In 1522, the ecclesiastical court of Autun, France, initiated formal legal proceedings against the local rat population for maliciously destroying the region's barley crop. Appointed to represent the accused rodents was a young French jurist named Barthélemy de Chasseneuz. Rather than dismissing the bizarre case as nonsense, Chasseneuz treated the trial with absolute legal gravity, laying the groundwork for modern legal defense strategy.
When his clients failed to appear in response to the first summons, Chasseneuz successfully argued that a single notice was insufficient to inform all rats dispersed across vast rural fields. The court agreed and issued a second, comprehensive summons read at every parish pulpit. When the rats missed the second court date, Chasseneuz invoked the principle of legitimate excuse: the defendants could not safely travel to court because the local cats and dogs posed a mortal threat to their lives while en route.
Since defendants cannot be compelled to attend trial under peril of death, the judge was forced to adjourn the case indefinitely. This masterclass in legal delay tactics established Chasseneuz's career, leading him to write foundational treatises on canon law and animal trials.