The Criminal Prosecution and Capital Punishment of Animals

"The Criminal Prosecution and Capital Punishment of Animals" by E. P. (Edward Payson) Evans is a look into the strange world of animal trials in Europe during medieval and early modern times. The book examines the reasons animals were put on trial, from religious ideas to how society worked back then, and how people really thought animals could be responsible for their actions. It goes over the story of Bartholomew Chassenée, a lawyer who famously defended rats accused of ruining crops, showing how far people went to use legal tricks in these cases. It also talks about how church and state courts handled these trials together, highlighting the strange idea that animals could be held accountable just like people when they broke the law, setting the scene to explore the cultural meaning and legal effects of treating animals as criminals.