cesare Vecellio.]

[Illustration: Fig. 338.--Doge of Venice in Ceremonial Costume of the

Sixteenth Century. From Cesare Vecellio.]

Like the Holy Vehme, the Council of Ten compromised its authority by the

abuse of power. In 1540, unknown to the Senate, and in spite of the

well-prescribed limit of its authority, it concluded a treaty with the

Turkish Sultan, Soliman II. The Senate at first concealed its indignation

at this abuse of power, but, in 1582, it took measures so as considerably

to restrain the powers of the Council of Ten, which, from that date, only

existed in name.

[Illustration: Fig. 339.--Seal of the Free Count Heinrich Beckmann, of

Medebach. (1520--1533).]

Punishments.

Refinements of Penal Cruelty.--Tortures for different Purposes.--Water,

Screw-boards, and the Rack.--The Executioner.--Female

Executioners.--Tortures.--Amende Honorable.--Torture of Fire, Real and

Feigned.--Auto-da-fé.--Red-hot Brazier or

Basin.--Beheading.--Quartering.--Wheel.--Garotte.--Hanging.--The

Whip.--The Pillory.--The

Arquebuse.--Tickling.--Flaying.--Drowning.--Imprisonment.--Regulations

of Prisons.--The Iron Cage.--The Leads of Venice.

"It is very sad," says the learned M. de Villegille, "to observe the

infinite variety of tortures which have existed since the beginning of the

world. It is, in fact, difficult to realise the amount of ingenuity

exercised by men in inventing new tortures, in order to give themselves

the satisfaction of seeing their fellow-creatures agonizing in the most

awful sufferings."

In entering upon the subject of ancient modes of punishment, we must first

speak of the torture, which, according to the received phrase, might be

either _previous_ or _preparatory: previous_, when it consisted of a

torture which the condemned had to endure previous to capital punishment;

and _preparatory_, when it was applied in order to elicit from the culprit

an avowal of his crime, or of that of his accomplices. It was also called

_ordinary_, or _extraordinary_, according to the duration or violence with

which it was inflicted. In some cases the torture lasted five or six

consecutive hours; in others, it rarely exceeded an hour. Hippolyte de

Marsillis, the learned and venerable jurisconsult of Bologna, who lived at

the beginning of the fifteenth century, mentions fourteen ways of

inflicting torture. The compression of the limbs by special instruments,

or by ropes only; injection of water, vinegar, or oil, into the body of

the accused; application of hot pitch, and starvation, were the processes

most in use. Other means, which were more or less applied according to the

fancy of the magistrate and the tormentor or executioner, were remarkable

for their singular atrocities. For instance, placing hot eggs under the

arm-pits; introducing dice between the skin and flesh; tying lighted

candles to the fingers, so that they might be consumed simultaneously with

the wax; letting water trickle drop by drop from a great height on the

stomach; and also the custom, which was, according to writers on criminal

matters, an indescribable torture, of watering the feet with salt water

and allowing goats to lick them. However, every country had special

customs as to the manner of applying torture.

In France, too, the torture varied according to the provinces, or rather

according to the parliaments. For instance, in Brittany the culprit, tied

in an iron chair, was gradually brought near a blazing furnace. In

Normandy, one thumb was squeezed in a screw in the ordinary, and both

thumbs in the extraordinary torture. At Autun, after high boots made of

spongy leather had been placed on the culprit's feet, he was tied on to a

table near a large fire, and a quantity of boiling water was poured on the

boots, which penetrated the leather, ate away the flesh, and even

dissolved the bones of the victim.

At Orleans, for the ordinary torture the accused was stripped half naked,

and his hands were tightly tied behind his back, with a ring fixed between

them. Then by means of a rope fastened to this ring, they raised the poor

man, who had a weight of one hundred and eighty pounds attached to his

feet, a certain height from the ground. For the extraordinary torture,

which then took the name of _estrapade_, they raised the victim, with two

hundred and fifty pounds attached to his feet, to the ceiling by means of

a capstan; he was then allowed to fall several times successively by jerks

to the level of the ground, by which means his arms and legs were

completely dislocated (Fig. 340).

At Avignon, the ordinary torture consisted in hanging the accused by the

wrists, with a heavy iron ball at each foot; for the extraordinary

torture, which was then much in use in Italy under the name of _veglia_,

the body was stretched horizontally by means of ropes passing through

rings riveted into the wall, and attached to the four limbs, the only

support given to the culprit being the point of a stake cut in a diamond

shape, which just touched the end of the back-bone. A doctor and a surgeon

were always present, feeling the pulse at the temples of the patient, so

as to be able to judge of the moment when he could not any longer bear the

pain.

[Illustration: Fig. 340.--The Estrapade, or Question

Extraordinary.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in the Work of J. Millaeus,

"Praxis Criminis Persequendi." folio, Paris, 1541.]

[Illustration: Fig. 341.--The Water Torture.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in

J. Damhoudère's "Praxis Rerum Criminalium:" in 4to, Antwerp, 1556.]

At that moment he was untied, hot fomentations were used to revive him,

restoratives were administered, and, as soon as he had recovered a little

strength, he was again put to the torture, which went on thus for six

consecutive hours.

