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From Nordan Symposia
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==Origin==
[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English] ''ransoun'', from Anglo-French ''rançun'', from [[Latin]] ''[[redemption]]''-, redemptio
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13th_century 13th Century]
==Definitions==
*1: a [[consideration]] paid or demanded for the release of someone or something from [[captivity]]
*2: The [[action]] or means of freeing oneself from a [[penalty]]; a sum of [[money]] paid to obtain [[pardon]] for an [[offence]] or imposed as a penalty, esp. one exacted for a significant [[offence]]; a fine.
*3: A sum of [[money]], esp. a large one, such as one might pay as a punitive fine or as a payment for the return of a [[hostage]].
==Description==
'''Ransom''' is the [[practice]] of holding a [[prisoner]] or item to extort [[money]] or [[property]] to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of [[money]] involved. In an early German law, a similar concept was called [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weregild Weregild].
In Europe during the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages Middle Ages], ransom became an important [[custom]] of [[chivalric]] [[warfare]]. An important knight, especially [[nobility]] or [[royalty]], was worth a significant sum of [[money]] if captured, but nothing if he was [[killed]]. For this reason, the [[practice]] of ransom contributed to the [[development]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraldry heraldry], which allowed knights to advertise their [[identities]], and by implication their ransom [[value]], and made them less likely to be killed out of hand. Examples include [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_the_Lion_Heart Richard the Lion Heart] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand_du_Guesclin Bertrand du Guesclin].
When ransom means "payment", the [[word]] comes via Old French rançon from [[Latin]] redemptio = "buying back": compare "[[redemption]]".
In Judaism ransom is called ''kofer-nefesh'' (Hebrew: כפר נפש). Among other uses, the [[word]] was applied to the poll [[tax]] of a half shekel to be paid by every [[male]] above twenty years at the [[census]].
Although ransom is usually demanded only after the kidnapping of a [[person]], it is not unheard of for [[thieves]] to demand ransom for the return of an inanimate object or body part. In 1987, thieves broke into the tomb of Argentinian president [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Per%C3%B3n Juan Perón] and stole his hands; they later demanded $8 million US for their return. The ransom was not paid.
[[Category: Anthropology]]
==Origin==
[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English] ''ransoun'', from Anglo-French ''rançun'', from [[Latin]] ''[[redemption]]''-, redemptio
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13th_century 13th Century]
==Definitions==
*1: a [[consideration]] paid or demanded for the release of someone or something from [[captivity]]
*2: The [[action]] or means of freeing oneself from a [[penalty]]; a sum of [[money]] paid to obtain [[pardon]] for an [[offence]] or imposed as a penalty, esp. one exacted for a significant [[offence]]; a fine.
*3: A sum of [[money]], esp. a large one, such as one might pay as a punitive fine or as a payment for the return of a [[hostage]].
==Description==
'''Ransom''' is the [[practice]] of holding a [[prisoner]] or item to extort [[money]] or [[property]] to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of [[money]] involved. In an early German law, a similar concept was called [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weregild Weregild].
In Europe during the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages Middle Ages], ransom became an important [[custom]] of [[chivalric]] [[warfare]]. An important knight, especially [[nobility]] or [[royalty]], was worth a significant sum of [[money]] if captured, but nothing if he was [[killed]]. For this reason, the [[practice]] of ransom contributed to the [[development]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraldry heraldry], which allowed knights to advertise their [[identities]], and by implication their ransom [[value]], and made them less likely to be killed out of hand. Examples include [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_the_Lion_Heart Richard the Lion Heart] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand_du_Guesclin Bertrand du Guesclin].
When ransom means "payment", the [[word]] comes via Old French rançon from [[Latin]] redemptio = "buying back": compare "[[redemption]]".
In Judaism ransom is called ''kofer-nefesh'' (Hebrew: כפר נפש). Among other uses, the [[word]] was applied to the poll [[tax]] of a half shekel to be paid by every [[male]] above twenty years at the [[census]].
Although ransom is usually demanded only after the kidnapping of a [[person]], it is not unheard of for [[thieves]] to demand ransom for the return of an inanimate object or body part. In 1987, thieves broke into the tomb of Argentinian president [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Per%C3%B3n Juan Perón] and stole his hands; they later demanded $8 million US for their return. The ransom was not paid.
[[Category: Anthropology]]
