We are surrounded by a gigantic world and many languages. First of all, one needs to know one's native language in order to understand what people around are talking about. There is such an ancient criminal profession, which was especially popular in the Middle Ages and is completely lost now. Its name is often found in books covering this period. The meaning of the word "horse-breeding" - that is what will be discussed.
What is horse stealing
This is a serious crime, especially in those days. It consists in the abduction of horses, and its name comes from two quite understandable words - “horse” and “steal”. This concept applies not only to the theft of mounts, but also in relation to livestock. Therefore, Konocrad is a thief of livestock.
In the old days, a family of peasants was fed by working hands and livestock. And having stolen a cow or a horse, a thief doomed, perhaps, dozens of people to starvation. By losing livestock, landowners lost the opportunity to cultivate fields, receive milk and meat, pay rent or tribute.
Punishment
The legislation of different countries imposed a penalty for “horse thief”. In addition, this crime was considered qualified theft, which elevated him to a number of thefts of money and valuables. The following types of punishment are known:
- Stoning or stake - ancient German law.
- The Synodal List “Russian Pravda” predicted horse thief the worst punishment - the flow and looting. This is a type of punishment in which the offender was initially deprived of all property and expelled from the region where the law is in force. Later, this type of punishment turned into slavery.
- Pskov’s court letter put horse-thief on a par with the traitor of the state, which automatically did not give the first right of appeal and led to the death penalty.
- The Moscow era and its laws do not define horse stealing as a separate type of theft. The people who committed this crime were equated with robbers, who for one theft was one way - death.
In order to prevent horse-stealing and sale of the loot, special records were invented in Muscovite Russia, like descriptions of special signs of a horse. Without this letter, a rider could be arrested. Such records were stamped by the elder, but the general form was not defined by the state, so the papers could look different. This helped the criminals fake them.
Historical facts
Some regions have become a real paradise for horse thieves. This type of criminal activity became popular there. People engaged in such fishing had their own dens, hosts, tracts and marinas, and a developed observation network. It was in these places that the fight against horse-stealing became almost impossible. In order to somehow save their property, many peasants resorted to lynching when they caught the criminal red-handed or committed it over those who had just come under suspicion.
Until the 19th century, this trade flourished in Russia, but in 1886 a decree was issued ordering the expulsion of foreigners and those who were suspected of horse-breeding to Eastern Siberia. These rules offered to pre-arrest the accused, and only after that make a discussion of the decision to expel him to local society. For the people of that time, the title of horse-stealing is something shameful and dangerous.
Over time, horse-stealing has outlived itself. The more progress moved, the less the population needed horses. Cars appeared. Now this criminally punishable profession no longer exists at all.