In medieval Europe, the boundaries of legal responsibility extended far beyond human beings. Secular and ecclesiastical courts routinely held formal trials for animals accused of crimes, ranging from swarms of locusts destroying crops to livestock accused of violence. The most notorious example occurred in 1386 in Falaise, Normandy, where a sow was arrested after attacking and killing a three-month-old child.
The French legal system treated the pig with the same formal procedures granted to human defendants. The sow was detained in the local prison alongside human inmates, assigned an official defense advocate, and brought before a magistrate for a multi-day trial. Upon being found guilty of murder, the court sentenced the animal to be maimed in the leg and head to mimic the injuries inflicted on the victim before being hanged.
To emphasize the moral lesson, the sow was dressed in human clothes—including a waistcoat, breeches, and gloves—and dragged through the town square to the gallows. The local bailiff ordered local farmers to bring their pigs to witness the public execution so the swine population might learn from their peer's lethal mistake.