The Fate of the Vanquished

Question 1

what did a medieval prison look like?

Answer 1

• often a room in the gatehouse (communal, usually above ground level)
• underground dungeons reserved for lower classes (cruel & unusual for knights & aristocrats)
• elites held in single rooms
• sometimes denied a window
• treatment depended on status (poor given only bread & water)
• disease common

Question 1

what was the impact of Christianity on torture?

Answer 1

• adoption of Christ. discouraged judicial torture
• Old Testament was militaristic (Jesus accepted war, god chose his ppl for conquest over Holy Land)
• love & forgiveness emphasized from 12th c. onwards (New Testament)
• wars in the name of religion esp. brutal
• Church sometimes tried to limit violence & protested extreme brutality (Peace & Truce of God, 10th-11th c.)

Question 2

what did imprisonment look like in medieval Europe?

Answer 2

• Romans: used for ppl awaiting trial rather than punishment (slavery was a more important use of resources)
• Germans: death or enslavement (imprisonment rare)
• 11th c. onwards: prisons reserved for worst criminals (e.g. kin-slayers), custodial imprisonment routine by 13th c.

custodial imprisonment = imprisonment as punishment

Question 3

what were ransoms used for?

Answer 3

• prominent leaders most likely to be killed (strategic to kill best fighter)
• Peace & Truce of God encouraged ransom as a better alternative to killing
• possible Viking influence (ran active slave trade)
• elite ransom expected by 1300 (armour, horses, & land; some deliberate mistreatement or ‘mysterious’ deaths)

Question 4

what were common forms of torture & mistreatment of the vanquished?

Answer 4

• sleep deprivation, fire to hands & feet, hanging by arms, prying teeth, etc.
• occasional but not standard
• used as a judicial tool in Rome (abandoned after rise of Christ.)
• trial by ordeal abandoned by high M.A. (new emphasis on due process & rational proof)
• goal-oriented or used as revenge/punishment

torture devices not invented until early modern period

Question 5

what were reasons for massacre?

Answer 5

• revenge
• failed treaties
• hostage exchange (killed if one side did not live up to bargain)
• killing prisoners could be seen as strategic
• common in early M.A. but criticized in high & later M.A.
• religion determined if massacres were warranted

Question 6

what are the common facts about enslavement?

Answer 6

• normal by Romans & early Germans
• enslavement of fellow Christians uncommon by 1000
• non-Christian enslavement common throughout M.A.

Question 7

what were the reasons for mutilation?

Answer 7

• goal = humiliation
• more common in early M.A. but never disappeared
• punishment in and of itself (not the means to an end)
• often prevents victims from repeating the crime (e.g. rapists castrated)
• permanent & premeditated damage or disfigurement
• insult, hatred, & religious differences were important factors

Question 8

what were the punishments for rebellion & treason?

Answer 8

• rebels usually allowed to live but forced to pay heavy ransom
• treason treated more seriously in 13th c. (growth of royal gov’ts)
• treason = drawing, flaying, quatering, disembowelling, & beheading (meant to serve as lessons)

drawing = drawn/dragged from behind horse

Question 9

how/why was rape used as a punishment for the vanquished?

Answer 9

• considered a standard spoil of war
• humiliation & punishment
• could be used as symbolic attacks on religion but not limited to religious justification
• non-combatants not exempt
• expected for women in captivity
• women deemed unmarriageable

ppl (e.g. Crusaders) could refrain out of religion dedication