In Paris, for a long time, the _water torture_ was in use; this was the

most easily borne, and the least dangerous. A person undergoing it was

tied to a board which was supported horizontally on two trestles. By means

of a horn, acting as a funnel, and whilst his nose was being pinched, so

as to force him to swallow, they slowly poured four _coquemars_ (about

nine pints) of water into his mouth; this was for the ordinary torture.

For the extraordinary, double that quantity was poured in (Fig. 341). When

the torture was ended, the victim was untied, "and taken to be warmed in

the kitchen," says the old text.

At a later period, the _brodequins_ were preferred. For this torture, the

victim was placed in a sitting posture on a massive bench, with strong

narrow boards fixed inside and outside of each leg, which were tightly

bound together with strong rope; wedges were then driven in between the

centre boards with a mallet; four wedges in the ordinary and eight in the

extraordinary torture. Not unfrequently during the latter operation the

bones of the legs were literally burst.

The _brodequins_ which were often used for ordinary torture were stockings

of parchment, into which it was easy enough to get the feet when it was

wet, but which, on being held near the fire, shrunk so considerably that

it caused insufferable agony to the wearer.

Whatever manner of torture was applied, the accused, before undergoing it,

was forced to remain eight or ten hours without eating. Damhoudère, in his

famous technical work, called "Practique et Enchiridion des Causes

Criminelles" (1544), also recommends that the hair should be carefully

shaved from the bodies of persons about to undergo examination by torture,

for fear of their concealing some countercharm which would render them

insensible to bodily pain. The same author also recommends, as a rule,

when there are several persons "to be placed on the rack" for the same

deed, to begin with those from whom it would be most probable that

confession would be first extorted. Thus, for instance, when a man and a

woman were to suffer one after the other, he recommended that the woman be

first tortured, as being the weaker of the two; when a father and son were

concerned, the son should be tortured in presence of the father, "who

naturally fears more for his son than for himself." We thereby see that

the judges were adepts in the art of adding moral to physical tortures.

The barbarous custom of punishment by torture was on several occasions

condemned by the Church. As early as 866, we find, from Pope Nicholas V.'s

letter to the Bulgarians, that their custom of torturing the accused was

considered contrary to divine as well as to human law: "For," says he, "a

confession should be voluntary, and not forced. By means of the torture,

an innocent man may suffer to the utmost without making any avowal; and,

in such a case, what a crime for the judge! Or the person may be subdued

by pain, and may acknowledge himself guilty, although he be not so, which

throws an equally great sin upon the judge."

[Illustration: Fig. 342.--Type of Executioner in the Decapitation of John

the Baptist (Thirteenth Century).--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the

Psalm-book of St. Louis. Manuscript preserved in the Musée des

Souverains.]

After having endured the _previous_ torture, the different phases of which

were carried out by special tormentors or executioners, the condemned was

at last handed over to the _maistre des haultes oeuvres_--that is to say,

the _executioner_--whose special mission was that of sending culprits to

another world (Fig. 342).

[Illustration: Fig. 343.--Swiss Grand Provost (Fifteenth Century).--From a

Painting in the "Danse des Morts" of Basle, engraved by Mérian.]

The executioner did not hold the same position in all countries. For

whereas in France, Italy, and Spain, a certain amount of odium was

attached to this terrible craft, in Germany, on the contrary, successfully

carrying out a certain number of capital sentences was rewarded by titles

and the privileges of nobility (Fig. 343). At Reutlingen, in Suabia, the

last of the councillors admitted into the tribunal had to carry out the

sentence with his own hand. In Franconia, this painful duty fell upon the

councillor who had last taken a wife.

In France, the executioner, otherwise called the _King's Sworn Tormentor,_

was the lowest of the officers of justice. His letters of appointment,

which he received from the King, had, nevertheless, to be registered in

Parliament; but, after having put the seal on them, it is said that the

chancellor threw them under the table, in token of contempt. The

executioner was generally forbidden to live within the precincts of the

city, unless it was on the grounds where the pillory was situated; and, in

some cases, so that he might not be mistaken amongst the people, he was

forced to wear a particular coat, either of red or yellow. On the other

hand, his duties ensured him certain privileges. In Paris, he possessed

the right of _havage_, which consisted in taking all that he could hold in

his hand from every load of grain which was brought into market; however,

in order that the grain might be preserved from ignominious contact, he

levied his tax with a wooden spoon. He enjoyed many similar rights over

most articles of consumption, independently of benefiting by several taxes

or fines, such as the toll on the Petit-Pont, the tax on foreign traders,

on boats arriving with fish, on dealers in herrings, watercress, &c.; and

the fine of five sous which was levied on stray pigs (see previous

chapter), &c. And, lastly, besides the personal property of the condemned,

he received the rents from the shops and stalls surrounding the pillory,

in which the retail fish trade was carried on.

