Penance

A person found guilty of the murder or manslaughter of an unfree person had to do no more than provide compensation of three normal-sized silver armlets. The man price (penance, blood money) for this crime was set under Gutalagen, the provincial law of Gotland, at 1 1/8 marks in silver, the equivalent in modern weights of 0.225 kilo. Illustrated with armlets from the parishes of Hanvar, Lummelunda and Hamra on Gotland.

Image rights: Ola Myrin, Historiska museet/SHM (CC BY 4.0)

Object number: 106924_HST

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