Outlawing: Bad To Be A Twin

What if being declared an outlaw didn't mean you lived outside the law—but meant the law no longer protected you?

In this episode of Torture: A Dark History, Kevin Young and Dan Hourigan travel back to medieval England to explore the brutal history of outlawry. We look at how someone could be accused of a crime, fail to appear in court, and eventually be declared an outlaw—a person who had effectively been stripped of the protection of the law and could be hunted, robbed, or even killed without the same legal consequences that would normally apply.

We follow the strange evolution of outlawry from its medieval roots and its connection to exile, through the courts of Henry III, where hundreds of accused criminals were declared outlaws and their property could be seized by the Crown. We also look at what happened to the families of outlaws, the problems with being a twin, the inspiration of Robin Hood, how someone could potentially regain the protection of the law, and why outlawry eventually disappeared from everyday British legal practice.

But the story doesn't end in medieval England. Centuries later, the concept was revived in Australia during the era of the bushrangers, most famously against Ned Kelly and the Kelly Gang, who were declared outlaws and could legally be apprehended (or killed) by ordinary citizens under the laws of the time.

From medieval England to Ned Kelly and the legendary outlaws of Europe, this is the story of how one of the most feared words in medieval law eventually became synonymous with the Wild West.

If you love dark history, medieval history, true crime, outlaw stories, torture history, and the strange laws people once lived, and died, under, this is one episode you don't want to be on the wrong side of.

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The Sassholes Insta!!

Thank you to True Crime BnB for starting off the episode today.

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/outlaws-outlawry-medieval-early-modern-england/

https://everything-everywhere.com/outlawry/

https://anzlhs.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlaw

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/75734010