It appears that, in consequence of the receipts from these various duties

forming a considerable source of revenue, the prestige of wealth by

degrees dissipated the unfavourable impressions traditionally attached to

the duties of executioner. At least, we have authority for supposing this,

when, for instance, in 1418, we see the Paris executioner, who was then

captain of the bourgeois militia, coming in that capacity to touch the

hand of the Duke of Burgundy, on the occasion of his solemn entry into

Paris with Queen Isabel of Bavaria. We may add that popular belief

generally ascribed to the executioner a certain practical knowledge of

medicine, which was supposed inherent in the profession itself; and the

acquaintance with certain methods of cure unknown to doctors, was

attributed to him; people went to buy from him the fat of culprits who had

been hung, which was supposed to be a marvellous panacea. We may also

remark that, in our day, the proficiency of the executioner in setting

dislocated limbs is still proverbial in many countries.

[Illustration: Fig. 344.--Amende Honorable before the

Tribunal.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in J. Damhoudère's "Praxis Rerum

Criminalium:" in 4to, Antwerp, 1556.]

More than once during the thirteenth century the duties of the executioner

were performed by women, but only in those cases in which their own sex

was concerned; for it is expressly stated in an order of St. Louis, that

persons convicted of blasphemy shall be beaten with birch rods, "the men

by men, and the women by women only, without the presence of men." This,

however, was not long tolerated, for we know that a period soon arrived

when women were exempted from a duty so little adapted to their physical

weakness and moral sensitiveness.

The learned writer on criminal cases, Josse Damhoudère, whom we have

already mentioned, and whom we shall take as our special guide in the

enumeration of the various tortures, specifies thirteen ways in which the

executioner "carries out his executions," and places them in the following

order:--"Fire"--"the sword"--"mechanical force"--"quartering"--"the

wheel"--"the fork"--"the gibbet"--"drawing"--"spiking"--"cutting off the

ears"--"dismembering"--"flogging or beating"--and the "pillory."

[Illustration: Fig. 345.--The Punishment by Fire.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut

of the "Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster: in folio, Basle, 1552.]

But before entering upon the details of this revolting subject, we must

state that, whatever punishment was inflicted upon a culprit, it was very

rare that its execution had not been preceded by the _amende honorable_,

which, in certain cases, constituted a distinct punishment, but which

generally was but the prelude to the torture itself. The _amende

honorable_ which was called _simple_ or _short_, took place without the

assistance of the executioner in the council chamber, where the condemned,

bareheaded and kneeling, had to state that "he had falsely said or done

something against the authority of the King or the honour of some person"

(Fig. 344). For the _amende honorable in figuris_--that is to say, in

public--the condemned, in his shirt, barefooted, the rope round his neck,

followed by the executioner, and holding in his hand a wax taper, with a

weight, which was definitely specified in the sentence which had been

passed upon him, but which was generally of two or four pounds,

prostrated himself at the door of a church, where in a loud voice he had

to confess his sin, and to beg the pardon of God and man.

When a criminal had been condemned to be burnt, a stake was erected on the

spot specially designed for the execution, and round it a pile was

prepared, composed of alternate layers of straw and wood, and rising to

about the height of a man. Care was taken to leave a free space round the

stake for the victim, and also a passage by which to lead him to it.

Having been stripped of his clothes, and dressed in a shirt smeared with

sulphur, he had to walk to the centre of the pile through a narrow

opening, and was then tightly bound to the stake with ropes and chains.

After this, faggots and straw were thrown into the empty space through

which he had passed to the stake, until he was entirely covered by them;

the pile was then fired on all sides at once (Fig. 345).

Sometimes, the sentence was that the culprit should only be delivered to

the flames after having been previously strangled. In this case, the dead

corpse was then immediately placed where the victim would otherwise have

been placed alive, and the punishment lost much of its horror. It often

happened that the executioner, in order to shorten the sufferings of the

condemned, whilst he prepared the pile, placed a large and pointed iron

bar amongst the faggots and opposite the stake breast high, so that,

directly the fire was lighted, the bar was quickly pushed against the

victim, giving a mortal blow to the unfortunate wretch, who would

otherwise have been slowly devoured by the flames. If, according to the

wording of the sentence, the ashes of the criminal were to be scattered to

the winds, as soon as it was possible to approach the centre of the

burning pile, a few ashes were taken in a shovel and sprinkled in the air.

They were not satisfied with burning the living, they also delivered to

the flames the bodies of those who had died a natural death before their

execution could be carried out, as if an anticipated death should not be

allowed to save them from the punishment which they had deserved. It also

happened in certain cases, where a person's guilt was only proved after

his decease, that his body was disinterred, and carried to the stake to be

burnt.

The punishment by fire was always inflicted in cases of heresy, or

blasphemy. The Spanish Inquisition made such a constant and cruel use of

it, that the expression _auto-da-fé_ (act of faith), strangely perverted

from its original meaning, was the only one employed to denote the

punishment itself. In France, in the beginning of the fourteenth century,

fifty-nine Templars were burned at the same time for the crimes of heresy

and witchcraft. And three years later, on the 18th March, 1314, Jacques

Molay, and a few other dignitaries of the Order of the Templars, also

perished in the flames at the extremity of the island of Notre Dame, on

the very spot where the equestrian statue of Henry IV. now stands.

