We are surrounded by a gigantic world and many languages. First of all, you need to know your native language in order to understand what people around you are talking about. There is such an ancient criminal profession that was especially popular in the Middle Ages and is completely lost now. Her name is often found in books covering this period. The meaning of the word "horse thief" - that's what will be discussed.
What is horse theft
This is a serious crime, especially in those days. It consists in the abduction of horses, and its name comes from two understandable words - “horse” and “steal”. This concept applies not only to the theft of mounts, but also in relation to domestic cattle. Therefore, a horse thief is a livestock thief.
In the old days, a family of peasants was fed by working hands and livestock. And by stealing a cow or a horse, the thief doomed, perhaps, dozens of people to starvation. Losing livestock, landowners lost the opportunity to work the fields, get milk and meat, pay dues or tribute.
Punishment
The legislation of different countries imposed punishment for "horse tatba". In addition, this crime was considered a qualified theft, which elevated it to a number of thefts of money and valuables. The following types of punishment are known:
- Stoning or stabbing is ancient German law.
- The synodal list "Russkaya Pravda" predicted the worst punishment for a horse thief - flood and plunder. This is a type of punishment in which the offender was initially deprived of all property and expelled from the region where the law applies. Later, this type of punishment turned into slavery.
- The Pskov Judicial Letter put the horse thief on a par with the traitor of the state, which automatically did not give the former the right to appeal and led to the death pen alty.
- The Moscow era and its laws do not define horse theft as a separate type of theft. The people who committed this crime were equated with robbers, who had only one way for any theft - death.
In order to prevent horse theft and the sale of loot, special records were invented in Moscow Russia, like a description of the special signs of a horse. Without this certificate, the rider could be arrested. Such records were supplied with the seal of the headman, but the general form was never determined by the state, so the papers could look different. This helped the criminals to fake them.
Historical facts
Some regions have become a real paradise for horse thieves. This type of criminal activity has become popular there. People engaged in such a trade had their own dens, hosts, roads and piers, and a developed observation network. It was in these places that the fight against horse theft became almost impossible. In order to somehow save their property, many peasants resorted to lynching when catching a criminal red-handed or committed it against those who only fell under suspicion.
Until the 19th century, this trade flourished in Russia, but in 1886 a decree was issued ordering the deportation of foreigners and those who were suspected of horse stealing to Eastern Siberia. These rules suggested that the accused be arrested first, and only after that the decision to deport him to the local society should be discussed. For the people of that time, the title of horse thief was something shameful and dangerous.
Over time, horse theft has become obsolete. The more progress moved, the less the population needed horses. Cars appeared. Now this criminally punishable profession no longer exists at all.
