In 1522 in Burgundy, France, a group of rats was hauled into a church court. That’s not a nickname or metaphor. They were actual rodents in the courthouse. What followed was a complete legal trial with summons & even a lawyer fighting for the rats’ rights. Let’s find out what actually happened.
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What’s inside this story
You’ll learn:
- Why a church court decided to take the case in the first place
- The lawyer who stood up for the rats & how it made him famous
- The legal arguments that bought the rats more time
- Other animal trials
The trial’s basis
The trial happened in 1522 in Autun, a small city in Burgundy. It was an ecclesiastical court, or church court. They usually dealt with community issues like crop damage or pests.
The official complaint said the rats had “wantonly destroyed” barley fields across the diocese. Essentially, they had willingly & knowingly eaten crops. That mattered a lot in an agrarian community & because this involved a whole group of pests, the case belonged to a church court, rather than a secular one. This wasn’t the first animal trial, either.
The prosecution’s case was simple. The rats had damaged barley across the diocese, so they should be summoned & face formal proceedings like people. There wasn’t much more to it than that. According to the records, the focus was on proving the damage & asking the court to take action.
The defendants and their lawyer
Weirdly enough, the court actually appointed the animals a lawyer by the name of Barthélemy de Chassenée. This wasn’t a job anyone expected to land. However, it turned out to be quite beneficial for Chassenée. Thanks to his skills in the trial, he later became president of the Parlement de Provence. That was one of the highest positions you could receive as a French lawyer at that time.
The defense strategy
Chassenée began by arguing that the case was too vague. The summons only mentioned “some rats,” which Chassenée claimed wasn’t enough because rats lived in parishes all over the diocese. The judge agreed. As such, they read a new summons in every parish church.
Then, Chassenée also said there wasn’t enough time. Despite the wider notice, the rats needed more time to “travel” to court. Chassenée actually managed to get the judge to grant an extension.
But then, of course, the rats didn’t turn up. Chassenée claimed it was because they weren’t safe. Yeah, really. Chassenée argued that the rats couldn’t possibly come to court because there were cats lurking along the way. Unless the townsfolk promised to restrain their cats, the defendants weren’t guaranteed to appear safely.
The court actually agreed with the argument.
Unfortunately, the exact “final verdict” isn’t as clear. What we do know is that the court never punished the rats.
How unusual was this?
While it sounds strange now, vermin trials weren’t unheard of in that era & church courts across Europe sometimes went after pests. Some other notable examples include:
- The 1457 pig trial. A sow killed a child & six piglets were accused of being part of it. The sow was sentenced to death but the piglets were spared for one weird reason. The court decided they were too young to be held responsible.
- The 1474 rooster trial. A ‘rooster’ laid an egg, which the city authorities saw as suspicious enough that they put the bird on trial. They argued it was witchcraft. Sadly, the court convicted the rooster & burned both the bird and its egg.
- The 1596 dolphin trial. A pod of dolphins somehow wound up in the dock & were charged with damaging the harbor intentionally. They were found guilty and later executed for their “crime.”
According to records, there were at least 85 separate animal trials between the 1400s & 1700s. And that’s just the documented ones. Many more could’ve gone unrecorded or been lost.
Truth really is stranger than fiction.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
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