Every one is acquainted with the fact that judges were found iniquitous

enough to condemn Joan of Arc to death by fire as a witch and a heretic.

Her execution, which took place in the market-place of Rouen, is

remarkable from a circumstance which is little known, and which had never

taken place on any other occasion. When it was supposed that the fire

which surrounded the young heroine on all sides had reached her and no

doubt suffocated her, although sufficient time had not elapsed for it to

consume her body, a part of the blazing wood was withdrawn, "in order to

remove any doubts from the people," and when the crowd had satisfied

themselves by seeing her in the middle of the pile, "chained to the post

and quite dead, the executioner replaced the fire...." It should be stated

in reference to this point, that Joan having been accused of witchcraft,

there was a general belief among the people that the flames would be

harmless to her, and that she would be seen emerging from her pile

unscathed.

The sentence of punishment by fire did not absolutely imply death at the

stake, for there was a punishment of this description which was specially

reserved for base coiners, and which consisted in hurling the criminals

into a cauldron of scalding water or oil.

We must include in the category of punishment by fire certain penalties,

which were, so to speak, but the preliminaries of a more severe

punishment, such as the sulphur-fire, in which the hands of parricides, or

of criminals accused of high treason, were burned. We must also add

various punishments which, if they did not involve death, were none the

less cruel, such as the red-hot brazier, _bassin ardent_, which was passed

backwards and forwards before the eyes of the culprit, until they were

destroyed by the scorching heat; and the process of branding various marks

on the flesh, as an ineffaceable stigma, the use of which has been

continued to the present day.

In certain countries decapitation was performed with an axe; but in

France, it was carried out usually by means of a two-handed sword or

glave of justice, which was furnished to the executioner for that purpose

(Fig. 346). We find it recorded that in 1476, sixty sous parisis were paid

to the executioner of Paris "for having bought a large _espée à feuille_,"

used for beheading the condemned, and "for having the old sword done up,

which was damaged, and had become notched whilst carrying out the sentence

of justice upon Messire Louis de Luxembourg."

[Illustration: Fig. 346.--Beheading.--Fac-simile of a Miniature on Wood in

the "Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster: in folio, Basle, 1552.]

Originally, decapitation was indiscriminately inflicted on all criminals

condemned to death; at a later period, however, it became the particular

privilege of the nobility, who submitted to it without any feeling of

degradation. The victim--unless the sentence prescribed that he should be

blindfolded as an ignominious aggravation of the penalty--was allowed to

choose whether he would have his eyes covered or not. He knelt down on the

scaffold, placed his head on the block, and gave himself up to the

executioner (Fig. 347). The skill of the executioner was generally such

that the head was almost invariably severed from the body at the first

blow. Nevertheless, skill and practice at times failed, for cases are on

record where as many as eleven blows were dealt, and at times it happened

that the sword broke. It was no doubt the desire to avoid this mischance

that led to the invention of the mechanical instrument, now known under

the name of the _guillotine_, which is merely an improvement on a

complicated machine which was much more ancient than is generally

supposed. As early as the sixteenth century the modern guillotine already

existed in Scotland under the name of the _Maiden_, and English historians

relate that Lord Morton, regent of Scotland during the minority of James

VI., had it constructed after a model of a similar machine, which had long

been in use at Halifax, in Yorkshire. They add, and popular tradition also

has invented an analogous tale in France, that this Lord Morton, who was

the inventor or the first to introduce this kind of punishment, was

himself the first to experience it. The guillotine is, besides, very

accurately described in the "Chronicles of Jean d'Auton," in an account of

an execution which took place at Genoa at the beginning of the sixteenth

century. Two German engravings, executed about 1550 by Pencz and

Aldegrever, also represent an instrument of death almost identical with

the guillotine; and the same instrument is to be found on a bas-relief of

that period, which is still existing in one of the halls of the Tribunal

of Luneburg, in Hanover.

[Illustration: Decapitation of Guillaume de Pommiers.

[Illustration: Fig. 347.--Public Executions.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in

the Latin Work of J. Millaeus, "Praxis Criminis Persequendi:" small folio,

Parisis, Simon de Colines, 1541.]

And his Confessor, at Bordeaux in 1377, by order of the King of England's

Lieutenant. _Froissart's Chronicles._ No. 2644, Bibl. nat'le de Paris.]

Possibly the invention of such a machine was prompted by the desire to

curtail the physical sufferings of the victim, instead of prolonging them,

as under the ancient system. It is, however, difficult to believe that the

mediæval judges were actuated by any humane feelings, when we find that,

in order to reconcile a respect for _propriety_ with a due compliance with

the ends of justice, the punishment of burying alive was resorted to for

women, who could not with decency be hung up to the gibbets. In 1460, a

woman named Perette, accused of theft and of receiving stolen goods, was

condemned by the Provost of Paris to be "buried alive before the gallows,"

and the sentence was literally carried out.

