When Suicide Became Felony

Groot, Roger D.

doi:10.2139/ssrn.249410

Cited by 1 publication

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References 22 publications

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“…Roger Groot, for example, has gone so far as to argue that some inquest juries may have preferred not to acknowledge suicide as a felony at all. 18 Gwen and Alice Seabourne represent the other side of the debate: they argue that historians' perceptions of leniency are influenced by modern attitudes toward suicide. Because "suicide is not now generally regarded as a matter which should be the subject of punishment," we assume "community leniency in opposition to harsh royal law."…”

Section: Attitudes Towards Suicidementioning

confidence: 99%

Local Concerns: Suicide and Jury Behavior in Medieval England

Butler

2006

History Compass

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When confronted with cases of self‐killing, medieval jurors had to contend with a vast array of often conflicting concerns, from religious and folkloric condemnations of the act of suicide, to fears for the welfare of the family of the dead, and to coping with royal confiscations of a felon's goods. All of these factors had a profound impact on the verdicts put forward by members of the jury during the various stages of the legal process. While these elements form the base of jury verdicts relating to self‐killings, it must nevertheless be acknowledged that medieval juries did not respond uniformly to cases of suicide. Rather, jurors at various stages of the process differed widely in their familiarity with the dead and this familiarity had an impact on their judgments. Members of the coroners’ inquest juries were often neighbors of the dead, and thus their verdicts reflected a more local resolution to the death of a community member than the verdicts of presentment or trial juries.

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Section: Attitudes Towards Suicidementioning

confidence: 99%

Local Concerns: Suicide and Jury Behavior in Medieval England

Butler

2006

History Compass

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

When Suicide Became Felony

Cited by 1 publication

References 22 publications

Local Concerns: Suicide and Jury Behavior in Medieval England

Local Concerns: Suicide and Jury Behavior in Medieval England

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