Concept in Definition ABC

When someone has an unfair behavior towards another person or directly betrays him, he is committing a felony and the person who performs this action is a felon. It is a word that is part of our language but is in disuse.

A felony is a type of conduct that deserves disapproval or punishment. Obviously, this is a clearly pejorative term.

As for its origin, it comes from the Latin fallare, which means to deceive. It should be noted that its use in Spanish could come from French, where felón means traitor or evil.

In the medieval context

The society medieval It had a hierarchical structure and in it there were nobles, lords and vassals. They all had duties and obligations and if for whatever reason they adopted a attitude Treacherous, they were said to have committed a felony, that is, some kind of disallowance, treason or deception. It should not be forgotten that in the context of feudal society the idea of ​​obedience was very rooted, especially among vassals, who swore allegiance to a lord in the so-called act of vassalage. Therefore, if the vassal breached his commitment of fidelity to his lord, he became a felon and the action he had committed was a felony.

The cases of possible felony between vassal and feudal lord were tried to solve through the mediation of some representative of the Catholic Church, who was trying to calm things down so that the felony charge did not end in the courts of Justice. If religious mediation did not solve the conflict, the accused of felony (usually the vassal and exceptionally the lord) was processed in a trial.

When feudal society goes into crisis, the term felony begins to lose its meaning, since in the new social model there is no longer the relationship of vassalage.

In history and in literature

Fernando VII was king of Spain in two different periods. For a sector of the population he was "The Desired One", while others nicknamed him "the felon king."

The character of the Ingenious gentleman Don Quixote de la Mancha is governed by the laws of chivalry and, consequently, faces all those who commit an act of felony.

Other words from the medieval context in disuse

Felony or felon are terms that present their true meaning in the context of the feudalism, but with the passage of time they stopped being used in everyday language. Along the same lines, other words typical of the Middle Ages have passed into oblivion, like fief, vassal, comunaleza, Mendoza, tithe, purse or sondalgo.

Photos: Fotolia - art_zzz / joserpizarro