_Quartering_ may in truth be considered the most horrible penalty invented

by judicial cruelty. This punishment really dates from the remotest ages,

but it was scarcely ever inflicted in more modern times, except on

regicides, who were looked upon as having committed the worst of crimes.

In almost all cases, the victim had previously to undergo various

accessory tortures: sometimes his right hand was cut off, and the

mutilated stump was burnt in a cauldron of sulphur; sometimes his arms,

thighs, or breasts were lacerated with red-hot pincers, and hot oil,

pitch, or molten lead was poured into the wounds.

[Illustration: Fig. 348.--Demons applying the Torture of the

Wheel.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in the "Grand Kalendrier ou Compost des

Bergers:" small folio, Troyes, Nicholas le Rouge, 1529.]

After these horrible preliminaries, a rope was attached to each of the

limbs of the criminal, one being bound round each leg from the foot to the

knee, and round each arm from the wrist to the elbow. These ropes were

then fastened to four bars, to each of which a strong horse was harnessed,

as if for towing a barge. These horses were first made to give short

jerks; and when the agony had elicited heart-rending cries from the

unfortunate man, who felt his limbs being dislocated without being broken,

the four horses were all suddenly urged on with the whip in different

directions, and thus all the limbs were strained at one moment. If the

tendons and ligaments still resisted the combined efforts of the four

horses, the executioner assisted, and made several cuts with a hatchet on

each joint. When at last--for this horrible torture often lasted several

hours--each horse had drawn out a limb, they were collected and placed

near the hideous trunk, which often still showed signs of life, and the

whole were burned together. Sometimes the sentence was, that the body

should be hung to the gibbet, and that the limbs should be displayed on

the gates of the town, or sent to four principal towns in the extremities

of the kingdom. When this was done, "an inscription was placed on each of

the limbs, which stated the reason of its being thus exposed."

The _wheel_ is the name applied to a torture of very ancient origin, but

which was applied during the Middle Ages to quite a different torture from

that used in olden times. The modern instrument might indeed have been

called the cross, for it only served for the public exhibition of the body

of the criminal whose limbs had been previously broken alive. This

torture, which does not date earlier than the days of Francis I., is thus

described:--The victim was first tied on his back to two joists forming a

St. Andrew's cross, each of his limbs being stretched out on its arms. Two

places were hollowed out under each limb, about a foot apart, in order

that the joints alone might touch the wood. The executioner then dealt a

heavy blow over each hollow with a square iron bar, about two inches broad

and rounded at the handle, thus breaking each limb in two places. To the

eight blows required for this, the executioner generally added two or

three on the chest, which were called _coups de grâce_, and which ended

this horrible execution. It was only after death that the broken body was

placed on a wheel, which was turned round on a pivot. Sometimes, however,

the sentence ordered that the condemned should be strangled before being

broken, which was done in such cases by the instantaneous twist of a rope

round the neck.

Strangling, thus carried out, was called _garotting_. This method is still

in use in Spain, and is specially reserved for the nobility. The victim is

seated on a scaffold, his head leaning against a beam and his neck grasped

by an iron collar, which the executioner suddenly tightens from behind by

means of a screw.

For several centuries, and down to the Revolution, hanging was the most

common mode of execution in France; consequently, in every town, and

almost in every village, there was a permanent gibbet, which, owing to the

custom of leaving the bodies to hang till they crumbled into dust, was

very rarely without having some corpses or skeletons attached to it. These

gibbets, which were called _fourches patibulaires_ or _justices_, because

they represented the authority of the law, were generally composed of

pillars of stone, joined at their summit by wooden traverses, to which the

bodies of criminals were tied by ropes or chains. The gallows, the pillars

of which varied in number according to the will of the authorities, were

always placed by the side of frequented roads, and on an eminence.

[Illustration: Fig. 349.--The Gibbet of Montfaucon.--From an Engraving of

the Topography of Paris, in the Collection of Engravings of the National

Library.]

According to prescribed rule, the gallows of Paris, which played such an

important part in the political as well as the criminal history of that

city, were erected on a height north of the town, near the high road

leading into Germany. Montfaucon, originally the name of the hill, soon

became that of the gallows itself. This celebrated place of execution

consisted of a heavy mass of masonry, composed of ten or twelve layers of

rough stones, and formed an enclosure of forty feet by twenty-five or

thirty. At the upper part there was a platform, which was reached by a

stone staircase, the entrance to which was closed by a massive door (Fig.

349). On three sides of this platform rested sixteen square pillars, about

thirty feet high, made of blocks of stone a foot thick. These pillars were

joined to one another by double bars of wood, which were fastened into

them, and bore iron chains three feet and a half long, to which the

criminals were suspended. Underneath, half-way between these and the

platform, other bars were placed for the same purpose. Long and solid

ladders riveted to the pillars enabled the executioner and his assistants

to lead up criminals, or to carry up corpses destined to be hung there.

Lastly, the centre of the structure was occupied by a deep pit, the

hideous receptacle of the decaying remains of the criminals.

