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Chaosium Digest Volume 20 Number 09
Chaosium Digest Volume 20, Number 9
Date: Monday, July 21, 1997
Number: 4 of 5
Contents:
Irish Brehon Law, Section 2 (Mike Maxwell) PENDRAGON
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From: Mike Maxwell <mmaxwell@mbl.edu>
Subject: Irish Brehon Law, Section 2
System: Pendragon
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Section 2, Copyright 1997 Mike Maxwell, mmaxwell@mbl.edu
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II. Offenses
Offenses in Irish law can be grouped into three broad categories:
those against another's body, those against another's property, and
those that involve a loss of eineach. In secular law, a payment can
atone for virtually any offense. In this section, I list offenses
under secular law, along with the associated payment and consequences
to eineach (when appropriate). The GM should consult the "Dishonor
Table" in _Pendragon_ (page 200) to determine the amount of Honor
lost. The offenses below can be considered to take place outside of
the Church's jurisdiction. The Church can be thought of recognizing
these offenses plus others, such as working on Sunday.
Church law generally employs the death penalty more often than secular
law. The Chuch recognizes three forms of crime and punishment: a crime
of lesser value than the culprit, where the culprit makes a payment; a
crime that equals the culprit's value, where the culprit is enslaved;
a crime of greater value than the culprit, where the culprit is killed
and his kin pays a fine. In secular law, the death penalty is an
option when the culprit cannot or will not pay.
A. Offenses to the body.
1. Illegal injury.
To start with, the law texts recognize circumstances under which is it
lawful to harm another. These include cases in which the injury is
intentional, such as in a duel, during battle, in self-defense, by an
enforcing-surety on a delinquent principal, against outlawed
individuals, by someone attempting to stop a crime, or a non-fatal
fight between women. In other cases, the injury is accidental, such as
during a game or during work.
When an illegal injury occurs, the victim is brought to his home and
tended by his kin and a physician for nine days. If the victim dies,
then the culprit must pay the fine for murder (see below). If the
victim is alive after nine days, then a physician formally examines
him. At this point, the culprit must pay for the injury. The actual
payment depends upon the nature of wound and the status of victim, for
which the law texts go into great detail (e.g., one heifer for every
20 hairs pulled from the head of a virgin bishop). A simple rule is to
have the culprit pay the victim's eineach for each Major or Mortal
Wound, and to pay half of the victim's eineach for each Light Wound.
If the physician judges that the victim is unlikely to recover from
the injury, then the culprit additionally pays the victim's eineach;
this fine releases the culprit from further liability for the victim's
fate.
If the physician judges that the culprit needs further treatment but
will recover, then the culprit must take the victim on
sick-maintenance (folog n-orthrusa), but only if the injury will
detract from the victim's capacity for work, action, or movement.
Under sick-maintenance, the victim and his retinue (if any), are
brought to the house of a kinsman of the culprit. The culprit's kin
and the victim's kin exchange pledges, and a surety guarantees that
the culprit's kin will meet the following obligations. First, the
culprit's kin must assume any further medical expenses, as well as
providing food and proper accomodation (i.e., no noise or fighting in
the house). Second, the culprit's kin must provide a substitute to do
the victim's work. If the victim is married, then the culprit's kin
must pay half of the victim's eineach for "barring procreation." If
the victim is an excessively lustful man, then he may have his wife
with him on sick-maintenance in order to protect the women of the
nursing-house. Third, the victim must be returned home safely.
Certain types are not entitled to sick-maintenance. These include
members of the aos da/na, as it is considered to be difficult to find
proper substitutes for them. Those of high rank, such as chieftains,
bishops, and wealthy lords, do not receive sick-maintenance, as their
retinues would be excessively burdensome. Dangerous individuals,
including lunatics, werewolves, and viragoes, are not entitled to
sick-maintenance.
2. Illegal murder.
As with injury, the killing of another is lawful under some
circumstances: in a duel, in battle, or in self-defense. Thieves in
the act of stealing and outlaws may be legally killed. As discussed
below, unransomed criminal captives (cimbid) may be killed, as can
fugitive murderers in a blood-feud.
