''Caput lupinum'' () or ''caput gerat lupinum'' () are terms used in the

English legal system English law is the common law legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly criminal law and civil law, each branch having its own courts and procedures. The judiciary is independent, and legal principles like fairness, equality befor ...

and its derivatives. The terms were used in

Medieval England England in the Middle Ages concerns the history of England during the Middle Ages, medieval period, from the end of the 5th century through to the start of the Early modern Britain, early modern period in 1485. When England emerged from the co ...

to designate a person pronounced by the authorities to be a dangerous

criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

, who could thus be killed without penalty.

Meaning

The

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

term c''aput lupinum'' literally means "

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, includin ...

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...

" or "wolfish head", and refers to a person considered to be an

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them. ...

, as in, ''e.g.'', the phrase ''caput gerat lupinum'' ("may he wear a wolfish head" / "may his be a wolf's head"). ''

Black's Law Dictionary ''Black's Law Dictionary'' is the most frequently used legal dictionary in the United States. Henry Campbell Black (1860–1927) was the author of the first two editions of the dictionary. History The first edition was published in 1891 by Wes ...

, 8th edition'' reads "an outlawed felon considered a pariah – a lone wolf – open to attack by anyone."

Use

''Caput lupinum'' or ''caput gerat lupinum'' are used in the

and its derivatives. The terms were used in

to designate a person pronounced by the authorities to be a dangerous

whose rights had been waived, who could thus be legally harmed or killed without penalty by any

citizen Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationality ...

. The term ''caput lupinum'' is first recorded in the text '' Leges Edwardi Confessoris as'' a law attributed to the 11th century ruler

Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was King of England from 1042 until his death in 1066. He was the last reigning monarch of the House of Wessex. Edward was the son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy. He succeede ...

. This law stated that a man who refused to answer a summons from the king's justice for a criminal trial would be condemned as a ''Caput lupinum''. The thirteenth-century writer on law,

Henry de Bracton Henry of Bracton (c. 1210 – c. 1268), also known as Henry de Bracton, Henricus Bracton, Henry Bratton, and Henry Bretton, was an English cleric and jurist. He is famous now for his writings on law, particularly ''De legibus et consuetudinib ...

, wrote in his book ''De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae'' that outlaws ''"gerunt caput lupinum"''- "bear the wolf's head." Bracton added that this meant that outlaws could thus be killed without judicial inquiry. The fourteenth-century English legal textbook '' The Mirror of Justices'' stated that anyone who was accused of a

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "''félonie''") to describe an offense that r ...

, who refused three times to attend county courts, would be declared ''Caput lupinum'' or "Wolfshead". The book added ''""Wolfshead!" shall be cried against him, for that a wolf is a beast hated of all folk; and from that time forward it is lawful for anyone to slay him like a wolf."''

References

{{Reflist Outlaws Common law