One can easily imagine the strange and melancholy aspect of this

monumental gibbet if one thinks of the number of corpses continually

attached to it, and which were feasted upon by thousands of crows. On one

occasion only it was necessary to replace _fifty-two_ chains, which were

useless; and the accounts of the city of Paris prove that the expense of

executions was more heavy than that of the maintenance of the gibbet, a

fact easy to be understood if one recalls to mind the frequency of capital

sentences during the Middle Ages. Montfaucon was used not only for

executions, but also for exposing corpses which were brought there from

various places of execution in every part of the country. The mutilated

remains of criminals who had been boiled, quartered, or beheaded, were

also hung there, enclosed in sacks of leather or wickerwork. They often

remained hanging for a considerable time, as in the case of Pierre des

Essarts, who had been beheaded in 1413, and whose remains were handed over

to his family for Christian burial after having hung on Montfaucon for

three years.

The criminal condemned to be hanged was generally taken to the place of

execution sitting or standing in a waggon, with his back to the horses,

his confessor by his side, and the executioner behind him. He bore three

ropes round his neck; two the size of the little finger, and called

_tortouses_, each of which had a slip-knot; the third, called the _jet_,

was only used to pull the victim off the ladder, and so to launch him into

eternity (Fig. 350). When the cart arrived at the foot of the gallows, the

executioner first ascended the ladder backwards, drawing the culprit after

him by means of the ropes, and forcing him to keep pace with him; on

arriving at the top, he quickly fastened the two _tortouses_ to the arm of

the gibbet, and by a jerk of his knee he turned the culprit off the

ladder, still holding the _jet_ in his own hand. He then placed his feet

on the tied hands of the condemned, and suspending himself by his hands to

the gibbet, he finished off his victim by repeated jerks, thus ensuring

complete strangulation.

When the words "shall be hung until death doth ensue" are to be found in

a sentence, it must not be supposed that they were used merely as a form,

for in certain cases the judge ordered that the sentence should be only

carried out as far as would prove to the culprit the awful sensation of

hanging. In such cases, the victim was simply suspended by ropes passing

under the arm-pits, a kind of exhibition which was not free from danger

when it was too prolonged, for the weight of the body so tightened the

rope round the chest that the circulation might be stopped. Many culprits,

after hanging thus an hour, when brought down, were dead, or only survived

this painful process a short time.

[Illustration: Fig. 350.--Hanging to Music. (A Minstrel condemned to the

Gallows obtained permission that one of his companions should accompany

him to his execution, and play his favourite instrument on the ladder of

the Gallows.)--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in Michault's "Doctrinal du Temps

Présent:" small folio, goth., Bruges, about 1490.]

We have seen elsewhere (chapter on _Privileges and Rights, Feudal and

Municipal_) that, when the criminal passed before the convent of the

_Filles-Dieu_, the nuns of that establishment were bound to bring him out

a glass of wine and three pieces of bread, and this was called _le dernier

morceau des patients._ It was hardly ever refused, and an immense crowd

assisted at this sad meal. After this the procession went forward, and on

arriving near the gallows, another halt was made at the foot of a stone

cross, in order that the culprit might receive the religions exhortations

of his confessor. The moment the execution was over, the confessor and

the officers of justice returned to the Châtelet, where a repast provided

by the town awaited them.

[Illustration: Fig. 351.--View of the Pillory in the Market-place of Paris

in the Sixteenth Century, after a Drawing by an unknown Artist of 1670.]

Sometimes the criminals, in consequence of a peculiar wording of the

sentence, were taken to Montfaucon, whether dead or alive, on a ladder

fastened behind a cart. This was an aggravation of the penalty, which was

called _traîner sur la claie_.

The penalty of the lash was inflicted in two ways: first, under the

_custode_, that is to say within the prison, and by the hand of the gaoler

himself, in which case it was simply a correction; and secondly, in

public, when its administration became ignominious as well as painful. In

the latter case the criminal was paraded about the town, stripped to the

waist, and at each crossway he received a certain number of blows on the

shoulders, given by the public executioner with a cane or a knotted rope.

When it was only required to stamp a culprit with infamy he was put into

the _pillory_, which was generally a kind of scaffold furnished with

chains and iron collars, and bearing on its front the arms of the feudal

lord. In Paris, this name was given to a round isolated tower built in the

centre of the market. The tower was sixty feet high, and had large

openings in its thick walls, and a horizontal wheel was provided, which

was capable of turning on a pivot. This wheel was pierced with several

holes, made so as to hold the hands and head of the culprit, who, on

passing and repassing before the eyes of the crowd, came in full view, and

was subjected to their hootings (Fig. 351). The pillories were always

situated in the most frequented places, such as markets, crossways, &c.