Under secular law, an illegal killing can be very expensive for the
culprit and his kin, as it involves two payments. The first is the
body-price (e/raic), which is a fixed fine of 7 cumals for the killing
of any landed man within the tu/ath. Six of the cumals go to the
victim's derbfine, and the other cumal goes to the victim's mother's
kin.
The second payment (cro/ di/re) is actually a collection of fines paid
out to the male members of the victim's derbfine. For each of the
following fines, the payment is based upon the eineach of the kinsman
in question, not the victim's eineach:
* the victim's sons and brothers receive their full eineach;
* the victim's father receives his full eineach;
* the victim's grandfather, the victim's paternal first uncles (i.e.,
father's brothers), and paternal first cousins receive half of their
eineach;
* the victim's great-uncles (i.e., grandfather's brothers), second
uncles (i.e., father's cousins), second cousins (i.e., sons of the
second uncles), fosterfather, and fosterbrothers receive one-fourth of
their eineach.
Two forms of killing carry severe penalties. A secret killing is where
the body is concealed and the killer fails to acknowledge the
crime. Here, the killer must double all of the fines in the second
payment (cro/ di/re).
Kin-slaying (fingal) presents a horrific paradox. When the victim and
culprit are of the same kin, how can the kin pay itself? Furthermore,
if the other kinsmen avenge the victim, then they too will have slain
a kinsman, the culprit. Thus, the usual punishment for kin-slaying is
banishment from the tu/ath, leaving the culprit an outlaw.
If the culprit's kin is unwilling or unable to meet the payment for
murder, then the victim's kin takes the culprit into custody. The
victim's kin can legally put the culprit to death, enslave him, or
hold him as a criminal captive (cimbid) until the payment is made. If
a non-paying killer flees from the victim's kin, then the victim's kin
and his fosterfather and fosterbrothers are obligated to carry out a
blood-feud (di/gail), through which the fugitive may be legally slain.
For murder, the Church prescribes the death penalty and a payment of 7
cumals by the culprit's kin to the victim's kin. Merciful churches lay
down an alternative penalty of 14 years' penance and a payment of 14
cumals to the victim's kin. Murder by a clergyman entails a 10-year
exile, seven of which must be spent in penance and abstinence. Upon
completion of this exile, the killer pays the victim's kin 7 cumals
and offers himself as a servant to the victim's parents.
3. Violation of protection.
In the law texts, every man of the tu/ath can provide legal protection
(sna/dud) to another for a period of time. This protection includes
the protector's house and immediate surroundings (e.g., yard, garden,
enclosure). A GM may wish to set the number of days of legal
protection equal to the protector's eineach. Whoever injures or kills
someone under protection must pay the protector's honor price as well
as the appropriate fine for the attack to the victim or his kin. It is
illegal to provide protection to absconders (e.g., runaway slave or
unfilial son or wife, or a fugitive killer). Protecting a fugitive
criminal reduces the protector's eineach to 10 dairy cows.
4. Rape and harassment.
Irish law recognizes two forms of rape, forcible rape and unconsenting
sex (i.e., seduction of a drunk or sleeping woman). For either form,
the culprit must pay the eineach of the victim's legal superior (i.e.,
husband, father, son, or guardian). If the victim is an unmarried girl
of 14 years or older, a chief wife, or a nun, then an additional
body-price of 7 cumals must be paid. If the victim is a concubine,
then only 3 cumals are additionally paid. In forcible rape, the
culprit must provide for the rearing of the resultant child.
There are also penalties for harassing or touching a woman against her
will. Half of the woman's superior's eineach is paid for kissing or
touching her flesh; one-quarter eineach is paid for making contact
with her clothes.
In some cases, no redress can be sought by an assaulted woman. These
include a promiscuous or adulterous woman, a woman who invites a man
into a bush or bed, a married woman who goes unaccompanied into an
ale-house, or a woman that conceals the fact that she has been raped.
