A 13th Century Law Gave Us the Baker's Dozen
A Baker Is Being Dragged Through the Street. There's a Loaf Tied Round His Neck.
He's not carrying it.
It's tied there. On purpose. For everyone to see.
This is a baker, on a hurdle, being dragged through the streets โ with the loaf that got him in trouble hanging round his neck the whole way.
That loaf was underweight.
It was underweight.
Bread was heavily regulated in medieval England, because when your staple food is bread, selling people less than they had paid for mattered.
So the punishment wasn't exactly subtle.
You didn't just pay a fine and quietly go home.
Everyone got to see what you'd done.
A defective loaf.
A baker.
A very public journey through the streets.
Really? Yep, really.
Sources
- Smithfield Decretals, Royal MS 10 E IV, fol. 94, c. 1340. British Library.
- Assize of Bread and Ale, 1266.