Notwithstanding the long and dreadful enumeration we have just made of

mediæval punishments, we are far from having exhausted the subject; for we

have not spoken of several more or less atrocious punishments, which were

in use at various times and in various countries; such as the _Pain of the

Cross_, specially employed against the Jews; the _Arquebusade_, which was

well adapted for carrying out prompt justice on soldiers; the

_Chatouillement_, which resulted in death after the most intense tortures;

the _Pal_ (Fig. 352), _flaying alive_, and, lastly, _drowning_, a kind of

death frequently employed in France. Hence the common expression, _gens de

sac et de corde_, which was derived from the sack into which persons were

tied who were condemned to die by immersion.... But we will now turn away

from these horrible scenes, and consider the several methods of penal

sequestration and prison arrangements.

It is unnecessary to state that in barbarous times the cruel and pitiless

feeling which induced legislators to increase the horrors of tortures,

also contributed to the aggravation of the fate of prisoners. Each

administrator of the law had his private gaol, which was entirely under

his will and control (Fig. 353). Law or custom did not prescribe any

fixed rules for the internal government of prisons. There can be little

doubt, however, that these prisons were as small as they were unhealthy,

if we may judge from that in the Rue de la Tannerie, which was the

property of the provost, the merchants, and the aldermen of Paris in 1383.

Although this dungeon was only eleven feet long by seven feet wide, from

ten to twenty prisoners were often immured in it at the same time.

[Illustration: Fig. 352.--Empalement.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in the

"Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster: in folio, Basle, 1552.]

Paris alone contained twenty-five or thirty special prisons, without

counting the _vade in pace_ of the various religious communities. The most

important were the Grand Châtelet, the Petit Châtelet, the Bastille, the

Conciergerie, and the For-l'Evêque, the ancient seat of the ecclesiastical

jurisdiction of the Bishop of Paris. Nearly all these places of

confinement contained subterranean cells, which were almost entirely

deprived of air and light. As examples of these may be mentioned the

_Chartres basses_ of the Petit Châtelet, where, under the reign of Charles

VI., it was proved that no man could pass an entire day without being

suffocated; and the fearful cells excavated thirty feet below the surface

of the earth, in the gaol of the Abbey of Saint Germain des Prés, the roof

of which was so low that a man of middle height could not stand up in

them, and where the straw of the prisoners' beds floated upon the stagnant

water which had oozed through the walls.

[Illustration: Fig. 353.--The Provost's Prison.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut

in J. Damhoudère's "Praxis Rerum Civilium."]

The Grand Châtelet was one of the most ancient prisons of Paris, and

probably the one which held the greatest number of prisoners. By a curious

and arbitrary custom, prisoners were compelled to pay a gaol fee on

entering and going out of this prison, which varied according to their

rank, and which was established by a law of the year 1425. We learn from

this enactment the names by which the various places of confinement

composing this spacious municipal prison were known. A prisoner who was

confined in the _Beauvoir, La Mate_ or _La Salle_, had the right of

"having a bed brought from his own house," and only had to pay the _droit

de place_ to the gaoler; any one who was placed in the _Boucherie_, in the

_Beaumont_, or in the _Griseche_, "which are closed prisons," had to pay

four deniers "_pour place_;" any one who was confined in the _Beauvais_,

"lies on mats or on layers of rushes or straw" (_gist sur nates ou sur

couche de feurre ou de paille_); if he preferred, he might be placed _au

Puis_, in the _Gourdaine_, in the _Bercueil_, or in the _Oubliette_, where

he did not pay more than in the _Fosse_. For this, no doubt, the smallest

charge was made. Sometimes, however, the prisoner was left between two

doors ("_entre deux huis_"), and he then paid much less than he would in

the _Barbarie_ or in the _Gloriette_. The exact meaning of these curious

names is no longer intelligible to us, notwithstanding the terror which

they formerly created, but their very strangeness gives us reason to

suppose that the prison system was at that time subjected to the most

odious refinement of the basest cruelty.

From various reliable sources we learn that there was a place in the Grand

Châtelet, called the _Chausse d'Hypocras_, in which the prisoners had

their feet continually in water, and where they could neither stand up nor

lie down; and a cell, called _Fin d'aise_, which was a horrible receptacle

of filth, vermin, and reptiles; as to the _Fosse_, no staircase being

attached to it, the prisoners were lowered down into it by means of a rope

and pulley.

By the law of 1425, the gaoler was not permitted to put more than _two or

three_ persons in the same bed. He was bound to give "bread and water" to

the poor prisoners who had no means of subsistence; and, lastly, he was

enjoined "to keep the large stone basin, which was on the pavement, full

of water, so that prisoners might get it whenever they wished." In order

to defray his expenses, he levied on the prisoners various charges for

attendance and for bedding, and he was authorised to detain in prison any

person who failed to pay him. The power of compelling payment of these

charges continued even after a judge's order for the release of a prisoner

had been issued.

[Illustration: Fig. 354.--The Bastille.--From an ancient Engraving of the

Topography of Paris, in the Collection of Engravings of the National

Library.]

The subterranean cells of the Bastille (Fig. 354) did not differ much from

those of the Châtelet. There were several, the bottoms of which were

formed like a sugar-loaf upside down, thus neither allowing the prisoner

to stand up, nor even to adopt a tolerable position sitting or lying down.