B. Offenses to property
1. Trespassing and damage to property.
For minor forms of trespassing (e.g., looking into a house unbidden,
opening a door without permission, crossing one's courtyard or
enclosure without permission), the trespasser pays one heifer to the
aggrieved party. If one uses another's property without permission,
such as a mill or kiln, then the aggrieved party is paid one dairy
cow. There is no penalty if stress or urgency compels one to trespass
or to use another's property.
When property is damaged, the owner can demand compensation only if he
has stored or maintained the property in a safe and appropriate manner
(e.g., keeping tools in a shed, upkeeping fences around a
garden). Irish law recognizes damages caused by humans and that caused
by animals. If a human damages one's property, then the culprit must
fix or replace the damaged property and pay the injured party's
eineach.
Damage by animals typically involves the fouling or eating of a
neighbor's crops or the killing of the neighbor's livestock by dogs.
Owners of animals are expected to take measures to restrain them
properly. A GM may wish to have each landowner make a Stewardship roll
against each of his neighbors once per year. If the landowner fails
his roll, then one or a group of his animals wanders from his
farm. Those neighbors that fail their rolls have inadequate fences,
and the escaped animals invade their farms, but the neighbors cannot
claim compensation for any damage. If all neighbors make their rolls,
then the animals breach some neighbor's fence 50% of the time. In this
case, the neighbor can legitimately demand compensation. The owner of
the trespassing animals must fix or replace the damaged property and
pay half of the injured party's eineach. If it is determined that
there was malice or neglect on the part of the owner, then the
trespass is counted as an offense "by humans", and the neighbor's full
eineach is paid. Owners of animals are not liable for trespasses by
animals in heat/rut or by animals that are frightened by another
party. In the latter case, he who frightened the animals fixes or
replaces the damaged property and pays the injury party's full
eineach.
2. Theft.
Irish law allows for some theft. For example, anything may be taken
from a battlefield, a burning building, or a great depth (lake or
sea). Additionally, stress or urgency can exonerate theft: taking a
horse, weapon, or vehicle in the face of danger; a hungry wanderer
taking a piece of food; taking herbs for the sick; taking a morsel of
food for a pregnant woman.
For illegal theft, the thief must return or replace the stolen item
and pay the victim's eineach. The thief must return or replace three
times the value of the item if the theft occurred in the victim's
house or immediate surroundings (i.e., yard, garden, enclosure). The
habitual thief (e.g., three convictions of theft) has his eineach
reduced to 10 dairy cows.
Stolen goods cannot be legally sold. One who receives stolen goods is
guilty of "middle theft", though only if he is aware that the goods
are stolen. A culpable "middleman" is treated as Accessory 1 or 2 (see
section D, below). If a thief brings stolen goods into an unknowing
party's house or enclosure, then he pays half of the party's eineach.
C. Offenses that bring a loss of eineach.
The previous offenses, those to the body and those to property, do not
necessarily bring shame to the culprit, except in extreme
circumstances (e.g., the slaying of a kinsman) or for repeat offenses
(theft). Other offenses result in dishonor to the culprit. For gaming
purposes, I quantify "dishonor" as the reduction of one's eineach to
10 dairy cows, which is the lowest eineach value given on page 54 of
_Pagan Shore_. All of the following offenses reduce the culprit's
eineach to 10 dairy cows.
1. Betraying one's oath.
This offense includes perjury: swearing a false oath or giving false
testimony in court. Breaking a contract (e.g., lord-client,
co-operative farming) is also betraying one's oath. This extends to
the implict contract between the Church and the laity: misused
offerings and donations can be legally recovered, and churches that
become places of sin can be destroyed. Similarly, an immoral populace
can be excommunicated. Divorce or the premature termination of
fosterage, however, do not involve losses of eineach to either party.
2. Fraud
Misrepresenting one's work (e.g., a poet overcharging for a poem, a
craftsman overcharging for shoddy goods, a brewer selling adulterated
spirits).
