MURDER CRIME IN THE MIDDLE AGES: PROBLEMS OF STUDYING THE EVOLUTION OF VIOLENT BEHAVIOR

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the problems of studying violent behavior and the crime of murder in Western Europe in the Middle Ages. Various approaches to the study of violent activity and fluctuations in the murder rate are analyzed. The article uses linguistic, general scientific, system-functional, quantitative and comparative research methods. It is noted that homicide has long been virtually the only benchmark for understanding and measuring violence and the evolution of crime. It has been found that the medieval and modern perception of murder differ significantly: а) in the medieval value system, violence was associated with the culture of honor and masculine ethics, under certain circumstances, the refusal to use force was considered a sign of weakness and led to social rejection; b) The Middle Ages were characterized by social and legal tolerance for crimes committed in response to public humiliation; in the context of punishment for treason and defamation, domestic violence and spousal murder were considered and justified; c) medieval murderers only partially correspond to the modern archetype of a criminal as a marginalized, immoral, and socially dangerous person. It has been established that the medieval violent model of behavior that led to the commission of the crime of murder is characterized by the following features: 1) the use of violence as a mechanism for resolving conflicts; 2) prior acquaintance between the victim and the attacker in the context of public life (violence based on geographical and socio-professional proximity); 3) the public and collective nature of the overwhelming number of violent acts; 4) the emotional and impulsive (without prior intention and deliberation) component of violent behavior (insults, physical attacks, fights); 5) the random nature of a significant number of murders; 6) the predominance of murderous violence committed by young men (aged 20 to 30). It has been noted that focusing on violent crime creates a distorted view of the true nature of crime in pre-industrial societies. The authors consider it proven that the decrease in violence (primarily the murder rate) during the Middle Ages and the Modern Age was neither a linear nor a constant process. It is concluded that the postulation of the decline in murderous crime as a consistent progressive evolution of social relations is false and has not been confirmed in the sources.