It was in these that King Louis XI., who seemed to have a partiality for

filthy dungeons, placed the two young sons of the Duke de Nemours

(beheaded in 1477), ordering, besides, that they should be taken out twice

a week and beaten with birch rods, and, as a supreme measure of atrocity,

he had one of their teeth extracted every three months. It was Louis XI.,

too, who, in 1476, ordered the famous _iron cage_, to be erected in one of

the towers of the Bastille, in which Guillaume, Bishop of Verdun, was

incarcerated for fourteen years.

The Château de Loches also possessed one of these cages, which received

the name of _Cage de Balue_, because the Cardinal Jean de la Balue was

imprisoned in it. Philippe de Commines, in his "Mémoires," declares that

he himself had a taste of it for eight months. Before the invention of

cages, Louis XI. ordered very heavy chains to be made, which were fastened

to the feet of the prisoners, and attached to large iron balls, called,

according to Commines, the King's little daughters (_les fillettes du

roy_).

[Illustration: Fig. 355.--Movable Iron Cage.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in

the "Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster, in folio, Basle, 1552.]

The prison known by the name of The Leads of Venice is of so notorious a

character that its mere mention is sufficient, without its being necessary

for us to describe it. To the subject of voluntary seclusions, to which

certain pious persons submitted themselves as acts of extreme religious

devotion, it will only be necessary to allude here, and to remark that

there are examples of this confinement having been ordered by legal

authority. In 1485, Renée de Vermandois, the widow of a squire, had been

condemned to be burnt for adultery and for murdering her husband; but, on

letters of remission from the King, Parliament commuted the sentence

pronounced by the Provost of Paris, and ordered that Renée de Vermandois

should be "shut up within the walls of the cemetery of the

Saints-Innocents, in a small house, built at her expense, that she might

therein do penance and end her days." In conformity with this sentence,

the culprit having been conducted with much pomp to the cell which had

been prepared for her, the door was locked by means of two keys, one of

which remained in the hands of the churchwarden (_marguillier_) of the

Church of the Innocents, and the other was deposited at the office of the

Parliament. The prisoner received her food from public charity, and it is

said that she became an object of veneration and respect by the whole

town.

[Illustration: Fig. 356.--Cat-o'-nine-tails.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in

the "Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster.]

Jews.

Dispersion of the Jews.--Jewish Quarters in the Mediæval Towns.--The

_Ghetto_ of Rome.--Ancient Prague.--The _Giudecca_ of Venice.--Condition

of the Jews.--Animosity of the People against them--Severity and

vexatious Treatment of the Sovereigns.--The Jews of Lincoln.--The Jews

of Blois.--Mission of the _Pastoureaux_.--Extermination of the

Jews.--The Price at which the Jews purchased Indulgences.--Marks set

upon them.--Wealth, Knowledge, Industry, and Financial Aptitude of the

Jews.--Regulations respecting Usury as practised by the

Jews.--Attachment of the Jews to their Religion.

A painful and gloomy history commences for the Jewish race from the day

when the Romans seized upon Jerusalem and expelled its unfortunate

inhabitants, a race so essentially homogeneous, strong, patient, and

religious, and dating its origin from the remotest period of the

patriarchal ages. The Jews, proud of the title of "the People of God,"

were scattered, proscribed, and received universal reprobation (Fig. 357),

notwithstanding that their annals, collected under divine inspiration by

Moses and the sacred writers, had furnished a glorious prologue to the

annals of all modern nations, and had given to the world the holy and

divine history of Christ, who, by establishing the Gospel, was to become

the regenerator of the whole human family.

Their Temple is destroyed, and the crowd which had once pressed beneath

its portico as the flock of the living God has become a miserable tribe,

restless and unquiet in the present, but full of hope as regards the

future. The Jewish _nation_ exists nowhere, nevertheless, the Jewish

_people_ are to be found everywhere. They are wanderers upon the face of

the earth, continually pursued, threatened, and persecuted. It would seem

as if the existence of the offspring of Israel is perpetuated simply to

present to Christian eyes a clear and awful warning of the Divine

vengeance, a special, and at the same time an overwhelming example of the

vicissitudes which God alone can determine in the life of a people.

[Illustration: Fig. 357.--Expulsion of the Jews in the Reign of the

Emperor Hadrian (A.D. 135): "How Heraclius turned the Jews out of

Jerusalem."--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the "Histoire des Empereurs,"

Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century, in the Library of the Arsenal,

Paris.]

M. Depping, an historian of this race so long accursed, after having been

for centuries blessed and favoured by God, says, "A Jewish community in an

European town during the Middle Ages resembled a colony on an island or on

a distant coast. Isolated from the rest of the population, it generally

occupied a district or street which was separated from the town or

borough. The Jews, like a troop of lepers, were thrust away and huddled

together into the most uncomfortable and most unhealthy quarter of the

city, as miserable as it vas disgusting. There, in ill-constructed houses,

this poor and numerous population was amassed; in some cases high walls

enclosed the small and dark narrow streets of the quarter occupied by this

branded race, which prevented its extension, though, at the same time, it

often protected the inhabitants from the fury of the populace."