3. Degrading Oneself Performing tasks contrary to one's rank (e.g., a
king doing manual labor, travelling alone, or fleeing battle).
4. Injustice.
This especially applies to breitheamhs. A breitheamh can be charged
with injustice if he passes a biased judgement, passes judgement after
hearing only one side of the case, passes judgement based on bribery,
or refuses to give the "judge's pledge" before the case (see Section
IV.B). An unjust breitheamh is deprived of his office, a blotch
appears on his cheek, and disaster may befall the chieftain who
appointed him.
Chieftains and lords can be also charged with injustice, as they are
expected deal fairly with their clients and to function as ready-made
judges on occasion (see Section III.C). Clients can terminate their
periods of service with an unjust lord without having to return the
loaned goods. Unjust chieftains lose their right to rule. In theory,
several signs indicate that a chieftain or lord is unjust: infertility
in women and cattle, crop failure, defeat in battle, and disasters
(e.g., plague, storms, floods). The GM may want to use these events as
plot-hooks.
5. Refusing hospitality.
Most members of the tu/ath are expected to provide hospitality to all
other tribesmen and members of allied tribes. An exception is the base
client (betagh), who, due to his small holding, is required only to
provide a feast to his lord (with retinue) during winter. Those who
fail to provide hospitality when expected lose eineach and must pay
the refused party's eineach. Fugitives and outlaws are not entitled to
hospitality. If one shelters a fugitive from the law, one loses
eineach and is considered an Accessory 1 or 2 (see below).
6. Unjustified satire.
A fili/ can legally use satire to exert pressure upon a wrongdoer to
get him to submit to arbitration or to make amends for an offense.
Unjustified satire includes publicizing an untrue story, mocking
another's appearance, or satirizing the dead. The unjustified satirist
loses eineach, and must pay the victim's eineach and give a public
retraction.
7. Tolerating satire.
In order to avoid this offense in the case of justified satire, one
must pay whatever fine he owes or give a pledge to do the proper
action (e.g., submit to a legal case). With unjustified satire, one
must receive one's eineach and a public retraction from the satirist.
Otherwise, one loses eineach for tolerating satire.
D. Special considerations.
1. Accessories.
Irish law recognizes three kinds of accessories ("crime of the eye"):
* Accessory 1: he who instigates the offense, accompanies the culprit,
and exults in the aftermath, but does not act (i.e., does not harm,
damage, or steal). This accessory is liable for the full penalty of
the offense.
* Accessory 2: he who exults or instigates, and may accompany, but
does not act. This accessory is liable for half of the penalty of the
offense.
* Accessory 3 (the onlooker): he who accompanies but does not
instigate, exult, or act. This accessory is liable for one-fourth of
the penalty of the offense. Church law especially penalizes the
onlooker; in many cases, the onlooker pays the full penalty of the
offense.
Several kinds of persons may witness the offense without being liable
as accessories. These are those who attempt to stop the offense, as
well as those who cannot act to stop the offense (e.g., clergy, women,
children, the senseless and the senile).
2. Women and children.
If a woman commits an offense, her legal superior pays the penalty. An
offense against a woman is considered as an offense against her
superior, and her superior is paid his eineach.
Similarly, a dependent child's father or guardian pays for any
offenses committed by the child. Offenses against young children
(i.e., between baptism and 7 years) bring a payment of 20-29 dairy
cows to the father or guardian, reflecting the Church's elevation of
the status of young children. Offenses against dependent children over
7 years result in a payment of the father's or guardian's eineach.
3. Church.
Clergy members that commit secular offenses must pay the same fines
that laymen do. The Church additionally imposes penance upon
wrongdoing clergymen. Offenses against the clergy or Church property
come under Church law. The Church recognizes three basic kinds of
crime and punishment, described at the beginning of Section II. When a
fine is to be paid, the Church typically charges twice the eineach of
the aggrieved clergy and twice the value of its damaged property.
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End of Section 2, Copyright 1997 Mike Maxwell, mmaxwell@mbl.edu
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